BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May off the Rails.
The Peculiar Crimes Unit is no more—disbanded, finished, kaput. After years of defying the odds and infuriating their superiors, detectives Arthur Bryant and John May have finally crossed the line. While Bryant takes to his bed, his bathrobe, and his esoteric books, the rest of the team takes to the streets looking for new careers—until one of them stumbles upon a gruesome murder.
Now the Unit is back for an encore performance—in a rented office with no computer network, no legal authority, and a broken toilet. They’ve got until the end of the week to solve a mystery with links to gangland crime, the 2012 London Olympics, and a half-man, half-stag creature that’s carrying off young women. It’s the kind of case that Bryant and May live to solve . . . and it could be the one that finally kills them. **
The efforts of various officials in the London police have finally succeeded in breaking up the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU). While most of the team have started remaking their lives, brilliant, eccentric Arthur Bryant has become a morose recluse. His old friend John May is definitely concerned. Then along comes a case that May thinks might pique Arthur’s interest and put the unit back in business: a headless corpse is found stuffed in an old freezer. Strangely, it’s not the unfortunate dead guy that calls to the elderly Bryant. He’s more interested in the oddly dressed man causing havoc around a King’s Cross renovation project. With the group’s future at stake, which case will win out? With a liberal dose of regional history and some surprising humor, this ensemble crime story has lots to offer—not the least of which are a couple of great, unexpected twists that not only change the makeup of the PCU but also lead its members straight into adventures to come. --Stephanie Zvirin
The Peculiar Crimes Unit is no more. After years of defying the odds and infuriating their embarrassed superiors, detectives Arthur Bryant and John May have at last crossed the line. This is the twenty-first century and not even their eccentric genius or phenomenal success rate solving London's most unusual crimes can save them. While Bryant takes to his bed, his bathrobe, and his esoteric books, the rest of the team take to the streets looking for new careers - leading one of them to stumble upon a gruesome murder.
It isn't so much the discovery of the headless corpse that's potentially so politically explosive as where it's found. Still it takes the bizarre sightings of a great horned creature - half man, half stag - carrying off young women to convince Bryant that this is a case worth getting dressed and leaving the house to solve. The Home Office has reluctantly authorized the PCU to reunite for one last encore performance - in a rented office with no computer network, no legal authority, and a broken toilet. They've got until the end of the week to solve a murder with unlikely links to gangland crime, Slavic mythology, the 2012 London Olympics, and the sort of corruption only obscene amounts of money and power can buy.
It's the kind of case that Bryant and May live to solve - and it could be just the case that kills them.
Description:
BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May off the Rails.
The Peculiar Crimes Unit is no more—disbanded, finished, kaput. After years of defying the odds and infuriating their superiors, detectives Arthur Bryant and John May have finally crossed the line. While Bryant takes to his bed, his bathrobe, and his esoteric books, the rest of the team takes to the streets looking for new careers—until one of them stumbles upon a gruesome murder.
Now the Unit is back for an encore performance—in a rented office with no computer network, no legal authority, and a broken toilet. They’ve got until the end of the week to solve a mystery with links to gangland crime, the 2012 London Olympics, and a half-man, half-stag creature that’s carrying off young women. It’s the kind of case that Bryant and May live to solve . . . and it could be the one that finally kills them. **
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Fowler's unique blend of the comic and the grotesque is on full display in his excellent seventh Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery (after 2008's The Victoria Vanishes ). With the special police unit shut down, Arthur Bryant is feeling withdrawn and depressed while his partner, John May, is considering PI work. When a former team member stumbles on a beheaded corpse in the heart of London's King's Cross neighborhood, May artfully uses the discovery to gain the PCU another lease on life. He persuades the higherups that unsolved gang crimes in the area could threaten the economic benefit anticipated from the 2012 Olympics. Given one week to solve the case, without any official sanction or access to police resources, May pulls Bryant out of his doldrums and reassembles the unit. To May's dismay, his colleague is more interested in reports that a man wearing a stag's head has been seen in the area. The pacing, prose, planting of clues and characterizations are all top-notch. (Dec.)
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From Booklist
The efforts of various officials in the London police have finally succeeded in breaking up the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU). While most of the team have started remaking their lives, brilliant, eccentric Arthur Bryant has become a morose recluse. His old friend John May is definitely concerned. Then along comes a case that May thinks might pique Arthur’s interest and put the unit back in business: a headless corpse is found stuffed in an old freezer. Strangely, it’s not the unfortunate dead guy that calls to the elderly Bryant. He’s more interested in the oddly dressed man causing havoc around a King’s Cross renovation project. With the group’s future at stake, which case will win out? With a liberal dose of regional history and some surprising humor, this ensemble crime story has lots to offer—not the least of which are a couple of great, unexpected twists that not only change the makeup of the PCU but also lead its members straight into adventures to come. --Stephanie Zvirin
The Peculiar Crimes Unit is no more. After years of defying the odds and infuriating their embarrassed superiors, detectives Arthur Bryant and John May have at last crossed the line. This is the twenty-first century and not even their eccentric genius or phenomenal success rate solving London's most unusual crimes can save them. While Bryant takes to his bed, his bathrobe, and his esoteric books, the rest of the team take to the streets looking for new careers - leading one of them to stumble upon a gruesome murder.
It isn't so much the discovery of the headless corpse that's potentially so politically explosive as where it's found. Still it takes the bizarre sightings of a great horned creature - half man, half stag - carrying off young women to convince Bryant that this is a case worth getting dressed and leaving the house to solve. The Home Office has reluctantly authorized the PCU to reunite for one last encore performance - in a rented office with no computer network, no legal authority, and a broken toilet. They've got until the end of the week to solve a murder with unlikely links to gangland crime, Slavic mythology, the 2012 London Olympics, and the sort of corruption only obscene amounts of money and power can buy.
It's the kind of case that Bryant and May live to solve - and it could be just the case that kills them.