Christopher Fowler’s Peculiar Crimes Unit novels have been hailed for their originality, suspense, and unforgettable characters. Now Arthur Bryant, John May, and their team of proud eccentrics have been given only one week to hunt down a murderer they’ve already caught once and who is now luring them down into the darkest shadows of the London Underground.
The young man they seek is an enigma. His identity is false. His links to society are invisible. A search of his home yields no clues. The Peculiar Crimes Unit knows only this: Somehow Mr. Fox got out of a locked room and killed one of their best and brightest. Facing a shutdown, Bryant and May learn that their man, expertly disguised, has struck again in the world’s oldest subway system. But as their search takes them into the vast labyrinth of tunnels that tie the city together, they discover a fresh mystery as bizarre as anything they have ever faced. . . . As the city blithely goes about its way, as tales of ghost stations and Underground legends emerge, Bryant and May, men of opposite methods, are each getting closer to what lies hidden at the heart of London’s celebrated Tube and to the madness that is driving their man to murder.
Sophisticated, fast-paced, and confounding until its final twist, Bryant & May Off the Rails is Christopher Fowler dead on track and at the height of his power to beguile, bewitch, and entertain.
Arthur Bryant and John May—and their team of proud eccentrics in the Peculiar Crimes Unit—have been given only one week to hunt down a murderer they’ve already caught once, but who somehow escaped from a locked room and killed one of their best and brightest. Facing a shutdown, Bryant and May, men of opposite methods, learn that their nemesis, expertly disguised, has struck again—and now he is luring them down into the vast labyrinth of tunnels and dark shadows of the London Underground. But soon they will discover a fresh mystery—one as bizarre as anything they have ever faced.
Starred Review The death of a fellow member of the Peculiar Crimes Unit sends senior (as in old) detectives Bryant and May in search of a subway killer in this eighth entry in Fowler’s consistently entertaining series. Bumbling and disheveled Arthur Bryant is inclined to unorthodox methods, which include dabbling in the occult. His partner, John May, is fastidious and plays strictly by the book (Arthur drives him nuts!). But they set aside their differences in hopes of solving their most difficult case yet. There is no method to the “Tube” killer’s madness, and nothing to link his victims, who include a cosmetics salesgirl who plummeted down the subway stairs and an unprepossessing student who boarded the train and never got off. The London subway system is rich with history, lore, and ghost stories, and native son Fowler clearly enjoys regaling the reader with tales of the city’s underbelly. Even when the investigation falters and the body count climbs, the author keeps readers’ spirits up with plenty of Bryant and May hijinks, among them Bryant’s relentless efforts to perform card tricks (hard to do when one’s not playing with a full deck . . . ). Clever, comical, and suspenseful, this latest installment is great fun from page one. --Allison Block
Description:
Christopher Fowler’s Peculiar Crimes Unit novels have been hailed for their originality, suspense, and unforgettable characters. Now Arthur Bryant, John May, and their team of proud eccentrics have been given only one week to hunt down a murderer they’ve already caught once and who is now luring them down into the darkest shadows of the London Underground.
The young man they seek is an enigma. His identity is false. His links to society are invisible. A search of his home yields no clues. The Peculiar Crimes Unit knows only this: Somehow Mr. Fox got out of a locked room and killed one of their best and brightest. Facing a shutdown, Bryant and May learn that their man, expertly disguised, has struck again in the world’s oldest subway system. But as their search takes them into the vast labyrinth of tunnels that tie the city together, they discover a fresh mystery as bizarre as anything they have ever faced. . . .
As the city blithely goes about its way, as tales of ghost stations and Underground legends emerge, Bryant and May, men of opposite methods, are each getting closer to what lies hidden at the heart of London’s celebrated Tube and to the madness that is driving their man to murder.
Sophisticated, fast-paced, and confounding until its final twist, Bryant & May Off the Rails is Christopher Fowler dead on track and at the height of his power to beguile, bewitch, and entertain.
Arthur Bryant and John May—and their team of proud eccentrics in the Peculiar Crimes Unit—have been given only one week to hunt down a murderer they’ve already caught once, but who somehow escaped from a locked room and killed one of their best and brightest. Facing a shutdown, Bryant and May, men of opposite methods, learn that their nemesis, expertly disguised, has struck again—and now he is luring them down into the vast labyrinth of tunnels and dark shadows of the London Underground. But soon they will discover a fresh mystery—one as bizarre as anything they have ever faced.
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. British author Fowler's outstanding eighth Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery (after 2009's Bryant & May on the Loose) easily conveys the main characters' rich backstories in the course of a typically bizarre series of puzzles. In the previous book, the PCU, spearheaded by elderly senior detectives Arthur Bryant and John May, apprehended the King's Cross Executioner (aka Mr. Fox), who beheaded his victims, but failed to keep him in custody. In making his escape, Fox killed a police constable. In order to continue being funded, the team now has a week to recapture the fugitive. A series of mysterious events in the London Underground may also be Fox's work: the fatal fall of a single mother down a flight of stairs and the disappearance of a drunken social engineering student after boarding a late-night train. Fowler has few peers when it comes to constructing ingenious and intricate plots--or integrating contemporary technology into a golden age mystery plot.
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From Booklist
Starred Review The death of a fellow member of the Peculiar Crimes Unit sends senior (as in old) detectives Bryant and May in search of a subway killer in this eighth entry in Fowler’s consistently entertaining series. Bumbling and disheveled Arthur Bryant is inclined to unorthodox methods, which include dabbling in the occult. His partner, John May, is fastidious and plays strictly by the book (Arthur drives him nuts!). But they set aside their differences in hopes of solving their most difficult case yet. There is no method to the “Tube” killer’s madness, and nothing to link his victims, who include a cosmetics salesgirl who plummeted down the subway stairs and an unprepossessing student who boarded the train and never got off. The London subway system is rich with history, lore, and ghost stories, and native son Fowler clearly enjoys regaling the reader with tales of the city’s underbelly. Even when the investigation falters and the body count climbs, the author keeps readers’ spirits up with plenty of Bryant and May hijinks, among them Bryant’s relentless efforts to perform card tricks (hard to do when one’s not playing with a full deck . . . ). Clever, comical, and suspenseful, this latest installment is great fun from page one. --Allison Block