The Vanishing Box – Elly Griffiths
Winter, 1953. A young flower seller is found dead in her room at a Brighton boarding-house, posed with chilling perfection into a recreation of the death of Lady Jane Grey. This is a killer unlike any DI Edgar Stephens has encountered before.
Across the city at the Hippodrome theatre, Max Mephisto is top of the bill in a double act with his daughter Ruby. Tarnishing the experience, though, is one of the other acts: a seedy ‘living tableaux’ show where barely-dressed women strike poses from famous historical scenes. Is the resemblance to the murder scene pure coincidence, or is life imitating art?
When another death occurs – this time within the troupe itself – Max once again finds himself involved in one of Edgar’s cases, and a threat that will come closer to home than anything before. What should be just a job is about to become personal.
My thanks to Quercus for my review copy which I received through Netgalley
During the Second World War Edgar Stephens served with a specialist Army unit known as The Magic Men. They were tasked with finding ways to mislead the enemy (almost an early example of Fake News), these adventures are covered in more detail in the first Stephens and Mephisto book The Zig-Zag Girl. It was during this unusual posting that Edgar Stephens met Max Mephisto and a strong friendship was formed.
I have loved all four books which have been released in the Stephens and Mephisto series and I highly recommend them, particularly for readers who enjoy retro/classic stories as these books are set in the early 1950’s and Elly Griffiths captures the sense of time and location wonderfully. It is worth noting that all four books can be enjoyed as stand-alone stories but characters are developed over the course of the series and the reward for returning readers will be seeing these loved characters interacting and their relationships growing.
I felt The Vanishing Box was the most emotive of the books thus far (no spoilers though) and certain events through the story had such a powerful impact upon me that I lost myself to 1950’s Brighton for far longer than I may have originally intended.
Stephens is tracking another murderer, there is a connection to the theatre where Max Mephisto and his daughter are preparing for one of the biggest shows of their respective careers – TV is beckoning. One of the other acts on the bill is a performance art piece where young women (in very little clothing) are stood on stage to depict powerful women from history. The scandalous nature of their attire draws the crowds as 1950’s Brighton avail themselves of the opportunity to be outraged. Tragedy will befall this act though as one of their number is found dead in their lodgings.
Stephens and colleagues will have to unpick the relationships between the women, establish if a suitor may have come a calling and try to determine why the dead girl also appears posed in a particular manner. Elly Griffiths writes great crime thrillers and this is a top notch police procedural where readers get to follow along with the investigation as it unfolds.
I love the time I spend with Stephens and Mephisto each year and events in The Vanishing Box may have shaken up the path our heroes may follow in future. Already looking forward to the next chance to return to Brighton.
The Vanishing Box is published by and you can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vanishing-Box-chilling-Christmas-Stephens-ebook/dp/B01N0NG4NM/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8