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Aug 19, 2007

LJ rated it:

SEVENTY-SEVEN CLOCKS (Police Procedural-London-1973) – G
Fowler, Christopher – 3rd in series
Doubleday, 2005- UK Hardcover
Arthur Bryant and John May are members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit and their newest case is a perfect fit. A man dies from Cottonmouth snake venom in the lobby of the Savoy; another in blown up by a bomb make of silver and gold and a third from rat poison in face powder. All the deaths relate back to the wealthy Whitstable family, and the Alliance of Eternal More...

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Jun 03, 2011

Keri rated it:

I’m growing very fond of this series, despite - or maybe due to - its improbable storylines. That’s to be expected from Scotland Yard’s PCU (Peculiar Crimes Unit), though, and the very implausibility is what gives it its charm. This episode is set in 1973, which was neat - modern era, but before cell phones and PC’s. Starts off with a lively, two-prong bang: the bizarre poisoning death of an elderly man in the lobby of the famous Savoy Hotel, and an Edwardian-garbed maniac storming into the More...

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Jun 27, 2010

Morrie rated it:

Superb continuation of the Bryant/May series. In this one, the Peculiar Crimes Unit is faced with a series of exotic murders -- murder by snake venom, among others. The relationship between the two detectives is beautifully drawn, and the supporting characters, victims, their relatives, and others involved, are very true to life:the characters' reactions to the puzzling and frightening events with which they are faced simmply ring true.

But apart from the excellent characterization More...

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Jan 16, 2011

Mssongbird rated it:

My hubby gave me this novel. Sometimes our tastes mesh and sometimes NOT. This was one of those happy instances when we both liked a book for a number of reasons.

Although the plot was pretty far out there, the characters were endearing and funny. Also, from a purely structural viewpoint, I thought the book was was beautifully written. But I enjoyed Seventy-Seven Clocks for some personal reasons. Being a fan of opera, I really liked the fact that the story made historical use of Gilb More...

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Dec 28, 2009

Doug rated it:

Christopher Fowler does it again with another Bryant and May Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery!

This one takes place in the 1970's and is one of the early cases when the PCU has first been formed... and what a case it turns out to be. There are several murders, each one seeming to be more bizarre than the last. And, a gentleman in Edwardian garb enters an art gallery and manages to destroy a painting that was on loan from Australia. Later, this same man turns up dead. In typical More...

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Aug 25, 2011

Jill rated it:

Being a devoted fan of the Peculiar Crimes Unit series, there comes a time when one of the books has to be your "least favorite" and this one fills the bill. Fowler's characters are wonderful and the plots are outre but this story really went over the edge. It is so complex that I can't begin to provide a synopsis of the plot; suffice it to say that it goes beyond insane and stretches credibility even for Fowler. Does it mean I didn't like it......not on your life!!! I am hooked on d More...

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Jan 24, 2012

Maura rated it:

when i first started reading this a month ago, i was sorta bored by it -- got maybe a fifth of the way into it, and put it down, and wasn't really sure i'd pick it up again. which was too bad, since it was set in London in the early 1970's but had all these references to Victorian England and Gilbert and Sullivan and city guilds and such. but the characters weren't really grabbing me. but i gave it another try, and after reading maybe another fifth, i started enjoying the mystery itself and deci More...

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Sep 26, 2010

Angelia rated it:

I knew going in that the ending was problematic for a lot of readers. Turns out I'm one of them. It's beyond far-fetched. (I can willingly suspend my disbelief for a lot of things, but not this time.)

Detectives Bryant and May are as charming and wonderful as always, which made for delightful reading until the last 20% of the book. Not even their charm could overcome the seriously flawed mystery itself.

I know books in a series can be hit or miss, and from what I gather, Sevent More...

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Jul 26, 2011

Ruth rated it:

c2005. Whilst I continued to enjoy the partnership of May and Bryant - this one was a little beyond the pale in the execution (excuse the pun). Will certainly try and find the next one in the series although I have recently read in the blogging world that Mr Fowler may have stopped writing the series due to financial concerns. This series seems to have been made for TV so I am not sure why this would not have been picked up as such especially as the acting world continually moans about the lack More...

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Mar 21, 2011

Michele rated it:

This one had so many fun things about it - Pre-Raphaelite artwork, the National Gallery, the London Silver Vaults, clock-making. I had talked my husband into reading the Bryant & May series with me - he is British- and he was enjoying them alright until we hit this one. He LOVED it. This was his kind of book and I enjoyed it too, although the family in question with the clocks is rather full of unsympathetic characters. While you don't really feel so sorry for all the crime victims, it does More...

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Jan 06, 2011

Marie rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 06, 2011

Chloe rated it:

Christopher Fowler is one of those authors whose books I save for when I need to read something that's going to lift my spirits and put me at ease with the world - which might sound odd considering they're generally about sinister goings on. He's one of the few authors who I can honestly say that I read every word he writes; no skipping or skimming, just full on devouring every letter. Seventy Seven clocks also has a Gilbert & Sullivan link, so I was happy as that famed proverbial, Larry.
F More...

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Jan 22, 2010

Spuddie rated it:

#3 Bryant & May British police procedural featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit. This mystery goes back in time again, to 1973, telling the story of how the PCU investigated the deaths of several members of the noble Whitstable family, members of the fabled Watchmaker's Guild and (they believe) another secret society within the guild. These strange murders, all with a different MO (and all the methods of death very odd indeed) are obviously tied together due to the family connection, but the PCU is More...

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Nov 02, 2009

Ken rated it:

Here is another Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) mystery. This time, elderly detectives Bryant and May look back upon a case they worked in 1973. A bizarre attack on a rather unimportant painting gets their attention -- but it's the murders that follow compel them to work the case. These aren't any ordinary murders: one by one, members of the Whitstable family, old money and upper-class, are being picked off. The methods of killing are bizarre, and evidence points to different suspects each time. What

More...

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May 07, 2011

Barbara rated it:

Bryant and May are detectives with unusual means of solving crimes including using witches and psychics. This is the first investigation for the newly formed Peculiar Crimes Unit of the Metropolitan police in London. The case is strange with art vandalism, pornography, poison, secret societies and of all things, Gilbert and Sullivan operas. What a convoluted story. This is a murder mystery wrapped in an enigma revolving around a huge old British family with a diabolical secret. The secret h More...

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Jul 31, 2009

Nancy rated it:

Technically, this one I'd probably rate like a 3.5 or so (when are we going to get this option?)

I've read four books in this series now, and this one wasn't my favorite, although it is still quite good. In this, the 3rd installment of the Bryant and May mysteries (of the Peculiar Crimes Unit), the two detectives and the others of the PCU are faced with the fact that someone is out to get the Whitstable family and is killing them off by incredibly deadly means, starting off with the More...

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Aug 15, 2011

John rated it:

This started out really well but went quickly downhill. The number of bodies piling up gets a bit ridiculous and the ending was vague and unsatisfying. I had the impression that the author had decided to wait until he got to the end to decide how he was actually going to work it out but then had trouble doing so when he got there.
I've enjoyed other books in this series, so if you're interested in the series I suggest starting with another book and pass this one over.

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Mar 12, 2011

Kyrie rated it:

I think if I reread it, I might bump it up to "really liked it". There was so much going on and the bit at the end was very confusing to me, and a bit unreal. I haven't found the other ones to be quite so fanciful. Of course, this is supposed to be a memory of Bryant, so it's very possible the author let loose, figuring he could blame it on Bryant's imagination and embellishments. I did laugh out loud at several swipes he took at the upper crust.

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Jul 07, 2010

Cindy rated it:

What a mess. I really like the characters in this series. Arthur Bryant, John May, and the others in here are all pretty entertaining and interesting characters. But the plot was just so bad. It starts with four murders, a bit much really, but I was still enjoying the book. Then the bodies keep piling up, the detectives are no nearer solving the case, and there's this extra subplot that doesn't seem to be going anywhere. What is the deal? Jerry, the girl who discovers the first body, obviously k More...

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Jan 09, 2011

Laurie rated it:

This one's not for me, and I didn't get beyond the second chapter. The set-up (writer/interviewer, old detective reminiscing) just felt too corny for my taste. I gather from the preface that this is a re-make of an earlier work that involved (to the author's distaste but the publisher's insistence) elements of fantasy-horror that he wanted to expunge from the story. But even with that element removed, it still didn't grab me at all.

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Nov 04, 2010

RuthAlice rated it:

Oh, this is a diabolical mystery with the roots of the solution in the past. The strongest part of the book is the relationship between the detectives, the humor and somewhat madcap zaniness. However, the mystery at the heart of this is just too bizarre for me. Not wanting to give anything away, I can only say that if members of my family were being murdered left, right and center - I would not be keeping any 100 year old secrets.

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Feb 12, 2010

Carmen rated it:

Bryant and May are once more on the loose, looking for a way to solve a weird crime. A man is found dead, sitting in an armchair in a hotel lobby. Bite marks resemling fang bites are found on his neck. It is discovered that snake venom is in his body. How did a snake bite and kill him in a upscale hotel? The deaths continue and it ends up being something that started in the Victorian age. But solve it they do.

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Oct 24, 2009

Martha rated it:

The interesting character in this series is the cranky and eccentric Arthur Bryant, who solves mysteries with a good dose of intuition mixed with logic, facts, interest in esoteric topics, and even superstition. It's a fun series, and the setting of England after the war, with its characters who are trying to put their lives back together after a traumatic time, is a fascinating combination

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Jul 08, 2009

Wisconsin rated it:

I love this author, love the senior citizen characters, and the truly odd crimes. I was concerned how Fowler would keep the series going with the heros being so old, but this is a story being told to a reporter. It really doesn't matter what order you read this series as it goes back and forth. This is the fourth book for me, and I will read all of them eventually.

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Nov 03, 2009

Patti rated it:

Interesting book. I'm reading these because I like the characters, Bryant & May, and I love the London setting. My suspension of belief definitely has to come into play with this entry in the series--there's a fantastical element towards the end of the book which makes this a very different sort of mystery. It took me a little while to get into this one also, but once I did, I kept moving right along.

I do like the idea of a Peculiar Crime Unit working for the London Metropolitan P

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Nov 26, 2008

Michael rated it:

Third entry in Fowler's Bryant and May series of mysteries. Set in 1973, this one focuses on a series of murders targeting one powerful English family. The murder plot, settings, and historical overtone touches deeply on the late Victorian era. Fowler does a good job of interweaving ancillary characters, detailing them realistically, and bring their points of view into the story.

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Oct 29, 2010

Melinda rated it:

Solid mystery the Peculiar unit. The main detectives are older, wiser and the wonderful mix of old/modern England. This story reminded me of Doyles Sign of Four and Red-Headed League giving the story the classic feel however Fowler has sufficient modern twists to keep the reader engaged/intererested. All said, any book with the classical word "Peculiar" in their title,and holds firm for being peculiar, is worth the read.

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Sep 04, 2009

Janet rated it:

I’m falling further and further behind the author’s mental processes. It starts out well, but then Fowler tosses in so many little esoteric bits and bobs that I can’t keep up. I ended up skimming the last twenty pages until I figured out the ending—which didn’t even begin to make sense to me. It's like Sherlock Holmes on PCP.

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Jan 13, 2011

Lisa rated it:

Good book. As with all of Fowler's books, it gets wordy at points. I found the climax highly improbable, and that took away from the overall impact of the book. The premise of this book was similarly difficult to accept and again diminished the overall effect. However, overall it was a good read.

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Apr 15, 2008

Michael added it

Very British. I think if it were really like this in England that I'd be in a scrap every day. Specifically I find the over-active "class sense" to be annoying. That was the main theme of the book. Shoot me if anybody can tell where I went to boarding school because of the accent I learned there. (If I'd gone to boarding school) Presumably they maintain the learned in young adulthood/unnatural accent on purpose. Which is to my mind asking for whatever hits you. The two detectives are i More...

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