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Dec 27, 2010

Tim rated it:

I first came across Christopher Fowler's Bryant & May series on the horror shelves and very much enjoyed the first novels in that context. All that remains of these early efforts is the attempt to create an esoteric or supernatural backdrop to the crime (in this case, ancient paganism), a (somewhat mild) dash of the gruesome and some sense of evil (albeit now psychological).

Some agent or publisher had the bright idea of shifting the 'brand' from horror to crime and emphasising the More...

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Sep 06, 2010

David rated it:

I first really became aware of Christopher Fowler when he was a Guest of Honour at FantasyCon in 2003, where he gave a brilliantly impassioned speech about the field (I believe a transcript was printed in an issue of Postscripts). During his interview, Fowler mentioned a novel of his called Disturbia (1997), which sounded interesting; I tracked a copy down, and enjoyed it – but I remember having to adjust the way I was reading it part-way through, when I what I thought was a straightforward con More...

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Aug 16, 2009

LJ rated it:

First Sentence: (Note written in crimson felt-tip pen on the back of a flyer for the Tease to Please Burlesque Cabaret, Soho, found pinned to the door of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, 1b Hampstead Road, London NW1 0JP.)

The Peculiar Crimes Unit has been disbanded and it’s members have disbursed. One of the former members, making an extra bit of money, help on a construction site in an area part of a major new development project, and finds an old freezer…with a decapitated body. Constr More...

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Dec 30, 2011

Helen rated it:

This and "Off the Rails" make a pair involving the devious Mr. Fox. Now that I've read them for a second time the details are falling into place better and they are even more attractive. In this one the Unit has been disbanded and everyone is trying to find other work. Their enemies in the Home Office are determined to get rid of them and it looks as if they have done it. Bimsley, however, finds a body in an empty storefront in Kings Cross and the detectives search around for a place t More...

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Feb 09, 2010

Dylan rated it:

Loved the opening chapter / letter and laughed out loud several times when reading it. Over the last few years that I have been reading and immersing myself in the world of these characters I have grown to know and love them. This book is a little different than the others in the series but as always a delight from start to finish. Sad to lose a loved character and was wonderful to have a little bit of romance in there for a while.

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Jun 11, 2010

Khen rated it:

Well.... I read three books in one week, that's more book that I read the whole year last year. Out of the three books, this was the most difficult to read. It contained too much big words, some I know, some I had to finds out to know what the real meaning of the sentence was. I skipped lots of lines that were boring and that helped me read faster but still know what the book is about. But this book is a smart book. A book that u can read and find out some true facts even though its a fictiona More...

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Aug 18, 2010

Nikki-ann rated it:

The Peculiar Crimes Unit has been disbanded and octogenarian detectives Arthur Bryant and John May look set for retirement. That is until a headless body is found in a freezer. A mysterious figure with antlers made of knives also catches their interest, but are the two connected? Either way, Bryant & May and the rest of the PCU are back in business, only with very limited resources and so little time.

I’d never heard of the Bryant & May series of books by Christopher Fowler until Bryant More...

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Mar 29, 2010

Dee rated it:

This is one of the best in the series. Humorous, lots of exotic and wierd allusions to the past-- myths, history, literature. The two ancient detectives at thier best. Fowler continues to develop his minor characters --- they become more fully diminsional --- good and bad traits added in. And, of course, the main character is London. In addition, he has come up with a juicy, serieal killer, Mr. Fox --- a chameleon who will no doubt surface in furture mysteries as a murderer against whom Ar More...

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Aug 25, 2011

Candy added it

Now that Bryant and May have lost their offices in Mornington Crescent, we get to focus even more on another area of London, King’s Cross-St. Pancras. Both the Blitz and the pre-Roman past are involved in the very present-day crime that the officially disbanded unit has to solve. This time readers know more about what’s going on than the detectives do, and the solution leaves the door wide open for a sequel. I especially enjoyed scenes set in Old St. Pancras churchyard, one of my favorite places More...

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Dec 01, 2009

Susan rated it:

The Peculiar Crimes unit is on the verge of being disbanded by the many enemies in high places Bryant (especially) and May have made. But when the ineffectual Constable Bimsley, looking for something to do, takes a job cleaning out a deserted store, he finds a headless body in the freezer. May persuades the powers-that-be that the PCU is needed to stabilize the investments in the growing Kings Cross area, and Bryant starts researching Celtic mythology, as the group moves into sordid rented qua More...

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Aug 30, 2011

Melissa rated it:

Another gem in the Peculiar Crimes Unit series by Christopher Fowler. I haven't loved all of the books in this series--although I have liked all of them--but Bryant and May on the Loose was a real winner. Funny, interesting, suspenseful, even a little sad! I highly recommend the whole series to anyone who likes slightly wacky mystery novels.

An aside--I'm both puzzled and amused by people who have given it a so-so review and start by saying, "This is the only book in the serie More...

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Dec 30, 2011

Andrew rated it:

I've come to this series rather late - On the Loose was the first book I read - but I'm now steadily working my way through the rest.

This is a delight - a fresh twist on a police procedural, with a strong pair of protagonists and a fascinating blend of comic and creepy. If, like me, you enjoy stories which cast familiar locations in a new light, then this will show you London as you've never seen it before.

Fowler's writing shows great confidence: he lets his story develop More...

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Jan 03, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

The boys are back in town and I could not be more pleased. That wiley Christopher Fowerler had me almost persuaded that that the Peculiar Crimes Unit had finally been done in by goverment "efficiency," but Arthur Bryant and John May, a thoroughly, perfectly mismatched pair who have been solving "peculiar crimes" since London's Blitz, manage to pull their unit back together with little more than a shoestring in an abandonned warehouse/former satanic dating service. This is a More...

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Jan 27, 2012

Spuddie rated it:

Another stellar entry in this unusual mystery series featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit--or non-unit as the case is now, the unit having been formally disbanded. But when two headless bodies are found in the King's Cross area of London, one thing leads to another and the two elderly detectives and their team end up meeting to discuss the case in a ramshackle house and are brought back to life on the condition that they can solve the crimes with minimal fuss and embarrassment to their superiors. More...

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Mar 01, 2010

Anne rated it:

This is book 7 in the "Peculiar Crimes Unit" mystery series featuring Detectives Bryant and May. In this outing, a serial killer is leaving headless bodies around King's Cross, a man dressed as a stag has been sighted abducting people, all against the background of a giant construction project that threatens the history of the area. The PCU has been disbanded but is brought together to solve these crimes using the esoteric knowledge of Arthur Bryant and the dogged sleuthing of his part More...

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Jul 28, 2010

Jamie rated it:

This book is a lot like the last one I read (the first in the series). Bryant and May are the most active 80-somethings you'll ever encounter. In fact, if you aren't already familiar with the characters, you'd probably estimate they were in their 40's at most. Bryant tends to see the occult in every crime, and consults the occasional witch to help him figure things out. This particular plot blends pagan history/mythology with 21st century commercial development.

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May 07, 2010

Russ rated it:

I was pleasantly surprised, this is the first I read in this series. The book starts well written, and pulls you in. It's like being in the middle of a great Sherlock Holmes mystery, wondering whether or not to believe that something supernatural is going on, or whether it is all some wicked, but clever murderer who is on the loose. A little gruesome at some spots, but not terribly so, definitely won't cause any nightmares.

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Mar 20, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

Maybe it's better if you've been reading the series. I was drawn because a reviewer on the back cover put it in league with Jasper Fforde's books (which are great), but this was nothing like that. I suppose the publisher is to blame for including reviews, not the author. You are, however, made to think it will be a fun, quirky story with matching characters, but it soon becomes serious without being intense.

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Jan 29, 2012

Jill rated it:

The Home Office has finally succeeded in closing the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) and the team members are out of work. But wait!!!.....a headless corpse is discovered and the Unit is back in business in a wild tale of human sacrifice, old wells, and urban development. It will take four murders to bring this case to a close as Bryant and May, those lovable geriatric detectives, follow false clues and the wrong man before solving the mystery. The notorious Mr. Fox makes his first appearance in thi More...

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Mar 14, 2010

Bruce rated it:

Pretty entertaining, unconventional murder mystery. Set in London, Bryant and May are the lead detectives of the recently disbanded "Peculiar Crimes Unit". Lots of details about Kings Cross area and local history. Probably would have been better had I read the others first - this is the first one I've read. I'll be going back to number 1 to see how that is...

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Jan 13, 2010

Kathy rated it:

I love the Bryant & May mystery series .... always unexpected, bizarre mysteries with good human drama, too. I was glad to see the gang back in action, but i am definitely mad at Bryant for underestmating the killer in the end. That seemed to be a gross oversight on his part (and the others).

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May 29, 2011

Beth rated it:

This is the 7th book in the series and the first one I have read. I suspect I would have enjoyed this installment more if I were more familiar with the characters. It took a while for me to get into this mystery and saw nothing that "peculiar" about it, but I did enjoy it in the end. The book ends on a cliff hanger so I think I will read the next in the series.

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May 18, 2010

Carmen rated it:

Bryant and May are brought back from unwelcome retirement to solve a case of murders and a man who is masquerading as a stag. The murder victims have been beheaded and buried separately. And solve it they do, while exploring the pagan origins of St. Pancreas in London.

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Mar 14, 2010

Sian rated it:

With Bryant and May, we do seem to circle endlessly around the same old propositions. There is a distinct lack of progress along an emotional through-line for the main characters. But the elaboration of that same old path still charms. Plus, more hidden London! Yay!

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Feb 02, 2010

Luke rated it:

The Particular Crimes Unit has been disbanded, but is called back to do one more case without any official sanction or support. They face a criminal who might be their worst enemy yet, and the ending leaves it open that he will be back.

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Jan 19, 2010

Robin rated it:

I haven't read the earlier books in this series, and ended up feeling as though there were things that I should have known about the characters that I didn't. The writing is solid, it's just that the book didn't do it for me.

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Dec 19, 2009

Debbie rated it:

Not the best of this series, but quite humorous at parts and overall satisfying. Peculiar Crimes Unit have been dissolved and Bryant and May get the old team together to solve a series of crimes in which bodies turn up without their heads.

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Dec 29, 2009

Chris rated it:

This series is always enjoyably quirky but sometimes the detailed, twisted plots can be exhausting. Still, the interaction between Bryant and May (and their many cohorts) is too much fun to care.

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Dec 01, 2010

Emma rated it:

Good and entertaining. British mystery with strange happenings... the appearance of the Stag Man (Herne the Hunter?) Ancient wells, pagan sacrifice rituals, and modern buildings taking over.

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Oct 16, 2011

David rated it:

I read three of these books in a row on holiday so certain quirks and turns of phrase became a little familiar but overall this was one of the beter ones.

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