The Blood Card

On the eve of the Queens coronation, DI Stephens and Max Mephisto uncover an anarchist plot and a ticking bomb - from the author of The Stranger Diaries and the Dr Ruth Galloway mysteries.

Mixes cosiness and sharpness in a way that recalls the best of Agatha ChristieSunday Express (on Smoke and Mirrors)

Elizabeth IIs coronation is looming, but the murder of their wartime commander, Colonel Cartwright, spoils the happy mood for DI Edgar Stephens and magician Max Mephisto. A playbill featuring another deceased comrade is found in Colonel Cartwrights possession, and a playing card, the ace of hearts: the blood card. The wartime connection and the suggestion of magic are for Stephens and Mephisto to be summoned to the case.

Edgars ongoing investigation into the death of Brighton fortune-teller Madame Zabini is put on hold. Max is busy rehearsing for a spectacular Coronation Day variety show - and his television debut - so its Edgar who is sent to New York, a land of plenty worlds away from still-rationed England. Hes on the trail of a small-town mesmerist who may provide the key, but someone silences him first. Its Edgars colleague, DS Emma Holmes, who finds the clue, buried in the files of the Zabini case, that leads them to an anarchist group intent on providing an explosive finale to Coronation Day.

Now its up to Edgar, Max and Emma to foil the plot, and find out who it is whos been dealing the cards . . .