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Bryant & May: Peculiar Crimes Unit #6
The Victoria Vanishes
One night, Arthur Bryant witnesses a drunk middle-aged lady coming out of a pub in a London backstreet. The next morning, she is found dead at the exact spot where their paths crossed. Even more disturbing, there's a twist: the pub has vanished and the street itself has changed.
Bryant is convinced that he saw them as they looked over a century before, but the elderly detective has already lost the funeral urn of an old friend. Could he be losing his mind as well?
Then it becomes clear that a number of women have met their ends in London pubs. It seems a silent, secret killer is at work, striking in full view... and yet nobody has a clue how, or why—or where he'll attack next.
The likeliest suspect seems to be a mental patient with a reason for killing. But knowing who the killer is and catching him are two very different propositions. As their new team at the Peculiar Crimes Unit goes in search of a madman, the octogenarian detectives ready themselves for the pub crawl of a lifetime, and come face to face with their own mortality.
Bryant is convinced that he saw them as they looked over a century before, but the elderly detective has already lost the funeral urn of an old friend. Could he be losing his mind as well?
Then it becomes clear that a number of women have met their ends in London pubs. It seems a silent, secret killer is at work, striking in full view... and yet nobody has a clue how, or why—or where he'll attack next.
The likeliest suspect seems to be a mental patient with a reason for killing. But knowing who the killer is and catching him are two very different propositions. As their new team at the Peculiar Crimes Unit goes in search of a madman, the octogenarian detectives ready themselves for the pub crawl of a lifetime, and come face to face with their own mortality.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
106 people are currently reading
1736 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Fowler
264 books1,283 followersLibrarian 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 371 reviews
November 7, 2014
The Peculiar Crime Unit Mysteries tend to be like Russian nesting dolls: there are layers within layers within layers. And one of the layers is always the Home Office effort to find a way to put the Unit out of business for good. Why? Well...it simply doesn't conform to anyone's idea of a government authority (nor was it ever intended to).
In this episode, it appears that middle aged woman are dying in London pubs---but are they in fact being murdered. If so, by whom and why? Now this would seem to be a PCU case, especially as one of the pubs doesn't actually exist!
As always, Bryant and May head the motley group of investigators of the Unit. Arthur Bryant here waxes on the English pub:
...these places hold the key to our past, and therefore
the present. They're an unappreciated indication of who we
are, and a sign of all we've lost and remember fondly, in
which would include nurses' hats, single railway carriage
compartments, quality umbrellas, the concept of public
embarrassment, correct pronunciation and the ability to
tell a child off in the street without risking a stab-
wound.
....
...Public houses act, as their name implies, as homes for
the general populace where opposites can meet and confront
each other without prejudice, on neutral territory. This is
why the landlord is referred to as the host... (p 112)
Fowler provides so much background on London and British institutions and customs in his books--in addition to and as part of the mysteries.
Another recommended episode in the series.
In this episode, it appears that middle aged woman are dying in London pubs---but are they in fact being murdered. If so, by whom and why? Now this would seem to be a PCU case, especially as one of the pubs doesn't actually exist!
As always, Bryant and May head the motley group of investigators of the Unit. Arthur Bryant here waxes on the English pub:
...these places hold the key to our past, and therefore
the present. They're an unappreciated indication of who we
are, and a sign of all we've lost and remember fondly, in
which would include nurses' hats, single railway carriage
compartments, quality umbrellas, the concept of public
embarrassment, correct pronunciation and the ability to
tell a child off in the street without risking a stab-
wound.
....
...Public houses act, as their name implies, as homes for
the general populace where opposites can meet and confront
each other without prejudice, on neutral territory. This is
why the landlord is referred to as the host... (p 112)
Fowler provides so much background on London and British institutions and customs in his books--in addition to and as part of the mysteries.
Another recommended episode in the series.
May 24, 2021
Our two elderly heroes, London Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May, with their Peculiar Crimes Unit, (PCU), are back in their 6th adventure. As their name suggests, the PCU is tasked with solving Peculiar Crimes using peculiar investigative tactics. This is a quirky, unique, witty and engaging series and The Victoria Vanishes is a very good addition to this excellent series.
Protagonist Arthur Bryant has the air of the eccentric, absent minded professor about him – if you are familiar with the TV show The Big Bang Theory, he could be Sheldon’s grandfather. He can also be laugh-out-loud funny. (In this book he delivers an impromptu eulogy for a fallen comrade that is priceless.) His partner and closest friend John May is the dapper older gentleman, has a way with the ladies, smooths over the waves Bryant constantly leaves in his wake, and has a droll sense of humor.
The rest of the PCU team – a group of loveable misfits, each with their own idiosyncrasies – is a strong supporting cast. While crime-solving the PCU is constantly fighting for its existence – The British Home Office looking for any reason to close down what they perceive as an expensive and archaic operation. Yet this group of unlikely crime-stoppers muddles through and consistently gets “results”.
In The Victoria Vanishes the PCU team is called in to solve the seemingly random, mysterious and deadly efficient murders of middle aged women in the pubs of London. As the investigation proceeds, the plot thickens – really becoming a plot within a plot within a plot. The reader also gets an education on the history of London pubs as well as a brush with a “conspiracy theory”. The conclusions of these PCU books can be a little over the top – and this addition is no exception – but they are still great reads.
If you are looking for “something a little different” in your mysteries – look no further – you won’t be disappointed with the Bryant & May PCU series.
Protagonist Arthur Bryant has the air of the eccentric, absent minded professor about him – if you are familiar with the TV show The Big Bang Theory, he could be Sheldon’s grandfather. He can also be laugh-out-loud funny. (In this book he delivers an impromptu eulogy for a fallen comrade that is priceless.) His partner and closest friend John May is the dapper older gentleman, has a way with the ladies, smooths over the waves Bryant constantly leaves in his wake, and has a droll sense of humor.
The rest of the PCU team – a group of loveable misfits, each with their own idiosyncrasies – is a strong supporting cast. While crime-solving the PCU is constantly fighting for its existence – The British Home Office looking for any reason to close down what they perceive as an expensive and archaic operation. Yet this group of unlikely crime-stoppers muddles through and consistently gets “results”.
In The Victoria Vanishes the PCU team is called in to solve the seemingly random, mysterious and deadly efficient murders of middle aged women in the pubs of London. As the investigation proceeds, the plot thickens – really becoming a plot within a plot within a plot. The reader also gets an education on the history of London pubs as well as a brush with a “conspiracy theory”. The conclusions of these PCU books can be a little over the top – and this addition is no exception – but they are still great reads.
If you are looking for “something a little different” in your mysteries – look no further – you won’t be disappointed with the Bryant & May PCU series.
June 22, 2019
Brilliant, as always.Unique series, only for connoisseurs.:)
December 12, 2020
Another rollicking, amusing, witty, historically and geographically-descriptive tale from Mr. Fowler featuring his two most famous, elderly detectives, the finicky and frowsy Arthur Bryant, the elegant and urbane John May.
In this one - and as the PCU is being discredited and removed from existence due to ridiculous, politically-correct notions of police work - Bryant and May investigate the deaths (murders?) of middle-aged women found in or near local pubs. The women are alone, possibly meeting 'someone,' but who and why and how are unknown. We've more of Jack Renfield in this one, (named for the creepy guy in Dracula who eats flies), sniffing around, trying to find fault with everyone while leering at Janice Longbright, detective constable, a thoroughly likeable and fascinating woman who dresses in a 50's era, retro-style. This book has it ALL.
Creepy and often wondrous landscapes - lots of old pubs, lots of old streets, museums and what's inside, underneath and behind these places. Love it!
Dialogue - fast and slow, witty and of the kind you sometimes need to go back and reread, as in, did he just say that? What? Why? Pay better attention! (To myself)
The players - nary a one you lose track of, though I keep my old cue card from the first Bryant and May I read. Each character is absolutely, definitively unmistakable from one to the next to the next. And each with little quibbles and quobbles a reader will NOT forget.
The plot - insidious. Who kills women in their 40's and 50's, and so neatly, leaving (almost) nary a trace. But better yet, why?
There's the shaggy-haired Crenshaw, the new pathologist. Bryant, who wants to retire, and worries that he's losing more than just a few of his faculties. May, sophisticated, cultured, yet hiding his own sad secrets, working alongside his agoraphobic granddaughter, April. Plus Colin Bimsley, (who's always trying to win Detective Constable Meeta Mangeshkar's approval), willing to jump traffic barriers and chase the bad guy even with his diminished balance disorder. (I might have explained that wrong, but you get the idea.) Old people, young people, of every shape and color, age and personality. Diversity to the max...
And it's written in the present time. Cell phones and the internet. Old men complaining about young men, and vice versa. Love it!
On to the next!
Five stars.
In this one - and as the PCU is being discredited and removed from existence due to ridiculous, politically-correct notions of police work - Bryant and May investigate the deaths (murders?) of middle-aged women found in or near local pubs. The women are alone, possibly meeting 'someone,' but who and why and how are unknown. We've more of Jack Renfield in this one, (named for the creepy guy in Dracula who eats flies), sniffing around, trying to find fault with everyone while leering at Janice Longbright, detective constable, a thoroughly likeable and fascinating woman who dresses in a 50's era, retro-style. This book has it ALL.
Creepy and often wondrous landscapes - lots of old pubs, lots of old streets, museums and what's inside, underneath and behind these places. Love it!
Dialogue - fast and slow, witty and of the kind you sometimes need to go back and reread, as in, did he just say that? What? Why? Pay better attention! (To myself)
The players - nary a one you lose track of, though I keep my old cue card from the first Bryant and May I read. Each character is absolutely, definitively unmistakable from one to the next to the next. And each with little quibbles and quobbles a reader will NOT forget.
The plot - insidious. Who kills women in their 40's and 50's, and so neatly, leaving (almost) nary a trace. But better yet, why?
There's the shaggy-haired Crenshaw, the new pathologist. Bryant, who wants to retire, and worries that he's losing more than just a few of his faculties. May, sophisticated, cultured, yet hiding his own sad secrets, working alongside his agoraphobic granddaughter, April. Plus Colin Bimsley, (who's always trying to win Detective Constable Meeta Mangeshkar's approval), willing to jump traffic barriers and chase the bad guy even with his diminished balance disorder. (I might have explained that wrong, but you get the idea.) Old people, young people, of every shape and color, age and personality. Diversity to the max...
And it's written in the present time. Cell phones and the internet. Old men complaining about young men, and vice versa. Love it!
On to the next!
Five stars.
May 12, 2021
This is yet another hugely enjoyable Bryant & May novel. It has all the ingredients we know and love: a seemingly impenetrable mystery, superbly drawn characters, real humour and a wonderful delve into the intricacies of London’s diverse history. Oh, and the Home Office trying to close down the Unit, of course.
The Victoria Vanishes is largely about pubs. The plot is an intriguing one involving a number of murders in pubs, and Arthur actually seeing one of the victims entering a pub...which ceased to exist over half a century ago. It is, as always, engagingly eccentric, excellently written and actually very thought-provoking about both the nature of pubs and about their history, including the history of some of their more eccentric names.
I found it a pleasure from start to finish. It’s one of the best of the series so far, which is saying a lot. Warmly recommended.
The Victoria Vanishes is largely about pubs. The plot is an intriguing one involving a number of murders in pubs, and Arthur actually seeing one of the victims entering a pub...which ceased to exist over half a century ago. It is, as always, engagingly eccentric, excellently written and actually very thought-provoking about both the nature of pubs and about their history, including the history of some of their more eccentric names.
I found it a pleasure from start to finish. It’s one of the best of the series so far, which is saying a lot. Warmly recommended.
July 19, 2014
The closure of many historic pubs in London inspired the author to write the sixth Bryant and May mystery. Octogenarians Arthur Bryant and John May are the senior detectives of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. After four women fall over dead in the pubs around London, they suspect a serial killer. Meanwhile, there is a danger that the Peculiar Crimes Unit might be shut down by headquarters.
The mystery is told with a quirky British humor. Lots of historical information about London is woven into the plot. Londoners would especially enjoy reading about their historic pubs, and a list of the pubs mentioned in the book is on the back pages. Let's raise a pint to Bryant and May!
The mystery is told with a quirky British humor. Lots of historical information about London is woven into the plot. Londoners would especially enjoy reading about their historic pubs, and a list of the pubs mentioned in the book is on the back pages. Let's raise a pint to Bryant and May!
April 2, 2016
Another very enjoyable read about the wonderful Arthur Bryant and John May, the elderly detectives from the Peculiar Crimes Unit in London and their quirky crime-solving methods. A police procedural with a slant like no other I have read, I love the eccentric characters and that peculiarly British sense of humour. The City of London is the jewel in the crown of the Bryant and May series, and I wish that I still lived there so I could visit the pubs mentioned in the text and appreciate their interesting history.
Not quite a four star read for me, somehow the plot was just too implausible, so 3.5.
Not quite a four star read for me, somehow the plot was just too implausible, so 3.5.
February 21, 2019
Enjoyable impossible mystery, which when explained, doesn't seem so impossible but makes perfect sense! I enjoyed the interactions between the members of the PCU and their methods for solving their peculiar crime.
Overall I enjoyed this book alot. Goofed and skipped the previous one so will read that one next.
Overall I enjoyed this book alot. Goofed and skipped the previous one so will read that one next.
February 10, 2020
Loved it! Misschien niet het meest handig om bij #6 te beginnen, maar deze werd juist getipt. Heb echt zin om naar Londen te gaan nu (rechtstreekse treinverbinding is aanstonds!) en de voorgaande boeken te lezen.
July 15, 2009
Bryant and May are a pair of geriatric detectives working the mysterious streets of London, taking the time to puzzle over crimes whose patterns are not immediately obvious, finding connections that might be missed by a policeman working the beat and looking to meet his targets. In this, the first I've read in the series, their Peculiar Crimes Unit faces closure, their health deterioriates, and a man is murdering women in the middle of crowded pubs.
Bryant and May are similar in many ways to Holmes and Watson, but now that Holmes's methods have been embraced by the everyday police, to stand out from the crowd takes a bit more effort. But funnily enough, though there's lots of talk of how unconventional their methods are, in this volume at least their approach has more in common with Frost or Morse than with, say, Dirk Gently.
Nevertheless, this was a highly enjoyable book. Unshowy, straight-ahead prose, fifty short chapters, a good mystery, fascinating stories of London history and marvellous characters... In short, it was as readable as any book I've ever read. It's propulsive, exciting and overall a smashing book - but I've no idea why it's up for a British Fantasy Award, since it's a mystery novel with no fantasy elements whatsoever. It must be the combination of Christopher Fowler and pubs, two of the British Fantasy Society's favourite things!
So far this month I've finished two of the other nominees (Memoirs of a Master Forger by William Heaney and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman), while getting a bit stuck on Simon Clark's The Midnight Man. This is definitely my favourite of them so far, but it won't be getting my vote, just because it isn't a fantasy book. That leaves Ramsey Campbell's Thieving Fear and Gary McMahon's Rain Dogs, though I'll give The Midnight Man another try too.
Bryant and May are similar in many ways to Holmes and Watson, but now that Holmes's methods have been embraced by the everyday police, to stand out from the crowd takes a bit more effort. But funnily enough, though there's lots of talk of how unconventional their methods are, in this volume at least their approach has more in common with Frost or Morse than with, say, Dirk Gently.
Nevertheless, this was a highly enjoyable book. Unshowy, straight-ahead prose, fifty short chapters, a good mystery, fascinating stories of London history and marvellous characters... In short, it was as readable as any book I've ever read. It's propulsive, exciting and overall a smashing book - but I've no idea why it's up for a British Fantasy Award, since it's a mystery novel with no fantasy elements whatsoever. It must be the combination of Christopher Fowler and pubs, two of the British Fantasy Society's favourite things!
So far this month I've finished two of the other nominees (Memoirs of a Master Forger by William Heaney and The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman), while getting a bit stuck on Simon Clark's The Midnight Man. This is definitely my favourite of them so far, but it won't be getting my vote, just because it isn't a fantasy book. That leaves Ramsey Campbell's Thieving Fear and Gary McMahon's Rain Dogs, though I'll give The Midnight Man another try too.
August 6, 2008
THE VICTORIA VANISHES (Pol. Proc-Bryant & May-London-Cont) – VG+
Fowler, Christopher – 6th in series
Doubleday, 2008, UK Hardcover – ISBN: 9780385610681
First Sentence: She had four and a half minutes left to live.
Pathologist Oswald Finch is dead, May has been diagnosed with a tumor on his heart and Bryant has submitted his resignation letter. On his way home from Finch’s wake, Bryant notices a woman going into a pub. The woman is later found dead and when they go to investigate, the pub is gone. In fact, it had been torn down over 75 years ago. But someone is killing women in, or near, pubs not usually their own.
The principal appeal of this book is the relationship between the characters, particularly Bryant and Mays, the bantering dialogue and the humor. We learn much more about the characters backgrounds.
But it is also the insightful musing of the author and the characters that made this book stand apart from the rest. There is a fascinating look at and history of some of London’s pubs but also thoughts on London past and present and the value of an historic perspective. Fowler’s descriptions create powerful visual images.
There is also a very good, suspenseful mystery. Just when you think the mystery is solved, there is a second layer to it.
There is a highly unlikely element and one significant proofreading error, but those did not detract from my absolute enjoyment of this book, which made me laugh, think and, in some ways, touched my heart.
This appears to be the final book in the Bryant and Mays series. I have loved this series and shall miss it.
Fowler, Christopher – 6th in series
Doubleday, 2008, UK Hardcover – ISBN: 9780385610681
First Sentence: She had four and a half minutes left to live.
Pathologist Oswald Finch is dead, May has been diagnosed with a tumor on his heart and Bryant has submitted his resignation letter. On his way home from Finch’s wake, Bryant notices a woman going into a pub. The woman is later found dead and when they go to investigate, the pub is gone. In fact, it had been torn down over 75 years ago. But someone is killing women in, or near, pubs not usually their own.
The principal appeal of this book is the relationship between the characters, particularly Bryant and Mays, the bantering dialogue and the humor. We learn much more about the characters backgrounds.
But it is also the insightful musing of the author and the characters that made this book stand apart from the rest. There is a fascinating look at and history of some of London’s pubs but also thoughts on London past and present and the value of an historic perspective. Fowler’s descriptions create powerful visual images.
There is also a very good, suspenseful mystery. Just when you think the mystery is solved, there is a second layer to it.
There is a highly unlikely element and one significant proofreading error, but those did not detract from my absolute enjoyment of this book, which made me laugh, think and, in some ways, touched my heart.
This appears to be the final book in the Bryant and Mays series. I have loved this series and shall miss it.
August 27, 2014
2 stars. I should not have to skim a book to endure getting through it at all as I did with this one. I have never made a habit of skimming.
Frankly, this book gives the effect of the author's having had a thesaurus on hand that he pulled out every half-hour or so just for fun whilst writing, to inject some obscure term - I have a wide and somewhat eclectic vocabulary and always have had, even more so as an adult than as a child, but within the first hundred pages even I had to stop to check a dictionary four times. I understand that his lead character is meant to be in his eighties, but even my 83-year-old grandmother doesn't use obscure words like "ecdysiast" when "stripper" would do. All but one of those four words had a more commonly-used and less pretentious equivalent that would have meant the same thing without throwing the reader out of the story for a reference.
M. J. Trow, for example, carries off intimate historical knowledge on the part of his detective, teacher Peter Maxwell, far more believably than Fowler does with Arthur Bryant's almost randomly inserted unusual terms and topics. It is indeed no wonder Bryant's memory is so poor, if he cares more about the most obscure trivia his brain appears to collect than recalling important matters of daily life; but that doesn't excuse the unrealistic feel of his mind and behaviour. He feels almost like a caricature, like a detective modelled after Maxwell and Morse with an attempt to have a wider range of knowledge on the arcane than either, but with that aspect poorly executed.
I made it to approximately page 120 before I threw up my hands and decided to skim the book simply for the sake of finishing the thing at all. I admit I was getting bored by then, of the deliberately obscure language, the less-than-lifelike characters and the slow pace of the tale. I don't think I would have completed the book had I not skimmed the rest of the way through it.
The plot is fair enough - I won't spoil it here - though the conspiracy theory aspect, as with a lot about the characters themselves, feels awkward and recycled, and the idea of women being essentially used (both as plot devices and as the story's choice) for the maternal instinct they must have that must have been frustrated by their never having had their own biological children made me positively cringe, on behalf of both childfree women like myself and adoptive mothers, as well as women in general; it's a painfully sexist concept. No men in that sphere of the story...!
I will not be reading anything else from the Bryant & May series of novels. I might try another of Fowler's works, if I'm curious enough, but not this series. The characters feel too much like others out there with bits mashed together (see, I could have said portmanteaux of others, but how many of you would understand without reference? A flaw of this novel and, presumably, the others in the series), and the story is just tedious and unnecessarily convoluted, with random bits of information tossed in that were never needed for the tale.
It's even worse when I consider it in detail after the fact, hence my reduction from 2.5 stars to 2. Don't bother with this book. Really, just don't. Not worth the investment of time required to slog through it.
Edit: That it's the 6th in a series is no excuse for its flaws, in my opinion. No characters should ever be this cardboard. If you've spent five previous books describing them, you should at least give the new reader five minutes' introduction, just in case they pick up a book out of sequence. I thought any author knew that. I don't think that the series aspect excuses anything else I've criticised in this review.
Oh, and apparently the book was awarded "funniest mystery novel" by someone. I just have to ask: how, on earth, could anyone ever think this the funniest anything? I smiled perhaps once or twice throughout the whole novel, and I found neither a chuckle nor a full-blown laugh throughout the whole thing. I really can't see it. Perhaps it's an Anglophiliac thing? Many of the reviewers seem to be from North America, so perhaps... but this isn't my England!
Frankly, this book gives the effect of the author's having had a thesaurus on hand that he pulled out every half-hour or so just for fun whilst writing, to inject some obscure term - I have a wide and somewhat eclectic vocabulary and always have had, even more so as an adult than as a child, but within the first hundred pages even I had to stop to check a dictionary four times. I understand that his lead character is meant to be in his eighties, but even my 83-year-old grandmother doesn't use obscure words like "ecdysiast" when "stripper" would do. All but one of those four words had a more commonly-used and less pretentious equivalent that would have meant the same thing without throwing the reader out of the story for a reference.
M. J. Trow, for example, carries off intimate historical knowledge on the part of his detective, teacher Peter Maxwell, far more believably than Fowler does with Arthur Bryant's almost randomly inserted unusual terms and topics. It is indeed no wonder Bryant's memory is so poor, if he cares more about the most obscure trivia his brain appears to collect than recalling important matters of daily life; but that doesn't excuse the unrealistic feel of his mind and behaviour. He feels almost like a caricature, like a detective modelled after Maxwell and Morse with an attempt to have a wider range of knowledge on the arcane than either, but with that aspect poorly executed.
I made it to approximately page 120 before I threw up my hands and decided to skim the book simply for the sake of finishing the thing at all. I admit I was getting bored by then, of the deliberately obscure language, the less-than-lifelike characters and the slow pace of the tale. I don't think I would have completed the book had I not skimmed the rest of the way through it.
The plot is fair enough - I won't spoil it here - though the conspiracy theory aspect, as with a lot about the characters themselves, feels awkward and recycled, and the idea of women being essentially used (both as plot devices and as the story's choice) for the maternal instinct they must have that must have been frustrated by their never having had their own biological children made me positively cringe, on behalf of both childfree women like myself and adoptive mothers, as well as women in general; it's a painfully sexist concept. No men in that sphere of the story...!
I will not be reading anything else from the Bryant & May series of novels. I might try another of Fowler's works, if I'm curious enough, but not this series. The characters feel too much like others out there with bits mashed together (see, I could have said portmanteaux of others, but how many of you would understand without reference? A flaw of this novel and, presumably, the others in the series), and the story is just tedious and unnecessarily convoluted, with random bits of information tossed in that were never needed for the tale.
It's even worse when I consider it in detail after the fact, hence my reduction from 2.5 stars to 2. Don't bother with this book. Really, just don't. Not worth the investment of time required to slog through it.
Edit: That it's the 6th in a series is no excuse for its flaws, in my opinion. No characters should ever be this cardboard. If you've spent five previous books describing them, you should at least give the new reader five minutes' introduction, just in case they pick up a book out of sequence. I thought any author knew that. I don't think that the series aspect excuses anything else I've criticised in this review.
Oh, and apparently the book was awarded "funniest mystery novel" by someone. I just have to ask: how, on earth, could anyone ever think this the funniest anything? I smiled perhaps once or twice throughout the whole novel, and I found neither a chuckle nor a full-blown laugh throughout the whole thing. I really can't see it. Perhaps it's an Anglophiliac thing? Many of the reviewers seem to be from North America, so perhaps... but this isn't my England!
December 30, 2010
I must start this review by stating that I had not read any other Christopher Fowler books, including the 5 preceding PCU books. With that in mind, I think this book would have been more satisfying had I read the prior books in the series.[return][return]Jumping in at book 6 is never ideal, but some authors set you up well to do so. In this case I felt a little blind. There were a fair bit of characters in the book being referred to by first or last name and little in the way of character traits or descriptions of these people to guide me. For roughly the first half of the book I found myself constantly questioning who was being talked to or about etc. By the second half of the book I just decided to give up trying to keep the characters straight and the reading progressed at a much faster pace.[return][return]I really enjoyed the overall plot. There was still good insight into the politics of the PCU and the manner in which this book's case was solved was intriguing.[return][return]Bottom line? If you've read the other PCU books I'm sure you'll enjoy this one as well. If you haven't read the other ones I suggest you go back and read those before reading this one. I fully expect to go back and read the earlier books and likely will reread this one once I've gotten a feel for the characters.
December 28, 2015
I enjoyed this 6th novel in the series much better than the earlier ones, perhaps because the plot had more interesting twists and turns, or because I'm more attached to the various recurring characters, or even because of the History of London Pubs bonus. OK, maybe some details are rather far-fetched (Christ's blood, the Ministry of Defence conspiracy etc), but who cares? It has gradually become a delightfully quirky series with charming, eccentric characters and irresistible little tidbits about London's history.
February 7, 2018
The name "Peculiar Crimes Unit" pretty much says it all - -they're charming, unorthodox and incredibly effective. Whether the vanishing building in question is a figment of an addled older brain or not is just one of many odd things happening in this book. Will the unit stay together after solving this mystery (murders, not buildings vanished)? Only time will tell, but in the meantime, I'm going back to the beginning.
December 17, 2013
If you like a classic British cozy, this has all the right stuff. Good characterization and a satisfying mystery. It has a bit of humor, too, which made it an entertaining read.
contemplating-its-sins
April 9, 2017I think I've just run out of steam on this series. Tapping out.
October 3, 2022
This was my first by this author but I’m interested enough to go back and read some of the earlier novels in the series. Very interesting characters.
August 10, 2016
Sixth in the Bryant & May crime series and revolving around two too-old detectives too stubborn to retire in London, England.
In 2009, The Victoria Vanishes was nominated for the Dilys Award and the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
My Take
This has been a very confusing story with all the flips and flops between Theseus, Masters, Kasavian selling the building, where all the women worked, what they did, and the killer's purpose. It is leavened by Fowler's sense of humor and all the personal activity amongst the unit, especially with Bryant's special touch, lol.
It opens with Finch's funeral and goes downhill — and funnier — from there. The end of the next morning's meeting sets the tone when Bryant wanders in.
Fowler does enjoy using Bryant and May as his sound-off against society's ills, including poor pronunciation, tantrum-throwing children, and the true purpose of a pub.
Oh, wow. It comes out why Renfield insists on playing by the rules. He makes a damn good point, too. Then again, there's a lot to be said for ignoring standard procedure as well.
I hate that Kasavian. And I do NOT understand how he can claim the building has been sold, and then that another department is being moved in. It's like a two-day notice, and you'll wonder what could possibly happen next before you discover where the unit is moving to!
It's a case tailor-made for the Peculiar Crimes Unit. A lonely hearts killer is targeting middle-aged women at some of England's most well-known pubs — including one torn down eighty years ago. What's more, Arthur Bryant happened to see one of the victims only moments before her death at the pub that doesn't exist.
Indeed, this case is littered with clues that defy everything the veteran detectives know about the habits of serial killers, the methodology of crime, and the odds of making an arrest. Now, with the public on the verge of panic and their superiors determined to shut the PCU down for good, Detectives Bryant and May must rise to the occasion in defense of two great English traditions—the pub and the Peculiar Crimes Unit.
That's easier said than done. A lost funeral urn, the eighteenth-century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, the Knights Templars, the secret history of pubs, and the discovery of an astounding religious relic may be enough to convince one of the pair to take back his resignation letter.
But with Bryant consulting a memory specialist and May encountering a brush with mortality, do the Peculiar Crimes Unit's two living legends have enough life left to stop a murderous conspiracy…and a deadly cupid targeting one of their own.
For all that the younger crowd wants them out, you'll never expect this severance!
The Characters
Senior Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are oil and water with Bryant roiling the water as May smoothes them out. Alma Sorrowbridge is Bryant's landlady now living with him in his Chalk Farm factory. And increasingly frustrated with his oddball habits. I ask you, socks in the oven? Jane is John's ex-wife. Elizabeth is their daughter who died; Alex is the son who moved to Canada.
The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) is…
…a holdover from World War II, originally intended to handle "peculiar" crimes that could destroy British morale. Today, their case closure rate is high, even if their procedures are…unusual. Raymond Land has been the acting unit chief since 1973; Leanne is his straying wife. The rest of the unit includes Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright, who favors film-star styles from the 1950s; Dan Banbury is their IT guy (he has few communication skills but is an amazing hacker) and crime scene manager; Giles Kershaw is their upper class forensic pathologist; Detective Constables Meera Mangeshkar and Colin Bimsley (he has DSA, Diminished Spatial Awareness); and, the agoraphobic April May, who is the office manager (and John's granddaughter), per the task force that recommended hiring civilian liaisons. Oswald Finch is the now-dead pathologist ( White Corridor , 5). Sergeant Jack Renfield is partly to blame for that; Sergeant Leonard Renfield was his father, and was as big a pain who blamed Bryant for his lack of success. Crippen is the office cat.
The Home Office is…
…the nominal boss of the PCU. The weaselly Leslie Faraday and his barracuda of a boss, Oskar Kasavian, are in charge.
Mrs. Jocelyn Roquesby, a secretary with Theseus Research, went into the Old Bell tavern where Lenska is the barmaid. Eleanor Roquesby is her daughter; Jocelyn's ex-husband, Phillip, has some government post. Dr. Peter Jukes had been one of Jocelyn's colleagues and chief scientist for chemical and biological defense at Porton Down Laboratory.
Joanne Kellerman had died in a pub called The Old Dr. Butler's Head. Jazmina Sherwin is in front of the Albion. Mary Sinclair and Jennifer Winslow had worked with Jackie Quinten in the past. Ye Olde Mitre tavern is technically part of ancient Cambridgeshire. Simon manages the Pineapple pub.
Theseus Research is…
…an outside resource for the Ministry of Defense. Katherine Cairns-Underhill is a virologist. Iain Worthington is a senior epidemiologist at the Royal Free Hospital. U.S. Senator Nathan Maddock is a hard-line right-winger. Mandume is a guard.
Dr. Harold Masters is an academic — a lecturer and curator at the British Museum — who enjoys his time off with the Insomnia Squad. Bunthorne is the cat Bryant dropped off with Masters one day. For half an hour. Jane is his now-deceased wife.
The Coven of St. James the Elder is…
…led by Maggie Armitage, a white witch and a friend and frequent consultant with Bryant. Maureen's familiar is Captain Smollet. Dame Maud Hackshaw knows about conspiracy theories.
Kiskaya Mandeville deals in herbal remedies, organic therapies, hypnotism, and sofa repair. Oliver Golifer owns the Newman Street Picture Library. Izabella is Bimsley's latest (in his attempt to get over Meera).
The Grand Order of London Immortals is interested in London's most infamous characters, and its members include Stanhope Beaufort, a bombastic architectural expert; Raymond Kilpatrick, a verbose professor banned for lecturing due to his musical preferences; and, Jackie Quinten, a widow with an interest in Bryant.
Twelve Elms Cross is…
…a mental hospital in East Kent. Abigail Cochrane is the chief warden and curator. Anthony Pellew had been consigned there. Lorraine Bonner had been his community warden. The Clock House is where Anita Pellew once lived; Zosia is a barmaid there, and Patrick is the Irish pot man.
The Dead Diary is a collection of daily files listing the day's dead. Alex Reynolds is an admitting surgeon. Another Alex is part of a -phobia club that meets at the Ship & Shovell pub. Monica Greenwood, a repressed artist, is married to Paul, a stuffy historian ( The Water Room , 2). Janet Ramsey is a journalist at Hard News whose life PCU saved in Ten Second Staircase , 4.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a parchment-like background with all the text in a flamboyant black font. The title springs upward at the top with the author's name in a straight line at the bottom. The series information is the label on the label holder of the file drawer, which is fronted with a British flag and encircled with objects in red and black from the story including the bowler hat and glasses to the hypodermic and poison bottle, the raven, the clock, and Her Majesty's crown on top.
The title is The Victoria Vanishes, the pub that disappears into the night.
In 2009, The Victoria Vanishes was nominated for the Dilys Award and the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel.
My Take
This has been a very confusing story with all the flips and flops between Theseus, Masters, Kasavian selling the building, where all the women worked, what they did, and the killer's purpose. It is leavened by Fowler's sense of humor and all the personal activity amongst the unit, especially with Bryant's special touch, lol.
It opens with Finch's funeral and goes downhill — and funnier — from there. The end of the next morning's meeting sets the tone when Bryant wanders in.
"Some folks can fill a room with joy just by entering it. Whereas being in Oswald's presence for a few minutes could make you long for the release that death might bring."Hmm, the way Renfield is clearing out Bryant's office and packing off his books, I can see more and more why he isn't welcomed. I cracked up as various members of the PCU pop in and all sing the same refrain: that Embalming Under Lenin and A Complete History of the Trouser Press could well help solve a crime. Of course, seven helps in this story *grin* too.
"Then we spend the next few days hiding what we've discovered from anyone who might stop us."It's been fun to watch the evolution of today's PCU members, as they come to see the practicality of Arthur's crazy approach. They've come to accept the success of the duo's style, and it's never more true than when they remonstrate with Renfield over April. I love it. As for that assignment Bryant throws at everyone, well, it'll start to affect Renfield as well.
Fowler does enjoy using Bryant and May as his sound-off against society's ills, including poor pronunciation, tantrum-throwing children, and the true purpose of a pub.
"I hate small-mindedness … I bought some peas in the supermarket last week and do you know what it said on the packet? 'Does not contain nuts.' I hate the endless admonishments of a nanny state that lives in fear of its lawyers."I do understand that! It's so stupid, too, when producers promise that these pears don't contain wheat!
Oh, wow. It comes out why Renfield insists on playing by the rules. He makes a damn good point, too. Then again, there's a lot to be said for ignoring standard procedure as well.
I hate that Kasavian. And I do NOT understand how he can claim the building has been sold, and then that another department is being moved in. It's like a two-day notice, and you'll wonder what could possibly happen next before you discover where the unit is moving to!
The Story"'Whatever happens, whatever the future holds. All ten of us. I'm including Raymond in this.'
'Oh, wonderful — the children I never wanted,' said Bryant. 'Whose round is it?'"
It's a case tailor-made for the Peculiar Crimes Unit. A lonely hearts killer is targeting middle-aged women at some of England's most well-known pubs — including one torn down eighty years ago. What's more, Arthur Bryant happened to see one of the victims only moments before her death at the pub that doesn't exist.
Indeed, this case is littered with clues that defy everything the veteran detectives know about the habits of serial killers, the methodology of crime, and the odds of making an arrest. Now, with the public on the verge of panic and their superiors determined to shut the PCU down for good, Detectives Bryant and May must rise to the occasion in defense of two great English traditions—the pub and the Peculiar Crimes Unit.
That's easier said than done. A lost funeral urn, the eighteenth-century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, the Knights Templars, the secret history of pubs, and the discovery of an astounding religious relic may be enough to convince one of the pair to take back his resignation letter.
But with Bryant consulting a memory specialist and May encountering a brush with mortality, do the Peculiar Crimes Unit's two living legends have enough life left to stop a murderous conspiracy…and a deadly cupid targeting one of their own.
For all that the younger crowd wants them out, you'll never expect this severance!
The Characters
Senior Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are oil and water with Bryant roiling the water as May smoothes them out. Alma Sorrowbridge is Bryant's landlady now living with him in his Chalk Farm factory. And increasingly frustrated with his oddball habits. I ask you, socks in the oven? Jane is John's ex-wife. Elizabeth is their daughter who died; Alex is the son who moved to Canada.
The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) is…
…a holdover from World War II, originally intended to handle "peculiar" crimes that could destroy British morale. Today, their case closure rate is high, even if their procedures are…unusual. Raymond Land has been the acting unit chief since 1973; Leanne is his straying wife. The rest of the unit includes Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright, who favors film-star styles from the 1950s; Dan Banbury is their IT guy (he has few communication skills but is an amazing hacker) and crime scene manager; Giles Kershaw is their upper class forensic pathologist; Detective Constables Meera Mangeshkar and Colin Bimsley (he has DSA, Diminished Spatial Awareness); and, the agoraphobic April May, who is the office manager (and John's granddaughter), per the task force that recommended hiring civilian liaisons. Oswald Finch is the now-dead pathologist ( White Corridor , 5). Sergeant Jack Renfield is partly to blame for that; Sergeant Leonard Renfield was his father, and was as big a pain who blamed Bryant for his lack of success. Crippen is the office cat.
The Home Office is…
…the nominal boss of the PCU. The weaselly Leslie Faraday and his barracuda of a boss, Oskar Kasavian, are in charge.
"Land fancied he heard the distant sound of noosed bodies falling through trap doors. Certainly the sun went in and drained all warmth from the room."Mrs. Naomi Curtis, a legal secretary with the Swedenborg Society, patronizes the Seven Stars. The Victoria Cross is a pub that was demolished in 1925 into which Carol Wynley, who had worked at the Holborn Security Group, went that night. Carol Wynley's partner has had a stroke; he's also a journalist who is able to work from home.
Mrs. Jocelyn Roquesby, a secretary with Theseus Research, went into the Old Bell tavern where Lenska is the barmaid. Eleanor Roquesby is her daughter; Jocelyn's ex-husband, Phillip, has some government post. Dr. Peter Jukes had been one of Jocelyn's colleagues and chief scientist for chemical and biological defense at Porton Down Laboratory.
Joanne Kellerman had died in a pub called The Old Dr. Butler's Head. Jazmina Sherwin is in front of the Albion. Mary Sinclair and Jennifer Winslow had worked with Jackie Quinten in the past. Ye Olde Mitre tavern is technically part of ancient Cambridgeshire. Simon manages the Pineapple pub.
Theseus Research is…
…an outside resource for the Ministry of Defense. Katherine Cairns-Underhill is a virologist. Iain Worthington is a senior epidemiologist at the Royal Free Hospital. U.S. Senator Nathan Maddock is a hard-line right-winger. Mandume is a guard.
Dr. Harold Masters is an academic — a lecturer and curator at the British Museum — who enjoys his time off with the Insomnia Squad. Bunthorne is the cat Bryant dropped off with Masters one day. For half an hour. Jane is his now-deceased wife.
The Coven of St. James the Elder is…
…led by Maggie Armitage, a white witch and a friend and frequent consultant with Bryant. Maureen's familiar is Captain Smollet. Dame Maud Hackshaw knows about conspiracy theories.
Kiskaya Mandeville deals in herbal remedies, organic therapies, hypnotism, and sofa repair. Oliver Golifer owns the Newman Street Picture Library. Izabella is Bimsley's latest (in his attempt to get over Meera).
The Grand Order of London Immortals is interested in London's most infamous characters, and its members include Stanhope Beaufort, a bombastic architectural expert; Raymond Kilpatrick, a verbose professor banned for lecturing due to his musical preferences; and, Jackie Quinten, a widow with an interest in Bryant.
Twelve Elms Cross is…
…a mental hospital in East Kent. Abigail Cochrane is the chief warden and curator. Anthony Pellew had been consigned there. Lorraine Bonner had been his community warden. The Clock House is where Anita Pellew once lived; Zosia is a barmaid there, and Patrick is the Irish pot man.
The Dead Diary is a collection of daily files listing the day's dead. Alex Reynolds is an admitting surgeon. Another Alex is part of a -phobia club that meets at the Ship & Shovell pub. Monica Greenwood, a repressed artist, is married to Paul, a stuffy historian ( The Water Room , 2). Janet Ramsey is a journalist at Hard News whose life PCU saved in Ten Second Staircase , 4.
The Cover and Title
The cover has a parchment-like background with all the text in a flamboyant black font. The title springs upward at the top with the author's name in a straight line at the bottom. The series information is the label on the label holder of the file drawer, which is fronted with a British flag and encircled with objects in red and black from the story including the bowler hat and glasses to the hypodermic and poison bottle, the raven, the clock, and Her Majesty's crown on top.
The title is The Victoria Vanishes, the pub that disappears into the night.
December 19, 2019
For a pair of geriatric detectives, the fabulous Bryant & May do not seem to age – ah, if only…. The pair at the heart of the Peculiar Crimes Unit find themselves faced with a classic conundrum, investigating the murder of woman Bryant recalls passing in the street on his way home; she fell not far from where he saw her – but, perplexingly, the pub that the night before was on the corner where she was found is nowhere to be seen. And then, more women die in pubs.
Fowler’s inventiveness and arcane knowledge of London come to the fore in this story of murder, mental health, high level state conspiracies and London pubs, where as is often the case in this series (as it is in Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series) the city itself is as much a character as a setting, supporting and disrupting the narrative and the characters. Pubs, so central to the story, are places of death and security, both public and private where extensive interaction between fellow drinkers may also be accompanied by lack of knowledge of those drinkers – making the site of the murders perfect; the killer may be seen but never ‘seen’. What’s more, the women are on the whole middle aged, fairly ordinary and therefore also unseen: Fowler doesn’t make much of this, aside from comments about witnesses arguing over what people looked like.
One of the things Fowler does well here, in keeping with many of his novels, is construct a narrative that is at first absurd before becoming disturbingly plausible, if a single small step too far to remain on the right side of the ‘likely line’ – but, then, when dealing with security forces the ‘likely line’ may not be where we think it is. In this case, the tendency to plausibility is helped along because there is less reliance on the mystical then there is on the conspiratorial (which I confess may be a sign of my scepticism about the ethics and morality of security services than a feature of the book for all readers).
For their 6th adventure, B&M are in fine form, although Bryant’s memory is still wonky, but helped by his counsellor, and May’s physical health may not be quite what it was – but the PCU is, as ever, on form, doing things their own way, getting results but still firmly in the sights of Whitehall bureaucrats. Their days are numbered – not by their age, but by their perceived unorthodoxy.
Engagingly constructed with both a sharp narrative and draw-you-in writing style, B&M#6 comes well recommended.
Fowler’s inventiveness and arcane knowledge of London come to the fore in this story of murder, mental health, high level state conspiracies and London pubs, where as is often the case in this series (as it is in Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series) the city itself is as much a character as a setting, supporting and disrupting the narrative and the characters. Pubs, so central to the story, are places of death and security, both public and private where extensive interaction between fellow drinkers may also be accompanied by lack of knowledge of those drinkers – making the site of the murders perfect; the killer may be seen but never ‘seen’. What’s more, the women are on the whole middle aged, fairly ordinary and therefore also unseen: Fowler doesn’t make much of this, aside from comments about witnesses arguing over what people looked like.
One of the things Fowler does well here, in keeping with many of his novels, is construct a narrative that is at first absurd before becoming disturbingly plausible, if a single small step too far to remain on the right side of the ‘likely line’ – but, then, when dealing with security forces the ‘likely line’ may not be where we think it is. In this case, the tendency to plausibility is helped along because there is less reliance on the mystical then there is on the conspiratorial (which I confess may be a sign of my scepticism about the ethics and morality of security services than a feature of the book for all readers).
For their 6th adventure, B&M are in fine form, although Bryant’s memory is still wonky, but helped by his counsellor, and May’s physical health may not be quite what it was – but the PCU is, as ever, on form, doing things their own way, getting results but still firmly in the sights of Whitehall bureaucrats. Their days are numbered – not by their age, but by their perceived unorthodoxy.
Engagingly constructed with both a sharp narrative and draw-you-in writing style, B&M#6 comes well recommended.
July 25, 2018
Although corpses abound in this novel, it moves at the pace of a Victorian novel, packed with the history of London and reflections on the drastic change wrought by the 21st century. This is typical of the Bryant & May series, which in this outing focuses on a group of London pubs that play a critical role as the murder locales. One of the detectives makes a distinction between pubs and bars:
“You always get one or two by themselves in London pubs. That's the difference between a pub and a bar," Banbury explained. "Pubs are about conviviality and community, meeting mates. Bars are for being alone in, or for meeting a stranger.”
As usual, the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) is on the brink of extinction because of its traditional methods and unique role, impossible to capture in a spreadsheet or database. Headquarters has just dispatched Jack Renfield to be their new desk sergeant:
"Renfield came from a world that dealt in quantifiable results. Under Bryant and May, the PCU was like and old-time publishing house that nurtured talent and won out on aggregate, but its new accountability required it to operate on case-by-case wins. Long bright wondered if she was the only one to feel that something unique and precious was about to be lost."
As readers of this series know, you cannot speed read these books or you'll miss all the charm and half the fun, the subtle humor tossed off as an aside or the quirky details that make London one of the world's greatest cities even as it changes before our eyes.
As Fowler remarks at the end:
"How could you begin to explain London?
A city once the colour of tobacco and carrots, now chalky stone and angled steel, but vivid chimney pots can still be glimpsed between slivers of rain-specked glass. Nine billion pounds' worth of Christmas bonuses have just been spent in the city's square mile."
Yes, the solution to the mystery is clever, but for me the main point of reading this series is to gain at least a glimmer of insight into the larger mystery of London. It survived The Blitz, and it will survive Brexit--and whatever other madness the future brings.
“You always get one or two by themselves in London pubs. That's the difference between a pub and a bar," Banbury explained. "Pubs are about conviviality and community, meeting mates. Bars are for being alone in, or for meeting a stranger.”
As usual, the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) is on the brink of extinction because of its traditional methods and unique role, impossible to capture in a spreadsheet or database. Headquarters has just dispatched Jack Renfield to be their new desk sergeant:
"Renfield came from a world that dealt in quantifiable results. Under Bryant and May, the PCU was like and old-time publishing house that nurtured talent and won out on aggregate, but its new accountability required it to operate on case-by-case wins. Long bright wondered if she was the only one to feel that something unique and precious was about to be lost."
As readers of this series know, you cannot speed read these books or you'll miss all the charm and half the fun, the subtle humor tossed off as an aside or the quirky details that make London one of the world's greatest cities even as it changes before our eyes.
As Fowler remarks at the end:
"How could you begin to explain London?
A city once the colour of tobacco and carrots, now chalky stone and angled steel, but vivid chimney pots can still be glimpsed between slivers of rain-specked glass. Nine billion pounds' worth of Christmas bonuses have just been spent in the city's square mile."
Yes, the solution to the mystery is clever, but for me the main point of reading this series is to gain at least a glimmer of insight into the larger mystery of London. It survived The Blitz, and it will survive Brexit--and whatever other madness the future brings.
August 19, 2022
This is the second book that I have read in this series. For a non crime story reader, I find these very engaging. Quirky characters, local London and British history, and the crime you think is being solved is never the end game. I'll continue to pick these up as 'enjoyable reads'.
August 7, 2021
Wonderfully complicated murder mystery. Just right for Bryant and May. During it’s solution the Peculiar Crime Unit gets evicted, dead pathologist’s ashes get used for kitty litter and the boys discover a lost relic of Christ.
June 13, 2022
Any time spent with Bryant and May is time well spent.
May 28, 2022
I so enjoyed reading this book!! I highly recommend this series
August 27, 2011
Leave it to me to start a series with #6! Each book can stand on its own though and I thoroughly enjoyed this romp through some of London's most famous pubs on the way to solving a very odd string of murders. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is full of 'peculiar' detectives.
I loved everyone of these quirky detectives - Bryant - getting old and forgetful, hopes he can remember the info he digs up until he can tell someone else in the dept. Mays - He just found out he has a tumor on the wall of his heart and needs surgery, his life is Bryant and the Crimes Unit and if its closing down then he doesn't really need to live. Janice Longbright - Just one of the guys in heels, her youth passed her by while she was busy catching criminals. She smokes like a chimney and still looks at the internet dating sites thinking someone out there has to enjoy catching crooks as much as her. Colin, whose dad was a crimes unit detective before him has inherited the same disorder his dad had, DSA, Diminished Spatial Awareness, so he falls off curbs, runs into light poles, misjudges doors. Makes everyone nervous when he's on a rooftop! Meers, the tough girl from the estates trying to make a difference. And last but not least Dan Banbury, the nerdy computer whiz. These guys and gals bumble through and somehow manage to solve the crimes no one else can.
Not only do we get a great mystery, great characters solving it, but we also get a history lesson on pubs in England's history
I give this one 5 of 5 stars. It had it all. I can't wait to read all of the books in the series!
hhtp://peggyannspost.blogspot.com
I loved everyone of these quirky detectives - Bryant - getting old and forgetful, hopes he can remember the info he digs up until he can tell someone else in the dept. Mays - He just found out he has a tumor on the wall of his heart and needs surgery, his life is Bryant and the Crimes Unit and if its closing down then he doesn't really need to live. Janice Longbright - Just one of the guys in heels, her youth passed her by while she was busy catching criminals. She smokes like a chimney and still looks at the internet dating sites thinking someone out there has to enjoy catching crooks as much as her. Colin, whose dad was a crimes unit detective before him has inherited the same disorder his dad had, DSA, Diminished Spatial Awareness, so he falls off curbs, runs into light poles, misjudges doors. Makes everyone nervous when he's on a rooftop! Meers, the tough girl from the estates trying to make a difference. And last but not least Dan Banbury, the nerdy computer whiz. These guys and gals bumble through and somehow manage to solve the crimes no one else can.
Not only do we get a great mystery, great characters solving it, but we also get a history lesson on pubs in England's history
I give this one 5 of 5 stars. It had it all. I can't wait to read all of the books in the series!
hhtp://peggyannspost.blogspot.com
March 6, 2011
#6 Bryant & May "Peculiar Crimes Unit" mystery set in London. When a middle-aged woman dies in suspicious circumstances in a London street, Arthur Bryant recognizes her, having seen her entering a pub the evening before as he was walking home half-soused from Oswald Finch's wake. The problem comes when he and his partner John May go to find the pub and find that not only is it not there, but it hadn't been there since sometime in the 1800's.
When several other middle aged-women die in similar circumstances in various pubs around town, they know there's a connection--but what? Of course the PCU employs all their usual offbeat methods to piece things together, even with their newest member--former nemesis from the Met, Sgt. Jack Renfield--now a member of the team and set to watch them like hawks for rules violations.
When the eventually find the killer, they're relieved, but Bryant still isn't satisfied because he knows the killer--while capable of killing--couldn't possibly have masterminded such a complicated scheme and thus he knows they need to seek out the brains behind the young man's actions. But how, when the PCU is once again set to be disbanded since they've lost the tenancy on their office building through a loophole in the paperwork process discovered by their arch-nemesis Kasavian at the Home Office.
Another delightfully quirky mystery with the octogenarian duo and their younger cohorts brilliantly sniffing out crime through the use of decidedly unconventional methods. Looking forward to the next!
When several other middle aged-women die in similar circumstances in various pubs around town, they know there's a connection--but what? Of course the PCU employs all their usual offbeat methods to piece things together, even with their newest member--former nemesis from the Met, Sgt. Jack Renfield--now a member of the team and set to watch them like hawks for rules violations.
When the eventually find the killer, they're relieved, but Bryant still isn't satisfied because he knows the killer--while capable of killing--couldn't possibly have masterminded such a complicated scheme and thus he knows they need to seek out the brains behind the young man's actions. But how, when the PCU is once again set to be disbanded since they've lost the tenancy on their office building through a loophole in the paperwork process discovered by their arch-nemesis Kasavian at the Home Office.
Another delightfully quirky mystery with the octogenarian duo and their younger cohorts brilliantly sniffing out crime through the use of decidedly unconventional methods. Looking forward to the next!
May 29, 2020
I think this is my third time through this and really enjoyed it.
If you spotted a pub one evening and then came past the spot the next day only to find that there was no pub, only a grocery store what would you think? If you knew you had been drinking a fair bit before seeing the pub would that affect your thinking? The more Arthur Bryant thinks about it the more he feels something weird is going on, especially since he saw a woman cross the street and enter the pub, a woman found dead later on that night. Then there are two other women who apparently died while having a quiet drink in a pub. Bryant is sure there is a connection amongst these women but what can it be? And what about Oskar Kasavian, that etiolated (Chris Fowler really likes that word) and pale shadowy figure from the Home Office who is determined to shut down the PCU, especially since they have found some unfortunate facts about his private life.
There are some very complex issues discussed in this mystery: how should dangerously unhinged patients be cared for, how much freedom should the Ministry of Defense have ? Is it safe to chase people through the British Museum in near proximity to the Portland Vase? I answer that last one -no, definitely not.
Sad ending, but followed by a list of great old London pubs complete with addresses.
If you spotted a pub one evening and then came past the spot the next day only to find that there was no pub, only a grocery store what would you think? If you knew you had been drinking a fair bit before seeing the pub would that affect your thinking? The more Arthur Bryant thinks about it the more he feels something weird is going on, especially since he saw a woman cross the street and enter the pub, a woman found dead later on that night. Then there are two other women who apparently died while having a quiet drink in a pub. Bryant is sure there is a connection amongst these women but what can it be? And what about Oskar Kasavian, that etiolated (Chris Fowler really likes that word) and pale shadowy figure from the Home Office who is determined to shut down the PCU, especially since they have found some unfortunate facts about his private life.
There are some very complex issues discussed in this mystery: how should dangerously unhinged patients be cared for, how much freedom should the Ministry of Defense have ? Is it safe to chase people through the British Museum in near proximity to the Portland Vase? I answer that last one -no, definitely not.
Sad ending, but followed by a list of great old London pubs complete with addresses.
March 26, 2016
Sixth in the Bryant and May series and almost as good as the Water Room, my favourite, so I would rate this 4.5 stars.
It commences shortly after The White Corridor. The Peculiar Crimes Unit throws a wake for their late pathologist, whose death formed one of the threads in the previous book. On the way home, Arthur Bryant, the most eccentric of the unit's two elderly detectives, notices a woman going into a pub. When she is later found dead in the street, it turns out that she was murdered, but Bryant starts to doubt his memory when there is no pub at the place where he saw her - it was demo!ished many years ago. The resolution is one of the series' usual rather unlikely ones, yet the enjoyment in this book is how the various characters interact, the dry humour, and the setting of London, which as in most of the series, is a character in itself. The ending is poignant and I think ties in with something I read, that Fowler originally planned the series as six books, but he was obviously persuaded to write more, and I look forward to reading the rest.
It commences shortly after The White Corridor. The Peculiar Crimes Unit throws a wake for their late pathologist, whose death formed one of the threads in the previous book. On the way home, Arthur Bryant, the most eccentric of the unit's two elderly detectives, notices a woman going into a pub. When she is later found dead in the street, it turns out that she was murdered, but Bryant starts to doubt his memory when there is no pub at the place where he saw her - it was demo!ished many years ago. The resolution is one of the series' usual rather unlikely ones, yet the enjoyment in this book is how the various characters interact, the dry humour, and the setting of London, which as in most of the series, is a character in itself. The ending is poignant and I think ties in with something I read, that Fowler originally planned the series as six books, but he was obviously persuaded to write more, and I look forward to reading the rest.
January 13, 2017
My second book in the Bryant and May series was just as entertaining and educational as "Off the Rails." In this mystery, someone is murdering middle aged women in the pubs of London. As one of the last safe places for people to meet, this comes to the PCU (Peculiar Crimes Unit) to solve. Fortunately, the murderer is leaving a trail of obscure clues. The puzzle is pieced together. Unfortunately, the murderer is killed before a confession is made. Case closed. But the book is only 2/3's over. Bryant wants to know who set up the murderer. As with "Off the Rails" and history about the Tube and the area around King's Cross Station, this book fills in the history of the London pub. One of the reasons that they stand out and have a different "footprint" from neighboring buildings is that there was a previous pub there... and one before that. The stories do not have the neatly tied up endings that Christie wrote. Fowler writes about human beings that are complicated, so his endings may not have the feel of a master mystery writer. But it makes the novels that much better.
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