Full Dark House

Bryant & May: Peculiar Crimes Unit #1

by Christopher Fowler

Edgy, suspenseful, and darkly comic, here is the first novel in a riveting new mystery series starring two cranky but brilliant old detectives whose lifelong friendship was forged solving crimes for the London Police Department's Peculiar Crimes Unit. In Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler tells the story of both their first and last case--and how along the way the unlikely pair of crime fighters changed the face of detection.

A present-day bombing rips through London and claims the life of eighty-year-old detective Arthur Bryant. For his partner John May, it means the end of a partnership that lasted over half-a-century and an eerie echo back to the Blitz of World War II when they first met. Desperately searching for clues to the killer's identity, May finds his old friend's notes of their very first case and becomes convinced that the past has returned...with a killing vengeance.

It begins when a dancer in a risque new production of Orpheus in Hell is found without her feet. Suddenly, the young detectives are plunged in a bizarre gothic mystery that will push them to their limits--and beyond. For in a city shaken by war, a faceless killer is stalking London's theaters, creating his own kind of sinister drama. And it will take Arthur Bryant's unorthodox techniques and John May's dogged police work to catch a criminal whose ability to escape detection seems almost supernatural--a murderer who even decades later seems to have claimed the life of one of them...and is ready to claim the other.

Filled with startling twists, unforgettable characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing, Full Dark House is a witty, heartbreaking, and all-too-human thriller about the hunt for an inhuman killer.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, Historical Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Historical, London

496 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 4, 2003

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Christopher Fowler was an English writer known for his Bryant & May mystery series, featuring two Golden Age-style detectives navigating modern London. Over his career, he authored fifty novels and short story collections, along with screenplays, video games, graphic novels, and audio plays. His psychological thriller Little Boy Found was published under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.
Fowler's accolades include multiple British Fantasy Awards, the Last Laugh Award, the CWA Dagger in the Library, and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the Detection Club in 2021. Beyond crime fiction, his works ranged from horror (Hell Train, Nyctophobia) to memoir (Paperboy, Film Freak). His column Invisible Ink explored forgotten authors, later compiled into The Book of Forgotten Authors.
Fowler lived between London and Barcelona with his husband, Peter Chapman.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arthur Bryant and John May are parters in the PCU and have been for over sixty years. That's Peculiar Crimes Division. At least they were, until a bomb goes off and ends their partnership. While May copes with his loss and tries to piece together what happened to Arthur, he thinks about their first case and how the two events may be related.

I never thought I'd enjoy a book about the partnership of two crotchedy British detectives so much. The primary setting, a old theatre during the WWII bombing of London, was well done. Bryant and May are contrasting characters ala Mulder and Scully of the X-Files, except British and both male. Bryant tends to go off on tangents and the straight-laced May has to reign him in. The supporting PCU members are also well done. Forthright and Biddle are good characters in their own right.

While the present day case was solveable, the WWII one wasn't, although I can't complain. The lead up to the reveal was strewn with red herrings.

If you like crime stories and your sense of humor tingles with delight at the thought of two eighty year old men discussing their sex drives on page 10, give this one a chance. You could do a lot worse.

[Brenda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a tedious read for me. The plot got too bogged down with descriptions in hope of building an atmosphere. London during the Blitz was interesting, but the interior of the theatre was not. The investigators Arthur Bryant and John May didn’t connect with me, whether it was in 1940 when they were aged 19 and 22 or in 2003 when they were in their 80's. The secondary characters, especially those in the theatre, just made me sad. I reviewed the first few pages of the second book in the series. The writer's style continues, so I won’t pursue the series any further.

[Kemper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mysterious phantom haunts a creepy old theater in an apparent attempt to scare the performers and keep the latest production from starting. Does that sound like a Scooby Doo episode, or is it just me?

“I’d have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!” Or in this case, meddling English detectives instead of talking dogs and damn dirty hippies.

Actually, this was a pretty dark and well done mystery with an intriguing concept and structure. Arthur Bryant and John May have been detectives for London’s Peculiar Crime Unit for over 60 years. However, when Bryant is killed in a bomb blast that destroys their offices, the clues May follows indicate that Bryant was looking into their first case together.

In 1940, a string of grisly and bizarre murders are occurring in a theater getting ready to launch a controversial production. Since the rest of England is slightly busy dealing with the Blitz and the imminent invasion of the island by Germany, the case is pawned off onto the PCU and its understaffed group of under aged and inexperienced detectives. Brilliant but eccentric Bryant thinks that normal police methods won’t solve the crime while the more practical May tries to keep Bryant from venturing too far away from plausible explanations. In the present day, elderly John May tries to solve the murder of his friend.

The parallel stories of Bryant and May in 1940, and May’s investigation in the present was a great idea. And setting a murder mystery against the London Blitz is another terrific concept. More than one person notes that it seems slightly ridiculous to worry about a couple of murders when hundreds are being killed every night. But the British government wants a sense of calm and normalcy so it still frowns on someone offing their citizens. Even if they are just actors…

A good mystery with a dark sense of humor and an original setting, this was a fun read. My only real complaint is that as a native of Kansas City, the name Arthur Bryant is the name of a barbecue legend, restaurant and sauce here. So every time I read the name in this book, I instantly craved some beef brisket. And now I am HUNGRY!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first of the series featuring Arthur Bryant and John May, of the Peculiar Crimes Unit in London. The book begins in the present, with an explosion in the offices, and Arthur Bryant inside. The Unit opened in 1939 and, recently, May was aware that Bryant had been writing his memoirs and writing up his first case. This leads him to try to track down who was responsible for the destruction of the office, as well as coming to terms with losing his partner.

In this book, we are taken back to the blitz and Bryant and May’s first case; a series of strange deaths in a London theatre. Although the book switches from the present to the past, most of the book is set in 1940 London and the author obviously has a great deal of love for both London and an eye for detail. There is a lot of background information about the theatre, and a real sense of menace and danger in the darkened theatre, as well as the fact that London, and our heroes, are trying to do their jobs while London is being mercilessly bombed.

This is a series that I have meant to try for a long time and I am pleased that I finally got around to trying it. I liked the wartime setting and, although I found the plot a little unrealistic (well, it is meant to be the ‘Peculiar Crimes Unit’ I suppose), I did really like the characters. I would certainly read the next in the series and suspect that the books will get better, once it has settled down. Rated 3.5 stars.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had to classify this novel in terms of genre, it would be somewhere along the lines of British police procedural meets the X-files. I was thinking while I was reading this that it would make a fun movie, but I countered that thought with the knowledge that some screenwriter would just screw it up, so better to leave it in book format.

What a cool book! I originally bought this book in mass market paperback format eons ago, but never got around to reading it until I saw the same book in trade paper size (which I really prefer), and I pounced on it. I picked it up last night and didn't look back until I finished it this morning. If that's not a recommendation, I don't know what is.

brief summary; no spoilers here:
Arthur Bryant, a most eccentric partner in detection of John May, was revisiting the pair's first case together some 60 years later, and the lab he was working was blown to kingdom come, taking Bryant with it. John May, of course, whose friendship with Bryant has lasted throughout their career as detectives in the Peculiar Crimes Unit (started during the Blitz in London), is devastated, and realizes that to solve the case of Bryant's death, he has to go back in time to re-examine their first case, since that was what Bryant was working on. It turns out that this case involved a very bizarre production of Orpheus in the Underworld, complete with can-can and high French knickers by the dancers at the end. They were assigned to the case when a pair of feet were discovered on the charcoal brazier of a Turkish street vendor - leading them to the death of a dancer in the theater staging the production. After that, the show was plagued with problems that required special assistance from the Peculiar Crimes Unit -- for example, a medium whose cat channeled the spirit of a dead pilot, along with other, shall we say, more unorthodox methodologies of crime solving. But back to the future: May will not rest until he solves Bryant's death, so he tries to put the missing pieces together to do so.

The book weaves both past and present together to get to the root of the modern-day tragedy, and does it well by examining the original case back at the time of the Blitz. The characters, however, make this novel what it is. Bryant and May are very well suited to each other, and the rest of the characters are not droll toadies relegated to the background, but have lives of their own here. I'm very big on the use of place & setting as a character of its own within a novel, and here Fowler has done that -- the darkness of blacked-out London during the bombings has its own personality. Fowler's descriptions of how people coped and how society worked during the Blitz was also very well done.

I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes British mysteries, and to people who like mystery spiced with a bit of the fantastic & paranormal, but done so in a way that doesn't turn silly and take you off on ridiculous tangents. I already know I'm going to really enjoy this series and can't wait to get to the others.

[Jill H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recently, the talented author of the Peculiar Crime Unit Series, passed away. He will be sorely missed by his fans. I have loved his books over the years and decided to go back and re-read the first entry in the series.
________________________________________
The madness begins!!!!........this is the first of the popular Peculiar Crimes Unit series featuring the elderly detectives Arthur Bryant and John May. I had read others in the series before I read this one which provides the background of the main characters and the beginnings of the Unit. This book filled in the gaps.

The story begins with a back story set in modern times with May thinking back about his initial days in the Unit during the Blitz in WWII. The actors in an about-to-open play are being killed in dramatic ways by a strange figure dubbed the Phantom. As is usual in these stories, false clues, red herrings, and impossible situations abound as the detectives dash around a burning London dodging air raids to solve the crime. If you read this book after reading others in the series, you know how the back story is concluded but it doesn't spoil the fun.

For fans, the ubiquitous Leicester Square Vampire, whose name pops up throughout the series, makes his first appearance here, albeit briefly and you get to meet Detective Longbright's (a continuing character in later books) mother who was one of the members of the Unit in the early days.

This series is just plain fun!!!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars (wasn’t quite good enough to round up to 4 stars) This is one I seem to have had on and off my tbr list for a long time. When it came up in the kindle daily deal, I reckoned it was time to give it a go and I snapped up the audio for only a couple of quid. I wish I hadn’t because the audio wasn’t great. The book itself switches forward to the present then back to the past quite often, but there was no difference between the old and young detectives in the voices, which made it tricky while driving to work out what was going on.
As for the story itself, I felt there were too many red herrings which made the middle of the book quite slow. I enjoyed the denouement of both the past and present cases. I will probably give the next book a chance but not with audio!

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate to cheat, but I may just cut to the end. Have you ever felt annoyed with a book for wasting your time? This is one of those books. But don't take my word for it - lots of positive comments on mystery forum. Other readers enjoy the history (ww2 Britain) and humor. I enjoy history too, but it if it isn't delivered in a compelling style it doesn't make the book worthwhile. And the humor, well, if quirky, cranky & British make characters fun for you, read this book. I need a really good story myself.

[Lois Bujold · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, hm.

This book was recced to me for humor, which turns out not to be quite the case -- more irony and dark wit. Too dark for my current reading needs, which took it down a star subjectively, but well written, which added a star objectively. Quirky and eccentric without being cozy.

Written in omniscient, with parallel tales taking place in two times -- Detectives Bryant and May's first case, occurring during the London Blitz, and their last, in the early 21st Century. The omniscient voice allows some interesting effects as the tale not only alternates eras q.s. by chapter units, but adds illuminating asides in lines and paragraphs jumping back and forth in time summing up assorted bits of intervening information which helps stitch the parts together. Which a writer can do in omniscient, but not in tight third. While I find omniscient more emotionally distancing than tight third, no question one can get good breadth out of it, properly handled.

Someone is knocking off cast members of a lurid production of the operetta Orpheus while German bombs fall on London, and the newbie detectives must pursue justice for the few inside the labyrinthine building while thousands are dying outside; this part is a pretty good historical novel, among other things. 60 years later, something from that first case comes back to haunt the aged pair.

For whatever reason, I seem to be running across a slew of recent British works that appear to want to recapture an older generation, or something from it that is now missed -- not only this, but the TV series New Tricks, and the character of Detective Inspector Nightingale from Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series. Is this a Thing in Britain at the moment? Or just an artifact of my own selections?

The tale starts dark and gets darker, but lightens up toward the end, rewarding the persistent reader. The grimdark almost lost me about a third through, but I peeked at the end for reassurance that I was not to be perpetually punished for my reading efforts, and slogged on. Destroyed the puzzle aspect of the tale, a disservice I suppose, but I don't read mysteries for the puzzles, but rather, for the characters and sometimes settings, which here held my interest fairly well. I might follow up sometime just to see what the writer does with this setup.

Ta, L.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think my love for this series was summed up in a phrase of one of the characters portrayed by author Christopher Fowler: "Everyone wants the things that remind them of childhood. I just re-imagine them with the materials of the present." Full Dark House captures my favorite aspects of my "childhood" mysteries-Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, especially come to mind, dressed up in very contemporary dark humor and time manipulation.

Although not the first I've read, Full Dark House is the first in Fowler's Bryant and May detective series. Bryant and May are two elderly detectives-one charming, one not-who head London's "Peculiar Crime Units" and Full Dark House tells the story of their first case in flashback. The book begins with the bombing of the theater which was the site of their first case and the killing of Bryant. As his partner and friend tries to solve the mystery of the current day bombing, he is forced to relieve and rethink their first case.

Although it dragged at some points, on the whole,
Full Dark House (a reference to the theatrical production that is its setting) is a lovely and satisfying read.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

First in the Bryant and May Peculiar Crimes Unit historical mystery series and revolving around a pair of detectives who, thankfully, balance each other, and which flips between 1940 and 2000 in London.

In 2004, Full Dark House won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel.

My Take
It’s a peculiar start with the death of one of the main characters. In between, there are some flamboyant theatrical deaths…shades of Phantom of the Opera(!)…and a contradictory partnership of the offputting Bryant and the more level, realistic, and diplomatic May.

It’s that theatre case in 1940 that finds Arthur going off the deep end and is connected to the event of Arthur’s death which allows May to reminisce about past cases — a brilliant way of dumping information on us. It’s also a great way to introduce Bryant’s fascination with the occult and his fantastic imagination.

The “time travel” can be a touch confusing as Fowler flips back and forth between today’s investigation into Bryant’s death to May’s introspection about their first case together at the Palace Theatre, the progression of which causes Bryant to compare the PCU to Orpheus, “rushing headlong into the light of a terrible new world”.

You’ll learn some interesting tidbits about how Londoners coped with the blitz, such as leaving your white shirttail hanging out when on a bike, so motorists can see you during a blackout, sandbag substitutes, the concern for morale, and the food shortage problems. For the prurient, Fowler explains the “excitement” of the cancan, lol. What he calls “a real trouser rouser”…*laughing*… Fowler also has a lovely explanation of what’s behind the thinking on Offenbach’s Orpheus. Makes me want to the original tale and the opera myself.

Fowler helps create a more fearful atmosphere with the terrible situation for the theatrical people: the fear of the bombings combined with the fear of who is killing them off.

It’s complex and twisting and found me re-reading sections to get the gist, but very well worth reading. You will CRACK up when you get to the end. It’s so Bryant, ROFL. To call Bryant eccentric is to lowball the guy. He’s a danger to technology and stuffed shirts.

Hmm, Fowler never does explain that flute note.

I’m eager to see how Fowler continues in The Water Room since we’ve had the beginning and the (possible) end already.

The Story
A bomb rips through present-day London, tragically ending the crime-fighting partnership of Arthur Bryant and John May begun more than a half-century ago during another infamous bombing: the Blitz of World War II.

Desperately searching for clues to the saboteur’s identity, May finds the notes his old friend kept of their very first case and a past that may have returned…with murderous vengeance.

It was an investigation that began with the grisly murder of a pretty young dancer. In a city shaken by war, a faceless killer stalked London’s theatre row, creating his own sinister drama. And it would take Bryant’s unorthodox techniques and May’s dogged police work to catch a fiend whose ability to escape detection seemed almost supernatural — a murderer who decades later may have returned to kill one of them…and won’t stop until he kills the other.

The Characters
Bryant and May can be found in both times.

September 2000 London
Detective Arthur Bryant died in a bomb blast that took out the office. Just as he and May were about to retire. His partner, Detective John May, is the level-headed one. Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright has just retired. Liberty DuCaine is part of the forensic unit. (His brother’s name is Fraternity.) Sam Biddle is Sidney’s grandson and is the new liaison officer between the Peculiar Unit and the Home Office. Dr. Oswald Finch is the now-retired forensic pathologist. Raymond Land is the new unforgiving head of the Unit.

April is May’s agoraphobic granddaughter; Daphne is May's current girlfriend. Hmm, a granddaughter means the player got married at some point… Alma Sorrowbridge is Bryant’s West Indian landlady.

Dr. Leigh is at the Wetherby, a clinic for patients suffering from senile dementia. R. and Maurice Mamoulian have a dog, Beaumont, and they’re May’s neighbors. Stanhope Beaufort has a practical, ahem, perspective on architecture. I loved his explanation of architecture versus his own comfort. Maggie Armitrage is a spiritualist and one of a very few left in the Coven of St. James the Elder along with Neema; Olive can’t handle the stairs anymore. Do pay attention to Maggie’s predictions. You’ll be surprised.

November 11, 1940 London
The North London Peculiar Crimes Unit is…
…a new organization intended to handle controversial cases that could affect the country’s morale, but more especially the cases the regular force can’t handle — the embarrassing ones. Sidney Biddle is the officious, by-the-book spy planted on Bryant by their boss, Superintendent Farley Davenport, who is completely against the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Arthur Bryant (he has a dicky heart) and firmly believes in outside-the-box thinking, an iconoclast, with a true belief in the paranormal. I suspect it’s partly why he has such a difficult time with the opposite sex. Not a problem that May has. The eighteen-year-old Nathalie was the love of Bryant’s life.

”A Holborn judge … refused to hear any more from the unit’s witnesses until Bryant could assure him that they were all technically alive and in human form.”

John May had codebreaking training and this is his first day on the job; he’s the diplomat who keeps a rein on Bryant’s more excessive imaginings. Detective Sergeant Gladys Forthright (one of the first female ones thanks to the war) is engaged to Sergeant Harris Longbright; she’s also part time with the WVS. Dr. Runcorn is their ancient forensics pathologist; Dr. Finch is the new guy. Police Constables Crowhurst and Atherton are the rest of the staff. “Nasty-Basket” Carfax is the disapproving desk sergeant who’s married to Davenport’s sister.

The Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus …
…is one of the great theatres and makes a rabbit warren seem organized. Elspeth Wynter is the front-of-house manager. Her father “died … during a trouser-dropping farce in which he had already been dying nightly". Todd is her son. Mr. Cruickshank is the archivist. Helena Parole is the artistic director; Benjamin Woolf is an agent and Helena’s former husband. Harry Cowper is Helena’s assistant and keeps the peace. Nijinsky is the house tortoise. Stan Lowe is the stage doorkeeper; Mouse is his assistant. Geoffrey Whittaker is the stage manager. Madeline Penn is on loan from RADA and the assistant stage manager. Anton Varisich is the conductor. Olivia Thwaite is the costume designer. Mr. Mack is the head carpenter. Raymond Carrington is the lighting chief.

Tanya Capistrania is an upstaging dancer, and she’s been gettin’ busy with Whittaker and Cumberland. Her father, Albert Friedrich Capistrania, will be at the Austrian ambassador’s house. Eve Noriac is playing the title role of Eurydice, and the much-loved Charles Senechal is an Anglo-French baritone playing Jupiter; both are on loan from the Lyon Opera House. Corinne Betts is the comedienne playing Mercury. Miles Stone is the star playing Orpheus. I love that bit about Miles’ agent referring to him as “the Millstone”, lol. Betty Trammel, Jan Petrovic (Phyllis is her worried roommate), and Sally-Ann are some of the chorus girls. The high-strung Valerie Marchmont plays Public Opinion. David Cumberland plays John Styx. Barbara Darvell plays Jupiter’s wife; her son, Zachary, and his friend Larry are in the balcony watching the rehearsal.

”Real stars make you believe in them because they believe in themselves.”

The Three Hundred International Banks is…
…a financial group backing the production with Andreas Renalda, a Greek shipping magnate, who is the chairman. Sirius was his father; Diana his mother; and, Minos was his five-years-older brother who was passed over to inherit the business. Elissa was Andreas’ wife. Euterpe is the Muse of lyric poetry.

The more, ahem, spiritual side includes…
…Edna Wagstaff is a medium who uses stuffed cats but only Rothschild is left. Her spirit guide was Squadron Leader Smethwick. She lost her son, Billy, at Dunkirk and her daughter is in the WRNS. Bryant has friends in the Camden Town Coven, the Southwark Supernaturals, the Prometheus League, the Mystic Savoyards, the Insomnia Squad, and a large assortment of paranormalists, idiot savants, primitives, mind-readers, and madmen. The ghosts include “Man in Grey”, John Buckstone…and Arthur?

Rachel Saperstein is Miles’ mother, and not too happy about his name change nor his divorce from the “lovely” Becky. Seamus is the milkman. Peregrine Summerfield is a journalist friend of Bryant’s who wrote an exposé on the Renaldas that got squashed. The Band of Hope is a temperance group. The Archbishop of Canterbury “says they’re all going to Hell” while Bryant claims he only says that when he finds out people are enjoying something. Gilbert Riley is a snoopy critic.

The Cover and Title
The cover is quite peculiar with its pale yellow background rough edged in a scribble of a darker orangey yellow. The title and author’s name are in a deep chocolate brown. But it’s the graphic in the lower center that really grabs the eye with its old-fashioned green steamer trunk with drawers on one side and a curtained-off space on the other. Circling around it are icons representing events in the story from guns to grenades, a British flag waving as bombs drop, a tragedy mask for the theatrical shenanigans, and one swirling plant…that Bryant…!

The title encapsulates the murders at the theatre, as it results in a Full Dark House.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was too much that was vague about this story for me to rate it any higher. The chapters shift between the present (the book was published in 2003) when Arthur Bryant and John May are both in their eighties and 1940 when they're working their first case together as members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. The problem is that, when it comes to the relationships and the investigation of multiple murders, there is too much telling and not enough showing. For the investigation things are suddenly announced as fact and we're told that the information was discovered and/or relayed to others off the page, thus denying the reader the chance to discover clues along with the characters. For the relationships, well the most important one is the 60+ year friendship between Bryant and May but when we first meet them in the 1940 flashback chapters we're never really given any solid foundation for why May inherently trusts Bryant's instincts or why Bryant feels so despondent that May doesn't have faith in him...after only three days of knowing each other (and if you're wondering about the seeming contradiction in that, there is plenty of stuff like that in the book too). It's not like we're shown them having deep, personal conversations or surviving a tragedy together. They felt more like the cliff notes to friendship. The cover was nice as was Bryant's sense of humor but, unfortunately, neither really translates into further reading of this series.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were two quotes on the back of the paperback copy of Full Dark House I picked up that caught my attention: "A madcap mystery..." and "How many locked-room puzzles can the duo unlock..." My kind of book; or so I thought.

Not only is there no locked room (the detectives took another character's word for it on that one) it wasn't terribly madcap either. Nor was the plot original; yes, folks, it's another "reinterpretation" of that famous Gaston Leroux novel, The Phantom of the Opera. I do like the characters of Arthur Bryant and John May and found Fowler's style very readable and his prose well crafted but not enough to push my rating above two stars.

[David Eppenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there is a genre of fiction I avoid at all costs it is crime stories and murder mysteries in particular. I spent my professional career in criminal court and have represented probably over two thousand murder defendants. As a consequence of my real world experiences fictional crime is beyond laughable for me. In fact I do not understand how something I know to be so violent and ugly and never done with anything resembling thought let alone planning can be a source of entertainment and especially by women who seem to be such huge fans of such fiction. My review of this book, therefore, should be viewed as the opinion of a biased reader and taken with the proverbial grain of salt.

If I so dislike books of this type why did I bother to read it and even spend good money buying it? Most of what I prefer to read is history but I have been making an effort to alternate my history with some fiction. All history could make me a dull boy after all. The problem is that I have a hard time finding fiction that appeals to me. I saw a review of this book on GR and did a little further investigation among GR reviews for this book and the series that it begins. The descriptions of the two detectives involved and the types of cases they work on had me intrigued. The detectives seemed to come across as an Odd Couple combination, a Holmes and Watson with Holmes being a mystical nerdy wacko and Watson being a down to earth everyman and they work on cases that would have been a good fit on the X-Files. With this in mind I thought I'd give the first book in the series a try. What could it hurt? My expectations were greater than what was delivered. The detectives are quirky but not excessively so and their case was unusual but not terribly odd especially for a British murder mystery. To my mind this was just the sort of murder mystery that has me avoiding murder mysteries. Nevertheless, I know there are a lot, quite a lot I imagine, of readers that love this sort of book. (Why?) So I will try to be as fair as I can.

The two detectives, Bryant and May the wacko and the everyman, belong to a misfit detective unit called the Peculiar Crimes Unit. The people assigned to this unit are exiled to this unit because nobody else will have them and the same goes for the cases that are assigned to the PCU. In this book an operetta is being staged during the London Blitz of 1940 and an actress is killed in a unusual manner thus earning assignment to the PCU. Any reader that is interested in the stage and in particular the backstage mechanics and hierarchy will enjoy this book because the author goes into a great deal of descriptive detail about theatrical staging. As this is the first book in Peculiar Crimes Unit series the relationships of the characters are all in their germinal stage and take up a good deal of the early part of the book. However, the case is diligently pursued and thoughts and comparisons to Holmes and Watson are sure to occur to the reader. I won't say the author cheated because the clues were there I guess but I certainly didn't see the ending coming or guess the outcome. I suppose the attraction for this type of book is solving the puzzle and in that regard I failed. I just don't understand why a person needs to be murdered in order for an author to create an interesting puzzle for readers to solve. Would readers regard fictions involving rape or child molestation as possible sources of amusement and entertainment? I think not. Why is it different for murder? The book was certainly a worthy addition to its genre. It was well written and a novel twist on this rather tired genre so many fans will probably consider it refreshing. I read it. I respect the author's talent but I don't think I will read anymore in this series. Enjoy.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It starts in modern day & left me with a Hmmmm as the text talks of a wartime mystery/crime to solve, there’s also a reveal which further unravels the series.....

Then we’re back into the past & in London theatreland at the height of the blitz, a whole host of characters are thrown at the unsuspecting reader all with the tag of “potential murder” hanging over them leaving me totally flummoxed, situation normal then!

Murders, missing people, suspects multiple, clairvoyants, spiritual “stuff”, introduction to the peculiar crimes unit to give you but a flavour all revolving around an opening show in the west end.

A decent start to a series I’d say as it grew on me & a fair story which will leave you grasping at straws when it comes to guessing the murderer..... not a Scooby here.... nowhere near close....

3.5 stars for me as it’s a bit of a bumpy ride at the start, rounded up to 4 as I always do for debut reads

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

FULL DARK HOUSE (Police Procedural-London-Cont/WWII) – G+
Fowler, Christopher – 1st of series
Bantam Books, 2003- Hardcover
When a present day bombing of the Peculiar Crimes Unit kills elderly detective Arthur Bryant, his partner, John May looks to their first case for clues as to why.
*** What an interesting use of contrasts. Fowler brings to life 1940s London during the Blitz offset by the Millennium Eye; the chaos of the streets during the Blitz and the insularity of a theatre; traditional police procedure versus use of a medium; a difficult, quirky detective offset by a personable classic investigator. I felt the plot was overly complex and the story slow at times, but I was held in the story by the strong writing, humor, and the relationship between the two protagonists. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

[Marwan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this Crime Fiction was better than I thought it'd be, I'd give it 5 stars if it wasn't too long and too detailed. But it's to be expected since it's a historical fiction also.
The novel is the first in the series that revolves around the adventures of Arthur Bryant and John May in the peculiar crime squad unit. It focus on the first case they worked on together during the world war 2. It's about a series of murders that occurs in the Palace theater, a murderer who moves swiftly and mange to get way easily like a phantom (Phantom of the Opera XD). They manged to solve the case and the murderer was assumed to be killed during the pursuit. However, 60 years later, when a bomb obliterates the peculiar crime unit building and Arthur Bryant was the only one in the building. John May suspects something is wrong, further digging reveals that Arthur was re-investigating their first case, and the killer might be still alive after all. It's up to John to find the truth and avenge his old friend and partner.
The story keeps swapping between the past and present which what I like most about. Arthur Bryant is an interesting character, and "as John May described him" a fun person to be around.

[Roger Brunyate · Rating 3 out of 5]

 
Feet on the ground… or not?

It really was a hell of a blast. The explosion occurred at daybreak on the second Tuesday morning of September, its shock waves rippling through the beer-stained streets of Mornington Crescent. It detonated car alarms, hurled house bricks across the street, blew a chimney stack forty feet into the sky, ruptured the eardrums of several tramps, denuded over two dozen pigeons, catapulted a surprised ginger tom through the window of a kebab shop and fired several roofing tiles into the forehead of the Pope, who was featured on a poster for condoms opposite the tube station.

It's certainly a brilliant opening. A bomb in modern London kills Arthur Bryant, the octogenarian senior partner in the detective team of Bryant and May (yes, like the English matches), bringing to an end their six-decade association in the Peculiar Crimes Unit. And this takes the surviving partner, John May, back to their first case together, a series of grisly murders in London’s Palace Theatre during the worst year of the Blitz. Unusually for the first book in a long series, author Christopher Fowler sets out to solve the first crime—and the last.

The Goodreads friend who recommended this series praised Fowler for his uncanny knowledge of London then and now, and his ability to take the reader into strange corners and situations. And my friend is absolutely right; Fowler knows the city, and has his feet on its ground; he is at his best when he keeps them there. His descriptions of wartime London ring totally true, and I found myself trusting him, especially in the earlier period.



I also had hopes for the setting. The Palace is a real theater, home to many of the big musicals such as Les Misérables, The Sound of Music when I was young, and many famous names before and since. In the novel, they are rehearsing an elaborate and somewhat risqué revival of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld. A light opera, certainly, but still opera, and thus in my professional world as an opera director; I should have been in my element. Fowler is excellent at describing the physical building, and he has fun with many of the personalities, such as the domineering director:

Helena Parole had a handshake like a pair of mole grips and a smile so false she could have stood for Parliament. 'Thank you so much for taking the time to come down and see us,' she told May, as though she had requested his attendance for an audition. Her vocal cords had been gymnastically regraded to dramatize her speech, so that her every remark emerged as a declaration. May felt the hairs on the back of his neck bristle with resentment.

However, I came to realize that my professional knowledge made me less, not more, suited as a reader. There was too much that was not quite right. Like so many detective writers, Fowler seems engaged in building up a cast of colorful characters, and treats the inbred nature of the theater world as license to take this even farther, creating types rather than working professionals, regular human beings. And when the story began to hint at elements of the supernatural, in the manner of Phantom of the Opera, or international conspiracies in the manner of Dan Brown, I felt Fowler was losing his best quality, the ability to keep his feet on solid ground. A little over halfway through, I suddenly asked myself, "Do I care to know who has committed these murders, or what happens to all these people?" And the answer was that I didn’t, so I stopped.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah I have finally finished it - I will have to hold my hand up and apologise this book took far too long to read and that should in no way reflect on the quality of the story or abilities of Christopher Fowler - nope this one sits with me. A mixture of bad timing (I was reading it as I was preparing to head to the US on business) and the fact I am shallow and was easily distracted by other books to read at the same time.

But what of the book! Well this if I remember correctly (go on correct me) was the start of the official series of Bryant and May of the Peculiar Crime squad. Now this is not to say the first time we have seen them in print (or in fact I have read them in print) they have appeared in earlier works but they never quite satisfied Mr Fowler. So to correct this he decided to start again - re-writing and tidying up their history and in the case of the book The Darkest Day totally rewriting the book itself.

So here we have their first case - and without giving away spoilers it does an excellent job of telling us of their first case together and what appears to be their last. It introduces us to London during the blitz and to London in general. Now I have said many times that I do love an authentic London based story and Christopher Fowler cannot get more authentic (its not about snobbery I just hate seeing locations I have visited and wander around poorly represented). It also prepares us for the relationship that comes from working together for so long together, the banter the thought processes and the camaraderie that has developed because of it.

The series is as far as I can see still going strong with new titles being added to it all the time. And for me there is still the hint of the fantastical (the White Witch of London?) as well as sheer detective work and drama. Christopher Fowler has the ability of turning his hand to many genres and I have still to find one he has failed at. I look forward to reading the next in the series although I will make sure its a little more stable in my reading times.

[Charles van Buren · Rating 3 out of 5]

 A disappointment, July 2, 2016

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This review is from: Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery (Bryant & May series Book 1) (Kindle Edition)

I finished Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery with some disappointment. I had eagerly anticipated starting this series but found the writing and organization of this novel disjointed. Particularly in the first third of the book. I found the dialogue difficult to follow, often hard to determine which character was speaking. After the first victim, there was little character development, hence little feeling for the victims. They became mere cyphers in the increasing body count. Detective Bryant's side trips into the occult and the fanciful proved to be almost entirely meaningless. The conclusion was unsatisfying and the novel continued past more than one good stopping place. I hope this novel is atypical of the series.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this British mystery series set in London, England and featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit run by two eccentric octogenarians, Arthur Bryant and John May. The author weaves all kinds of fascinating facts about London into the stories, which are truly original and unusual. My favorite quote comes from a grumpy Bryant who says, "I wish I hadn't tried the mystery meat pie at luncheon, I feel most uncomfortable."

[Jaksen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rousing good read and another series I shall continue. Set in two time periods, the present and the start of WW2, in London England, it's the story of two young detectives/investigators working for the Peculiar Crimes Unit, newly established to solve murders and other crimes which are sort of 'offbeat' or which might embarrass the government or certain important persons who are currently employed in fighting a war. And despite the fascination for the occult one of the two has, (young Arthur Bryant, a sort of youthful curmudgeon), this is not a story about the supernatural. It's about a crime set in the present with echoes in the past.

There are so many characters here! Bryant, and his partner John May, are the two majors. In the past they are young, vibrant, ready to solve crimes with gusto and unprecedented and unofficial methods. In the present they are 'getting up there,' but still on the job. There's also their 'staff,' or associates, including an attractive woman and a rather cranky younger fellow who doesn't approve of their methods. Add to this an entire theatrical crew, from stagehands to managers, and all the actors, musicians and hangers-on one would find in a theater. (They're determined to put on a show despite the almost nightly bombings as the Nazis try to pulverize the city into submission.) There's a murder in the past, and then another...

There's also a bombing in the present - does it reflect on something from that past?

The characters, though, are entirely enjoyable, one of the most 'readable' casts I've ever read. I didn't dislike a single one of them! Non-stereotypical, unpredictable, energetic and not a one is ever seen sitting - or standing still. This is a complex book, though, full of twists and turns - it's often like a jungle labyrinth! I'd recommend it to any reader who likes mysteries - and a serious plot to go with it. I hadn't a single idea what really was going on until the very end, but there ARE clues scattered hither and thither. I just missed most of them.

One more thing, if one does read the book, keep a cue card, at least at the start. As other reviewers have also said: there are SO many characters! And even though they're all distinct, the sheer amount can be confusing until well into the book. I didn't do this, but wish I had.

At any rate, five stars.

[Gram · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first in the series about Arthur Bryant and John May, detectives with London Police Department's Peculiar Crimes Unit. I've read all the other books in the series but somehow I missed out on the first one - or maybe old age made me forget that I'd read it.
The action moves back and forth between 1940, during the London Blitz and the present day when John May has to deal with the fact that his quirky colleague is dead, killed in an explosion which has destroyed the offices of Peculiar Crimes Unit.
May find himself investigating the first crime he worked with his partner - a series of gory murders of cast members at a London theatre as the Luftwaffe bombed London.
Christopher Fowler's writing is beautiful and this is a wonderful mystery thriller. If you haven't read the Bryant and May series I strongly recommend that you do. I'm just waiting for the 18th in the series to be released.

[Jan C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I can't wait for #2 - once I find out what it is.

I was stumped.

It was kind of confusing though - always jumping backwards and forwards through time. One place we are in the '40s and then the next thing you know, we are back in the present day. Admittedly both cases did tie together but it took me a little bit grasping that we were no longer in the same time zone.

Sorry time traveler lovers - this is not "time travel" but just two stories in two different decades taking place within the confines of one book.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

It takes a lot of skill, if not a lot of nerve, for an author to set up a book seemingly about the exploits of a crime detective duo and apparently kill one of them off on the first page.

But that’s what happens here. In present day London, an incendiary device is set off in the office of London Metropolitan Police’s Peculiar Crimes Unit, which not only destroys their police files but kills Arthur Bryant, one half of a detective double, Bryant and May.

The surviving detective John May is now on the hunt for a cop killer. Whilst investigating, May becomes convinced that the killer is connected to the two’s first case together, one that began in London’s Blitz of the 1940’s.

Much of the book then goes back to that time to give details of the case: a strange one, involving a footless dancer’s body, a death by globe and a faceless man running around a theatre in a Blitz-damaged London, before May can deduce any connection between the past and the present.

Though I’ve seen this series around for a while now (and as I type we’re about to get Book 10 in the series) I must admit that, frankly, it’s passed me by.

Really, I should have known better. It’s a witty, clever little book, written with panache and humour, whilst using Christopher’s horror origins to throw in the odd little shock as we veer slightly into Twilight Zone or X-Files territory. The characters are great (although a little rude in places, so they might shock your typical crime fan) and the setting, both in the past and the present, wholly immersive. The suspects all appear as identifiable as in a game of Cluedo or an Agatha Christie novel, and it’s great fun trying to work out whodunnit. The details of their first case together for the Peculiar Crimes Squad, set in 1940’s Blitz-hit London are wonderfully well written. As richly detailed as Connie Willis’s recent Blackout/All Clear, there’s a palpable sense of being in the city whilst there’s rationing and a war on. With none of the technical gubbins of today’s detectives, Bryant and May have to use good, old-fashioned deduction to make their conclusions work. A knowledge of Ancient Greek mythology is quite useful here. That, and a little understanding of the occult that wouldn’t go amiss from a pulp-fiction 1930’s tale.

The overall feeling at the end of this one is that it is a combination of a traditional British crime thriller with a touch of the Phantom of the Opera about it. As the deaths continue at the London theatre, the cause seems almost supernatural. Christopher, showing his Horror origins, can’t resist some quite gory deaths along the way.

I’m sure some readers will be struck by how such tales have recently struck a popular chord. Treading similar ground (or is that a policeman’s beat?) to Ben Aaronovitch’s recent Rivers of London/Peter Grant novels, I must say that as much as I enjoyed Ben’s first novel, I enjoyed this one much, much more. Full Dark House is a more subtle tale, cleverer in its plot twists, sexier and more stylish, although less genre related, perhaps.

Full Dark House is not a book that tries to repeatedly show the reader explicitly how clever it is: it just is, and it is up to the reader to find the clues out. As ‘whodunnits’ go, this is a classy effort. The little touches, as literary Easter Eggs, kept me amused throughout: Bryant and May are the brand name for a British box of matches, for example.

For people wanting to read something in my opinion as good, if not better (and written nearly a decade before) than Ben’s books, this comes very much recommended. Why didn’t readers (including me) notice this one before? This would make a wonderful BBC Television series.

I struggled to put this one down. Guess that means I’m a newly converted fan and can’t wait to read more.

Nine more to go and find. Bring on the next!

[Pseudonymous d'Elder · Rating 3 out of 5]

__________________________
What was that shape in the shadows?
Whose face is in the mask?
––Stranger Than You Dreamt It, from Phantom of the Opera

It’s the fall of 1940, and Nazi bombs and incendiary devices are turning the streets of London into a killing field. In London’s theater district, people in the Palace Theatre––the titular Full Dark House––are dying, not from the Nazi inferno, but at the hands of an eerie, masked phantom haunting the production of the operetta Orpheus in Hell. If the part about the phantom sounds vaguely familiar to you, you have probably been watching too much musical theater.

The young, inexperienced sleuths on this case belong to a tiny squad of London police known as the Peculiar Crime Unit. Detective Bryant is 21 and Detective May is only 19. The regular police are shorthanded because many of them have joined the armed forces, and the remainders are overwhelmed by the hundreds of daily deaths caused by the Blitz and the crime wave that is being committed by your standard criminals under the cover of the nightly blackouts and chaos. Many of the odder crimes they can’t solve easily are being passed along to the Peculiar Crime Unit, not because anyone thinks that those brainy but odd and relatively untrained coppers will be able to solve many of those crimes, but so the police can tell the public that a special unit is working on solving them. The phantom mystery gives the peculiar members of the peculiar crimes unit a chance to prove their worth.

Full Dark House was first published in 2003. About a month ago, I read the 2010 thriller Slow Horses by Mick Herron that just happened to be about a tiny squad of misfit British MI5 agents who are highly underappreciated and are trying to prove their worth. The similarity is just a coincidence, I’m sure. But it makes me think I should write a novel in which a tiny squad of old, odd, misfit book reviewers track down perpetrators of pinched plot elements. [This idea is totally original to me, so keep your hands off.]

★★★ This plot has more holes in it than a screen door in a hail storm. A subplot that takes place in the year 2000 is unneeded, unsatisfying, overly long, and often confusing to the reader. Nicking elements from the Phantom of the Opera seem rather amateurish. And the author keeps hinting that supernatural elements will be a major part of the story, but he can’t be trusted. Yet, for some reason, I kind of liked Full Dark House, and plan to read the next book in the series.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unreserved 5 stars. I’ve been waiting a long time to read the first in this series as I wanted to read them in order. I didn’t know what to expect but I’m very surprised at just how much I enjoyed it.

Bryant and May work together to solve a series of murders in a theatre. The action skips back and forth from present day to WWII as Bryant has been lost in an explosion at their offices and May discovers he had been revisiting these murders, their first case together. The book is rich in detail about war time London, including the propaganda spread to reassure the public and to hide many of the atrocities that were happening. We also learn a great deal about the history and workings of West End theatres. While it has a serious side, it’s also quite silly as well as witty. The story itself kept me guessing right to the end.

I’m looking forward to reading more of this series very soon.

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christopher Fowler introduces you to Arthur Bryant and John May, lead detectives of London's Peculiar Crimes Unit in this first of a great series! While the PCU specializes in using unusual methods to solve their anything but routine cases, to simply call Bryant and May off-beat would be unfair. Fowler uses clever plots, dark humor, and a memorable supporting cast to tell his stories. The fact that Bthe main characters have been at their jobs since the early 1940s, putting both comfortably in their 80s, only adds to the charm. The author is clearly very fond of London and the City is as much a character as the detectives themselves. My wife and I recently traveled to the UK and we were able to visit many of the settings used in the series, including a memorable sunset at Waterloo Bridge. If you go, you'll get an understanding why it's such a frequent location in the books.

[Ryan Mishap · Rating 2 out of 5]

I simply became bored. Decent characters, intriguing storyline covering two crimes--one during the Blitz and one in modern times--, and not a small measure of witty dialogue. The thing just plods like a, well, Thing from a B-horror movie, never really getting on with it, as they say.

Some writers can make the seemingly mundane snap and sparkle, while others can make murderous action seem like an hour in the dentist's office waiting room.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

You're either going to love or loathe this book about a British detective in his 80s who finds himself revisiting the first case he worked on (60 years ago) with his partner in the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Be warned that this is not a fast-paced book and it is, unsurprisingly, filled with flashbacks. Flashbacks usually drive me crazy, but I was ok with them in this book.