Christopher Fowler (1) (1953–2023)

When I borrowed this from the library, along with 'The Lonely Hour', the seventeenth in the series, I didn't realise that there was another book in-between. (Goodreads is confusing matters by calling that one and Oranges and Lemons number 17 when this must be number 19.) However, I think it must be one of those about the earlier careers of Bryant and May because this story picks up with May recovering from being shot at the end of 'The Lonely Hour' and with the Peculiar Crimes Unit finally disbanded. But the odd accident that befalls the Speaker of the House of Commons brings a temporary reprieve albeit in an even more dilapidated unit with poorer resources than ever before. Plus they have a certain person parked on them with a remit to report back to the Home Office, and a new intern.

I enjoyed this story a lot more than 'The Lonely Hour'. The characters were working more as a team and the identity of the person committing a series of serious assaults/murders tied to the locations derived from the old 'Oranges and Lemons' nursery rhyme was not disclosed till the end, even though the book did feature some extracts from their point of view. I also liked the new intern who seemed like a young, female version of Bryant, if Bryant had been born in the modern day, and her connection to the unit was a nice surprise when finally revealed. So overall I am rating this as a solid 3 star read.… (mer)

This Bryant and May novel has a 'frame' around it, set in the present day - Arthur Bryant is dining out with his agent to discuss what old case he might write up next as volume 2 of his - as he admits rather exaggerated - memoirs. The main body of the novel is set in 1969 at the time of the case chosen.

The two detectives are at Camden Lock enjoying a festival when Bryant spots a dangerous psychopath aboard a barge - their attempt to arrest him goes awry and the two discover themselves on borrowed time, the head of the Peculiar Crimes Unit seizing upon this to try to have them sacked from the police force. An official in the civil service comes to the rescue by putting an assignment their way - to guard a key witness in a fraud trial over the weekend. The problem is, the man insists on going down to the country to a 'house party' - being held at a dilapidated stately home - in order to waylay a millionaire business man with a proposal that will save him from going bust as a result of the testimony he is about to give. The house party soon involves murder and general mayhem, including attempts on the life of the key witness, and the two detectives' future looks increasingly grim. If they can't resolve the case and get the man to the trial on Monday, they are sure to be driven out of the force.

I found this an interesting change from the usual B&M setup, seeing the two men as young and rather different yet similar. Bryant already shows signs of the eccentricity he later develops with his difficulty with people, preferring research and books to get to the truth. May has a flair with people, but in this we see him also as occasionally brash and impulsive. There is also 'local colour' from the 60s setting re the fashions of the day, but also the attitudes - their charge is nastily racist and Bryant ends up calling him out on it. The two men are for once younger than those they are questioning and feel somewhat daunted. So it was interesting to get a different slant on them.

The only thing that held this back from a full rating was that about three quarters of the way through it did seem a bit overlong. But there were some good twists/surprises in what was superficially an Agatha Christie setting, with the added point that by the 60s that way of life was well on the way out due to social changes, lack of money by the titled, and a general malaise, as with the son of the house who is a drug taking hippy with no desire to carry on the family tradition. So I rate this as a page-turning 4 stars.… (mer)

I enjoyed this latest installment in the long running series about the Peculiar Crimes Unit and their lead detectives, Bryant and May. This time, the crimes stem from the seemingly accidental death of a young boy due to a freak accident, and the unit is brought in to solve the death of his mother in a private London garden.

Following his recovery from the dementia-like condition which had beset him in the last couple or so books, but still having the odd hallucinatory lapse due to the medical treatment he continues to undergo, Bryant is on top form here, with his odd diving off into all sorts of seeming irrelevancies about the history of London, which yet enrich the story and contribute to his solution to the sequence of murders. Leg work also plays a part as put in by the other members of the unit. As with all books in this series, it is the journey that is the important thing, yet the eventual answer was also a surprise as the story kept me guessing. The only thing that held this back from a 5 star rating for me was that the continuing subplot of the unit continually being threatened with closure and having to solve a case to head that off, is getting a bit too much of a routine. But a well deserved 4 stars.… (mer)

I have just realised, at the end of August, that I didn't review this novel when I finished it, so I am guessing the dates when I read it. I do recall that it wasn't one of my favourites of the series.

The story begins with the drowning of a young girl fastened to a dock by the Thames and follows the investigation by the Peculiar Crimes Unit which, among other things, involves looking into the affairs of an illegal immigrant with a genius for scams. I do recall that an important thread in the story is the dementia-like condition which has beset Bryant since the previous story, leaving the unit bereft of his strange but brilliant leaps into the dark, and hence struggling to solve the case. I can recall parts of the story, but not the total resolution though I think I recall who 'dunnit'. However, it wasn't one that really resonated for me, so I think I would have rated this as 3 stars when I finished it, and I am settling on that rating for this belated update.… (mer)