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Now You See Them
(Stephens & Mephisto Mystery #5)
by
The fifth gripping Brighton-based mystery from the bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway series – a must-read for fans of Agatha Christie, cosy crime and TV series such as Grantchester and Midsomer Murders. One after another, young women go missing in Brighton, but who’s to say they didn’t leave of their own free choice?
Ten years have passed since the events described ...more
Ten years have passed since the events described ...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
October 3rd 2019
by Quercus
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Start your review of Now You See Them (Stephens & Mephisto Mystery, #5)

It has taken this latest addition to Elly Griffiths's historical Stephens and Mephisto series set in Brighton for me to become aware of just how much I love this series. It picks up more than a decade later from events in The Vanishing Box, in the interim fundamental shifts have taken place in the lives of the major characters. It is 1964, Max is now a bona fide movie star living in LA, married to the famous actress, Lydia Lamont, and has two young children, Rocco and Elena. He is now Lord Massi
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I started reading this series because I loved her Ruth Galloway mysteries. This is already number five in the Magic men series, and in both series she engines time and place perfectly, though both are markedly different. These characters have grown on me and once again I'm back catching up with old friends. Eleven years have passed snd much has changed in the lives of our main characters. We now find ourselves in the 1960's, mods against bikers, the young girls screaming for a young film star an
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As a huge fan of the Ruth Galloway series, I was thrilled to learn that Elly Griffiths had another series. So, when book five in the Magic Men series became available on netgalley, I jumped at the chance to read it.
This story takes you back to 1964. The Magic Men originally came together in WWII. Now Max is an actor in Hollywood and Edgar is a Police Superintendent. The time period allows for the sexism of the day to shine through, like the fact that a female police constable isn’t allowed to d ...more
This story takes you back to 1964. The Magic Men originally came together in WWII. Now Max is an actor in Hollywood and Edgar is a Police Superintendent. The time period allows for the sexism of the day to shine through, like the fact that a female police constable isn’t allowed to d ...more

Where the first four books in this series were set in 1950s Brighton, this fifth episode has leapt ahead 10 years to the 1960s. Mini skirt wearing teenage girls are swooning over the Beatles and Mods and Rockers are ganging up on each other. The Magic Men who were part of a special squad in WWII have all gone their separate ways. Max Mephisto is no longer a variety show magician but a movie star, married to a Hollywood actress in LA and father of two young children and Edgar Stephens is now a po
...more

Dec 19, 2019
Sandy *The world could end while I was reading and I would never notice*
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2019,
crime,
4-star,
netgalley-arc,
murder-mystery,
historical-fiction,
favourite-author,
series
EXCERPT: May 1964
At first, Edgar thought he wasn't coming. They were all there in church: Edgar and Emma, Bob and Betty, Queenie in the front pew, sobbing into a lace-edged handkerchief. Even Mrs M was there, her hair white now but as striking as ever in a black cape with a fur collar. Ruby had caused a stir when she entered the church, followed, as ever, by Joe. There were even a few photographers waiting outside, just for the chance to snap the star of 'Ruby Magic', the nation's favourite TV s ...more
At first, Edgar thought he wasn't coming. They were all there in church: Edgar and Emma, Bob and Betty, Queenie in the front pew, sobbing into a lace-edged handkerchief. Even Mrs M was there, her hair white now but as striking as ever in a black cape with a fur collar. Ruby had caused a stir when she entered the church, followed, as ever, by Joe. There were even a few photographers waiting outside, just for the chance to snap the star of 'Ruby Magic', the nation's favourite TV s ...more

It is always an event when a new Elly Griffiths book is due out. The chance to receive an advanced reader’s copy (ARC) should not be passed up.
This is now the 5th in this series that began with her main characters caught up in making a go of things after World War II. Life in Post War England was a struggle and the charm of these books were the end of the pier shows, variety and where magicians were often topping the bill in theatres. Two wartime colleagues were reunited in what became initially ...more
This is now the 5th in this series that began with her main characters caught up in making a go of things after World War II. Life in Post War England was a struggle and the charm of these books were the end of the pier shows, variety and where magicians were often topping the bill in theatres. Two wartime colleagues were reunited in what became initially ...more

This is the fifth book in the Magic Men series by Elly Griffiths and my first read of the series. Because I’ve read two other books by Griffiths, I wanted to see if this one held up to what I had already read. Yes, indeed, it held up on all counts.
The book begins with the disappearance of a school girl. It is clear from the beginning that the principle characters have relationships that date back to past occurrences, although it isn’t difficult to follow how they relate to each other in this boo ...more
The book begins with the disappearance of a school girl. It is clear from the beginning that the principle characters have relationships that date back to past occurrences, although it isn’t difficult to follow how they relate to each other in this boo ...more

This novel takes place ten years after its predecessor The Vanishing Box and we’re now in the era of The Beatles, Carnaby Street and mods and rockers. Ed Stephens is now a superintendent, married to his former sergeant Emma Holmes with whom he has three children. Max Mephisto, after emigrating to the U.S. has become a Hollywood star and is married to a glamorous actress. However, all is not as blissful as the surface suggests. Emma is bored senseless by domesticity and still misses her detective
...more

The latest in Elly Griffiths' Stephens & Mephisto Mystery series sees the saga move from the 1950's into the Swinging 60's and that's reflected in a plot that concentrates on the personal lives of the main characters as much as it does on the police investigation into the disappearance of 3 young women.
Only gradually does Detective Superintendent Edgar Stephens realise that these girls have all been kidnapped by the same person and when one of the girls turns up dead, he and his team have to fin ...more
Only gradually does Detective Superintendent Edgar Stephens realise that these girls have all been kidnapped by the same person and when one of the girls turns up dead, he and his team have to fin ...more

Ten years have passed since the last Magic Men mystery. Emma is no longer a police officer; she’s married to Edgar, who is now Superintendent, and a mother of 3. Max is back--he married an American, and is just visiting Brighton. An important man’s daughter is missing, and the police start to connect the case with some other disappearances of young women in the area. Then the kidnapping gets very personal, and everyone’s help is needed to before it is too late.

Nov 25, 2019
Lee
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mystery,
historical,
net-galley,
horror-thriller,
netgalleyreaders2019,
series,
english,
netgalleyonly2019
I adore Griffiths’ Ruth Galloway book series and also loved her recent standalone The Stranger Diaries but, on a whole, I will admit I have not enjoyed the Stephens/Mephisto (or as it is advertised on the US cover, The Magic Men) series quite as much. The trend continues with Now You See Them.
For this, the fifth book in the series, Griffiths has skipped ten years, thus the post war 50s has morphed into the swinging 60s. I really enjoy books set in the 50s, where PTSD from WW2 is so prevalent and ...more
For this, the fifth book in the series, Griffiths has skipped ten years, thus the post war 50s has morphed into the swinging 60s. I really enjoy books set in the 50s, where PTSD from WW2 is so prevalent and ...more

With thanks to Netgalley and Quercus for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.
Now You See Them had moved to 1960s Brighton when the word teenagers were invented. The Beatles were the original UK boy band, and battles between mods and rockers on the promenade.
Times had changed for Edgar and Max. Edgar became a superintendent and married his former sergeant Emma Holmes and had three children. Max went to America where he appeared in a successful film. Max married a film star and they ...more
Now You See Them had moved to 1960s Brighton when the word teenagers were invented. The Beatles were the original UK boy band, and battles between mods and rockers on the promenade.
Times had changed for Edgar and Max. Edgar became a superintendent and married his former sergeant Emma Holmes and had three children. Max went to America where he appeared in a successful film. Max married a film star and they ...more

It's so good to spend time with Max, Edgar and Emma again. Time has moved on and things have changed for them all but now they must work together again to stop a killer. This is a lovingly developed story in which character and setting matter more than the plot and, as usual, Elly Griffiths writes beautifully. This will always be one of my very favourite series. Review to follow shortly on For Winter Nights.
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Diablo would have preferred applause at his funeral just as he liked it in life but all he got was tears. The WWII special ops gang have gathered 10 years after the last book (now 1964) was concluded to pay their last respects to the old vaudevillian. And how things have changed. Edgar and Emma are married and have three children. He is now Police Superintendent in Brighton. Max has become a movie star in Hollywood and lives there with his movie star wife and two children. Ruby is the star of h
...more

Now You See Them is another interesting read in the Magic Men series. I enjoy Griffiths’ work, although I do prefer her Ruth Galloway books to these.
The story is engaging and interesting, and the pacing is good. I found the mod-versus-rocker conflict to be a unique twist and smirked at some of the gender conflict. My only negative comment is that there are so many characters that I kept getting them confused, which distracted me from the storyline. Griffiths is a very good author and usually dis ...more
The story is engaging and interesting, and the pacing is good. I found the mod-versus-rocker conflict to be a unique twist and smirked at some of the gender conflict. My only negative comment is that there are so many characters that I kept getting them confused, which distracted me from the storyline. Griffiths is a very good author and usually dis ...more

Just couldn't get immersed in this. I thought at first that it was the era in which it was set.... But it clearly wasn't. I found the characters uninteresting and the storyline rather slow.
I have read The Crossing Places and thoroughly enjoyed that one so don't know what went wrong here. 🤔
...more
I have read The Crossing Places and thoroughly enjoyed that one so don't know what went wrong here. 🤔
...more

I can't think of any of my reading friends who aren't familiar with my love for Elly Griffiths' writing and my ardent devotion to her character Ruth Galloway of the Ruth Galloway series, and a good many of them have responded to my enthusiasm and started reading that series, too. Now, I think they are beginning to realize that I am also an advocate for Griffiths' Magic Men Mysteries (Stephens and Mephisto series). Unlike the present-day setting of the Ruth Galloway series, the Magic Men Mysterie
...more

Girls are disappearing and the Magic Men need to figure out how to undo the trick of this unknown man lurking in the shadows -- promising to turn girls into models. Ten years have gone by since Stevens & Mephisto #4 and it is 1964. With WW II so distant in the rearview mirror, the tumultuous 60's are in focus. Max and Edgar both have young children. Diablo is dead. Emma is a stay-at-home mom. Ruby is a celebrity in her own right. There is a new recruit at the police station and she has some skil
...more

I would like to thank Netgalley and Quercus Books for an advance copy of Now You See Them, the fifth novel to feature Superintendent Edgar Stephens of the Brighton police and magician turned film star Max Mephisto.
Time has moved on for the characters and it’s now 1964. Max is back in Brighton, having spent the last 11 years in Los Angeles, and Edgar has been promoted to Superintendent. Life has changed for them but crime still exists so Edgar is soon busy investigating the disappearance of schoo ...more
Time has moved on for the characters and it’s now 1964. Max is back in Brighton, having spent the last 11 years in Los Angeles, and Edgar has been promoted to Superintendent. Life has changed for them but crime still exists so Edgar is soon busy investigating the disappearance of schoo ...more

The story started out slowly, and the preceding story--11 years ago--sounded more interesting, but eventually I got to know the characters and learn about what happened back then, and what's happening with everyone now, and when things picked up farther along, the mystery and suspense really drew me in, and the climax--though I saw that coming--was riveting with a twist that I enjoyed. (It's about time!) And the ending was satisfying. (I was really worried; one of the kidnapped victims was murde
...more

#NowYouSeeThem #NetGalley
"The fifth gripping Stephens & Mephisto mystery from the bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway series - a must-read for fans of Agatha Christie and Robert Galbraith. DCI Edgar Stephens, Detective Sergeants Emma Holmes and Bob Willis, and of course magician Max Mephisto, are facing a brave new world: the 1960s.
Max is a huge TV star in the USA, and life in Brighton has settled down for the three police officers."
I just loved this one and have been waiting for it.. I ...more
"The fifth gripping Stephens & Mephisto mystery from the bestselling author of the Dr Ruth Galloway series - a must-read for fans of Agatha Christie and Robert Galbraith. DCI Edgar Stephens, Detective Sergeants Emma Holmes and Bob Willis, and of course magician Max Mephisto, are facing a brave new world: the 1960s.
Max is a huge TV star in the USA, and life in Brighton has settled down for the three police officers."
I just loved this one and have been waiting for it.. I ...more

Edgar Stephens, now a Detective Superintendent, and his team are investigating the possible kidnapping of a young girl when they realize that there are other girls going missing around Brighton. Soon the disappearances begin hitting too close to home.
I enjoyed reading all of the previous books, but was wondering if the series would really continue after The Vanishing Box. Very glad it did! As with the previous books, the story is compelling, the characters engaging, and the mystery entertaining ...more
I enjoyed reading all of the previous books, but was wondering if the series would really continue after The Vanishing Box. Very glad it did! As with the previous books, the story is compelling, the characters engaging, and the mystery entertaining ...more

The Magic Men series is fabulous fun! Griffiths brings the fifth story into a setting many years after the last one. This is a bit disconcerting at first, but quickly steps into the rich, suspenseful story readers have come to expect. All the favorite characters of the past stories are unexpectedly together again. Griffiths also brings a focus on former detective Emma Holmes, who is bored with her life as wife to Edgar, of the original Magic Men and now head of the detective unit. Emma featured
...more

My 5* review of 'Now you see Them" by Elly Griffiths.
Another story set in Brighton with Max and Edgar back in harness working to resolve the mystery of girls going missing, along with a host of other supporting characters. This author writes and develops characters better than most. Though set in Brighton not too cosy touching on racism, sexism, homophobia along with misogyny the issues of the day in the 1960,s. ...more
Another story set in Brighton with Max and Edgar back in harness working to resolve the mystery of girls going missing, along with a host of other supporting characters. This author writes and develops characters better than most. Though set in Brighton not too cosy touching on racism, sexism, homophobia along with misogyny the issues of the day in the 1960,s. ...more

Barely a 6.A couple of new characters,no magic,and the mystery's solve is plain silly.
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Griffiths has jumped her characters eleven years into their future, and life has changed for them in unexpected ways. Edgar is now Brighton's police superintendent, happily married to Emma, with three beautiful children. His old friend Max has left England and the dying variety stage for Hollywood, where he, too, is married--to a film star--with two children. Max's eldest daughter Ruby is a television idol and one of the best-known women in England. When a schoolgirl runs away, Edgar is at first
...more

Now You See Them – A Trip back into the swinging sixties
It is Brighton 1963, Edgar Stephens is now married and been promoted to the position of Superintendent and is happily married to Emma, his former detective sergeant. Emma is now a stay at home parent to their children, even though she still hankers for her days back on the job.
At a funeral of an old friend, and stage magician in Brighton, and brings back together the friends who knew him so well. Edgar Stephens and Emma are in attendance, ...more
It is Brighton 1963, Edgar Stephens is now married and been promoted to the position of Superintendent and is happily married to Emma, his former detective sergeant. Emma is now a stay at home parent to their children, even though she still hankers for her days back on the job.
At a funeral of an old friend, and stage magician in Brighton, and brings back together the friends who knew him so well. Edgar Stephens and Emma are in attendance, ...more

Brighton May 1964 and Edgar Stephens is attending the funeral of an old friend a magician known as the Great Diablo, aka Stan Parks. Lost in his memories a door banging at the back of the church brings Edgar back to the present and there is Max Mephisto, looking unchanged by the last eleven years.
Much has changed for the friends who served in the war together as part of a group called the Magic Men. Edgar is now a Police Superintendent and has married his former sergeant Emma Holmes. Max is now ...more
Much has changed for the friends who served in the war together as part of a group called the Magic Men. Edgar is now a Police Superintendent and has married his former sergeant Emma Holmes. Max is now ...more
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Elly Griffiths' Ruth Galloway novels take for their inspiration Elly's husband, who gave up a city job to train as an archaeologist, and her aunt who lives on the Norfolk coast and who filled her niece's head with the myths and legends of that area. Elly has two children and lives near Brighton. Though not her first novel, The Crossing Places is her first crime novel.
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Stephens & Mephisto Mystery
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