Christopher Fowler: Complete Bryant & May Mysteries In Order
22 volumes of bizarre, occult-flavored mysteries solved by the London Police Department’s Peculiar Crimes Unit
Edgy, suspenseful, and darkly comic, the riveting Bryant & May mystery series stars two cranky but brilliant old detectives whose lifelong friendship was forged solving crimes for the London Police Department's Peculiar Crimes Unit.
Written by the late Christopher Fowler (1953-2023), his novels about Arthur Bryant and John May feature Golden Age Detectives in a modern world. They head the Peculiar Crimes Unit, London’s most venerable specialist police team, a division founded during the Second World War to investigate cases that could cause national scandal or public unrest. Originally based above a London tube station, the technophobic, irascible Bryant and smooth-talking modernist John May head a team of equally unusual misfits who are just as likely to commit crimes as solve them. The cases take on the different styles of the classic detective stories.
“I expected that I was writing very parochially for a very limited audience, and it turned out that what I was doing was the reverse,” Fowler told The Guardian in a 2021 interview. “The more abstract, strange and esoteric I became, the more people liked it.”
Below, find all the available books in the Bryant & May mysteries, including plot descriptions and comments from reviewers.
Reviews
“[Christopher Fowler’s] ardent American following deserves to get much larger.”—Janet Maslin, New York Times
“Unbeatable fun . . . [Fowler] takes delight in stuffing his books with esoteric facts.”—The Guardian
“Fowler, like his crime solvers, is deadpan, sly, and always unexpectedly inventive.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Dazzling.”—The Denver Post
“Thrilling.”—Chicago Tribune
“Captivating.”—The Seattle Times
Related links:
RIP Christopher Fowler—whose off-center detectives solved unusual murders with often an occult angle
Christopher Fowler: The real-life background of Bryant & May
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#1 Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
Edgy, suspenseful, and darkly comic, here is the first novel in a riveting mystery series starring two cranky but brilliant old detectives whose lifelong friendship was forged solving crimes for the London Police Department's Peculiar Crimes Unit. In Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler tells the story of both their first and last case—and how along the way the unlikely pair of crime fighters changed the face of detection.
PERSONAL NOTE: This first mystery in the series is a surprising delight. And Monster Complex fans will be glad to hear that it does involve a séance—and that it does not go well…
A present-day bombing rips through London and claims the life of eighty-year-old detective Arthur Bryant. For his partner John May, it means the end of a partnership that lasted over half-a-century and an eerie echo back to the Blitz of World War II when they first met. Desperately searching for clues to the killer’s identity, May finds his old friend’s notes of their very first case and becomes convinced that the past has returned—with a killing vengeance.
It begins when a dancer in a risque new production of Orpheus in Hell is found without her feet. Suddenly, the young detectives are plunged in a bizarre gothic mystery that will push them to their limits—and beyond. For in a city shaken by war, a faceless killer is stalking London's theaters, creating his own kind of sinister drama. And it will take Arthur Bryant’s unorthodox techniques and John May’s dogged police work to catch a criminal whose ability to escape detection seems almost supernatural—a murderer who even decades later seems to have claimed the life of one of them . . . and is ready to claim the other.
Filled with startling twists, unforgettable characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing, Full Dark House is a witty, heartbreaking, and all-too-human thriller about the hunt for an inhuman killer.
Review: “FULL DARK HOUSE is tongue-in-cheek and is often very funny, almost an alternate universe look at World War Two London. The humour comes across as a tribute to Londoners' ability to keep their chins up during the darkest period in the great city's history. But there is also a serious side to this book, subtle commentary on the horrors of war and the Blitz in particular, and many memorable sit-up-and-take-notice passages. However loud you may laugh at times, the bombers are ever- present in the background waiting for their next opportunity.” (Reviewing the Evidence)
#2 The Water Room: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
“Traditional mystery buffs with a taste for the offbeat will relish British author Fowler's wonderful second contemporary whodunit featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its elderly odd couple, Arthur Bryant and John May.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
How can an elderly recluse drown in a chair in her otherwise dry basement? That’s what John May and Arthur Bryant of London’s Peculiar Crimes Unit set out to discover in a city rife with shady real estate developers, racist threats, dodgy academicians, and someone dangerously obsessed with Egyptian mythology. Linking them all is an evil lurking in London’s vast and forgotten underground river system—a killer with the eerie ability to strike anywhere, anytime, without leaving a clue. It’s a subterranean case of secrets, lies, and multiple murder that defies not only the law, but reason itself. Can Bryant and May bring a killer to the surface and stop the dark tide of murder before it pulls them under, too?
Review: “The mystery plot was quite a good one, with plenty of clues and red herrings that seemed to implicate almost everybody in the street at one point or another. But the highlight of these books for me is the partnership of Bryant and May themselves and the dialogue between them.” (She Reads Novels)
#3 Seventy-Seven Clocks: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
The odd couple of detection are up against a series of bizarre murders that defy human understanding—and a killer no human hand may be able to stop...
A mysterious stranger in outlandish Edwardian garb defaces a painting in the National Gallery. Then a guest at the exclusive Savoy Hotel is fatally bitten by what appears to be a marshland snake. An outbreak of increasingly bizarre crimes has hit London—and, fittingly, come to the attention of the Peculiar Crimes Unit.
Art vandalism, an exploding suspect, pornography, rat poison, Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, secret societies…and not a single suspect in sight. The killer they’re chasing has a dark history, a habit of staying hidden, and time itself on his side. Detectives John May and Arthur Bryant may have finally met their match, and this time they’re really working against the clock….
Review: “Bizarre and whimsically strange, the third Bryant and May detective novel is an exhilarating and intricate mystery set in 1973 London.” (AudioFile)
#4 Ten Second Staircase: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
It’s a crime tailor-made for the Peculiar Crimes Unit…
A controversial artist is murdered and displayed as part of her own outrageous installation. No suspects, no motive, no evidence—but this time they do have an eyewitness. A twelve-year-old claims the killer was a cape-clad highwayman atop a black stallion. Whoever the killer really is, he seems intent on killing off enough minor celebrities to become one himself.
As “Highwayman Fever” grips London, Bryant and May, along with the newest member of the Unit, May’s agoraphobic granddaughter, April, find themselves sorting out a case involving artistic rivalries, sleazy sex affairs, the Knights Templars, feuding street gangs, and a decades-old crime spree that split up their partnership once before—and threatens to end it again…with murder.
Review: “The story is well-paced and tense, with some scary moments for one of the newer characters. The younger versions of May and Bryant in the shape of crime scene investigators, Kershaw and Banbury have an increased role this time around and the loyal and lovely Janice Longbright is still on hand. The other major character is London, the history of which, is the underlying theme to all these books.” (Euro Crime)
#5 White Corridor: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
From using crackpot psychics to cutting-edge forensics, Arthur Bryant and John May are famous for their maddeningly unorthodox approach to solving crimes that the ordinary police cannot. Now Christopher Fowler brings back crime detection’s oddest—and oldest—couple to solve the ultimate locked room mystery…
It’s the classic locked-room mystery—a member of the Peculiar Crimes Unit killed inside a sealed morgue populated only by the dead and to which only four PCU members had a key. To make matters worse, the Unit has been shut down for a forced “vacation,” and Bryant and May are stuck in a van in the Dartmoor countryside during a freak snowstorm. Now they’ll have to crack the case by cell phone while trying to stop a second murder without freezing to death. For among the line of trapped vehicles, a killer is on the prowl, a beautiful woman is on the run, and an innocent child is caught in the middle….
Review: “Time marches on in this locked room mystery filled to the brim with red herrings. Fowler builds up the tension and then flips a clue out to distract you again and again only to return to the build-up. One that will knock you on your backside. It’s an unexpected switch-up that will leave you gobsmacked with its mad mix-up of deception and denial...” (KD Did It)
#6 The Victoria Vanishes: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
It’s a case tailor-made for the Peculiar Crimes Unit…
A lonely hearts killer is targeting middle-aged women at some of England’s most well-known pubs—including one torn down eighty years ago. What’s more, Arthur Bryant happened to see one of the victims only moments before her death at the pub that doesn’t exist. Indeed, this case is littered with clues that defy everything the veteran detectives know about the habits of serial killers, the methodology of crime, and the odds of making an arrest.
Now, with the public on the verge of panic and their superiors determined to shut the PCU down for good, Detectives Bryant and May must rise to the occasion in defense of two great English traditions—the pub and the Peculiar Crimes Unit.
That’s easier said than done. A lost funeral urn, the eighteenth-century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, the Knights Templars, the secret history of pubs, and the discovery of an astounding religious relic may be enough to convince one of the pair to take back his resignation letter.
But with Bryant consulting a memory specialist and May encountering a brush with mortality, do the Peculiar Crimes Unit’s two living legends have enough life left to stop a murderous conspiracy…and a deadly cupid targeting one of their own.
Review: “A flat-out delightful read. The Victoria Vanishes is a delightfully nuanced mix of R.D. Wingfield and Agatha Christie, with a touch a nod to Martha Grimes—only better.” (Mystery Scene)
#7 Bryant & May on the Loose: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
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.
Review: “In a case that contains plenty of red herrings and some clever misdirection, the reader, along with the investigative odd couple will eventually come to realize that an exceedingly clever and dangerous villain has been in their sights the entire time. … Christopher Fowler saves some of the biggest surprises for the final pages of each novel in this series.” (BookLoons)
#8 Bryant & May off the Rails: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
Christopher Fowler’s Peculiar Crimes Unit novels have been hailed for their originality, suspense, and unforgettable characters.
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.
Review: “The writing is fantastic—Christopher Fowler has a real talent for bringing London to life, both past and present—and the characters, in particular Arthur Bryant, leap off the page.” (In Search of the Classic Mystery Novel)
#9 The Memory of Blood: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
Christopher Fowler’s acclaimed Peculiar Crimes Unit novels crackle with sly wit, lively suspense, and twists as chilling as London’s fog. Now the indomitable duo of Arthur Bryant and John May, along with the rest of their quirky team, return to solve a confounding case with dark ties to the British theater and a killer who may mean curtains for all involved…
For the crew of the New Strand Theatre, the play The Two Murderers seems less performance than prophecy when a cast party ends in the shocking death of the theater owner’s son. The crime scene is most unusual, even for Bryant and May. In a locked bedroom without any trace of fingerprints or blood, the only sign of disturbance is a gruesome life-size puppet of Mr. Punch laying on the floor.
Everyone at the party is a suspect, including the corrupt producer, the rakish male lead, the dour set designer, and the assistant stage manager, who is the wild daughter of a prominent government official.
It’s this last fact that threatens the Peculiar Crimes Unit’s investigation, as the government’s Home Office, wary of the team’s eccentric methods, seeks to throw them off the case. But the nimble minds of Bryant and May are not so easily deterred.
Delving into the history of the London theater and the disturbing origins of Punch and Judy, the detectives race to find the maniacal killer before he reaches his even deadlier final act.
Whip-smart and endlessly entertaining, The Memory of Blood is an ingeniously intricate mystery from the deliciously inventive Christopher Fowler…
Review: “[The Memory of Blood] breathes new life into the locked-room mystery. . . . Spiced with a little screwball-comedy dialogue and a touch of the occult.” (Washington Post)
#10 The Invisible Code: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
London’s craftiest and boldest detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, are back in this deviously twisting mystery of black magic, madness, and secrets hidden in plain sight.
When a young woman is found dead in the pews of St. Bride’s Church—alone and showing no apparent signs of trauma—Arthur Bryant assumes this case will go to the Peculiar Crimes Unit, an eccentric team tasked with solving London’s most puzzling murders. Yet the city police take over the investigation, and the PCU is given an even more baffling and bewitching assignment.
Called into headquarters by Oskar Kasavian, the head of Home Office security, Bryant and May are shocked to hear that their longtime adversary now desperately needs their help. Oskar’s wife, Sabira, has been acting strangely for weeks—succumbing to violent mood swings, claiming an evil presence is bringing her harm—and Oskar wants the PCU to find out why. And if there’s any duo that can deduce the method behind her madness, it’s the indomitable Bryant and May.
When a second bizarre death reveals a surprising link between the two women’s cases, Bryant and May set off on a trail of clues from the notorious Bedlam hospital to historic Bletchley Park. And as they are drawn into a world of encrypted codes and symbols, concealed rooms and high-society clubs, they must work quickly to catch a killer who lurks even closer than they think.
Witty, suspenseful, and ingeniously plotted, The Invisible Code is Christopher Fowler at the very top of his form.
Review: “The Invisible Code has immense charm, but its plotting will satisfy serious mystery fans, too.” (New York Times)
#11 Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR BY THE SEATTLE TIMES
London’s wiliest detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, are on the case in this fiendishly clever mystery. And when a cemetery becomes the scene of a crime, neither secrets—nor bodies—stay buried.
Romain Curtis sneaks into St. George’s Gardens one evening with his date, planning to show her the stars. A centuries-old burial ground, the small, quiet park is the perfect place to be alone. Yet the night takes a chilling turn when the two teenagers spy a strange figure rising from among the tombstones: a corpse emerging from the grave. Suffice it to say that wherever there’s a dead man walking, Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit are never far behind.
As the PCU investigates the sighting, a second urgent matter requires their unusual brand of problem-solving. Seven ravens have gone missing from their historic home in the Tower of London, and legend has it that when the ravens disappear, England will fall. Bryant has been tasked with recovering the lost birds, but when Romain is suddenly found dead, the two seemingly separate mysteries start to intertwine and point to a plot more sinister than anyone could ever imagine.
Soon Bryant and May find themselves immersed in London’s darkest lore, from Victorian-era body snatchers, to arcane black magic, to the grisly myth behind Bleeding Heart Yard, a courtyard long associated with murder. And as the body count spikes and more coffins are unearthed, they will have to dig deep to catch a killer and finally lay these cases to rest.
Darkly funny and fast-paced, Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart is a brilliantly twisting puzzle, conjured from the inventive mind of Christopher Fowler.
Review: “The Bleeding Heart is Fowler at his finest. Best of all, anyone can jump right in not having read the previous ten novels and will instantly feel at home with this great bunch of characters. A winner!” (Curled Up With a Good Book)
#12 Bryant & May and the Burning Man: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
No case is too curious for Arthur Bryant and John May, London’s most ingenious detectives. But with their beloved city engulfed in turmoil, they’ll have to work fast to hold a sinister killer’s feet to the fire.
In the week before Guy Fawkes Night, London’s peaceful streets break out in sudden unrest. Enraged by a scandal involving a corrupt financier accused of insider trading, demonstrators are rioting outside the Findersbury Private Bank, chanting, marching, and growing violent. But when someone hurls a Molotov cocktail at the bank’s front door, killing a homeless man on its steps, Bryant, May, and the rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in. Is this an act of protest gone terribly wrong? Or a devious, premeditated murder?
Their investigation heats up when a second victim is reported dead in similar fiery circumstances. May discovers the latest victim has ties to the troubled bank, and Bryant refuses to believe this is mere coincidence. As the riots grow more intense and the body count climbs, Bryant and May hunt for a killer who’s adopting incendiary methods of execution, on a snaking trail of clues with roots in London’s history of rebellion, anarchy, and harsh justice. Now, they’ll have to throw themselves in the line of fire before the entire investigation goes up in smoke.
Suspenseful, smart, and wickedly funny, Bryant & May and the Burning Man is a brilliantly crafted mystery from the beloved Christopher Fowler.
Review: “Not just a compelling mystery…it is a fascinating history lesson of London. With its strong plotline, this is a solid, very exciting book in this long-running series that just gets better with each new entry.” (Mysterious Reviews)
#13 Bryant & May: Strange Tide: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
London’s most brilliant but unconventional detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, must plumb the depths of a particularly murky mystery.
The Peculiar Crimes Unit faces its most baffling case yet—and if Bryant and May can’t rise to the challenge, the entire unit may go under. Near the Tower of London, along the River Thames, the body of a woman has been discovered chained to a stone post and left to drown. Curiously, only one set of footprints leads to the tragic spot. “The Bride in the Tide,” as the London press gleefully dubs her, has the PCU stumped. Why wouldn’t the killer simply dump her body in the river—as so many do?
Arthur Bryant wonders if the answer lies in the mythology of the Thames itself. Unfortunately, the normally wobbly funhouse corridors of Bryant’s mind have become, of late, even more labyrinthine. The venerable detective seems to be losing his grip on reality. May fears the worst, as Bryant rapidly descends from merely muddled to one stop short of Barking, hallucinating that he’s traveled back in time to solve the case. There had better be a method to Bryant’s madness—because, as more bodies are pulled from the river’s depths, his partner and the rest of the PCU find themselves in over their heads.
Fiendishly fun and rich in London lore, Bryant and May: Strange Tide is Christopher Fowler at his best, delivering more twists and turns than the Thames itself.
Review: “The mystery in Strange Tide is a multi-layered puzzle—just the kind that Bryant and May can really sink their teeth into. Full of witty humor, this complex though well-structured and briskly paced story of two ‘old codgers’ investigating an ‘impossible’ crime is incredibly appealing. Recommended.” (Mysterious Reviews)
#14 Bryant & May: Wild Chamber: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are back on the case in this whip-smart and wildly twisting mystery, in which a killer in London’s parks is proving to be a most elusive quarry.
Helen Forester’s day starts like any other: Around seven in the morning, she takes her West Highland terrier for a walk in her street’s private garden. But by 7:20 she is dead, strangled yet peacefully laid out on the path, her dog nowhere to be found.
The only other person in the locked space is the gardener, who finds the body and calls the police. He expects proper cops to arrive, but what he gets are Bryant, May, and the wily members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit.
Before the detectives can make any headway on the case, a second woman is discovered in a public park, murdered in nearly identical fashion. Bryant, recovering from a health scare, delves into the arcane history of London’s cherished green spaces, rife with class drama, violence, and illicit passions.
But as a devious killer continues to strike, Bryant and May struggle to connect the clues, not quite seeing the forest for the trees. Now they have to think and act fast to save innocent lives, the fate of the city’s parks, and the very existence of the PCU.
An irresistibly witty, inventive blend of history and suspense, Bryant & May: Wild Chamber is Christopher Fowler in classic form.
Review: “The success of the Bryant and May series is down to the fact that for all the silliness, pastiche, and frolickery, the rules of the game are adhered to. At its heart, it is a murder mystery. Fowler manages to play by the rules for the genre by keeping the whole thing work-out-able...” (The Bookbag)
#15 Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
London, 1969. With the Swinging Sixties under way, Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May find themselves caught in the middle of a good, old-fashioned manor house murder mystery.
Hard to believe, but even positively ancient sleuths like Bryant and May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit were young once—or at least younger. Flashback to London 1969: mods and dolly birds, sunburst minidresses—but how long would the party last?
After accidentally sinking a barge painted like the Yellow Submarine, Bryant and May are relegated to babysitting one Monty Hatton-Jones, the star prosecution witness in the trial of a disreputable developer whose prefabs are prone to collapse. The job for the demoted detectives? Keep the whistle-blower safe for one weekend.
The task proves unexpectedly challenging when their unruly charge insists on attending a party at the vast estate Tavistock Hall. With falling stone gryphons, secret passageways, rumors of a mythical beast, and an all-too-real dismembered corpse, the bedeviled policemen soon find themselves with “a proper country house murder” on their hands.
Trapped for the weekend, Bryant and May must sort the victims from the suspects, including a hippie heir, a blond nightclub singer, and Monty himself—and nobody is quite who he or she seems to be.
Review: “A largely comic escapade whose tone evokes both the biting wit of Evelyn Waugh and the slapstickier shenanigans of P.G. Wodehouse. Bryant himself deems this country-house mystery ‘rather like an Agatha Christie novel.’” (Wall Street Journal)
#16 Bryant & May: The Lonely Hour: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
The brilliant Arthur Bryant and John May take the late, late shift in a cat-and-mouse hunt with a killer who preys on his victims at the same time every night—the lonely hour of 4 A.M.
When a man is found hanging upside down inside a willow tree on Hampstead Heath, surrounded by a baffling assortment of occult objects, the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to investigate. Was this a botched satanic ritual pulled off by bored teenagers, a gang initiation, or the work of a mastermind with grander intentions? Bryant and May set off in search of answers and are soon reminded that London is a city steeped in blood and magic.
When another body is pulled from the river at dawn, it becomes clear that a killer lurks in the night. To catch him, the PCU switches to graveyard shifts, but the team still comes up short. As they explore a night city where the normal rules do not apply, they’re drawn deeper into a case that involves murder, arson, kidnapping, blackmail, loneliness, and bats.
May takes a technological approach, while Bryant goes in search of his usual academics and misfits for help, for this investigation reveals impossibilities at every turn. How do you stop a killer who appears not to exist? Luckily, impossibilities are what the Peculiar Crimes Unit does best.
Review: “I’ve said this before and I will say it again, this series is quirky. It has deadpan humor and some funny moments in each book and this was no different. I love the humor of the characters and really enjoy some of the comedic moments in each book. …This book has all the hallmarks of a well loved successful series.” (The Lit Bitch)
#17 Bryant & May: Oranges and Lemons: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
When a prominent politician is crushed by a fruit van making a delivery, the singular team of Arthur Bryant and John May overcome insurmountable odds to reunite the PCU and solve the case in this brainy new mystery from acclaimed author Christopher Fowler.
On a spring morning in London’s Strand, the Speaker of the House of Commons is nearly killed by a van unloading oranges and lemons for the annual St. Clement Danes celebration. It’s an absurd near-death experience, but the government is more interested in investigating the Speaker’s state of mind just prior to his accident.
The task is given to the Peculiar Crimes Unit—the only problem being that the unit no longer exists. Its chief, Raymond Land, is tending his daffodils on the Isle of Wight and senior detectives Arthur Bryant and John May are out of commission—May has just undergone surgery for a bullet wound and Bryant has been missing for a month. What’s more, their old office in King’s Cross is being turned into a vegetarian tapas bar.
Against impossible odds, the team is reassembled and once again what should be a simple case becomes a lunatic farrago involving arson, suicide, magicians, academics and a race to catch a killer with a master plan involving London churches. Joining their team this time is Sidney, a young woman with no previous experience, plenty of attitude—and a surprising secret…
Review: “In this story, readers will learn more about the history of the nursery song ‘Oranges and Lemons’ than they probably wish to know, but it’s all in good fun as May rattles along on the trail of a murderer with a batch of scores to settle. ... It’s the best Bryan and May mystery by far.” (New York Journal of Books)
#18 Bryant & May: London Bridge Is Falling Down: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
The brilliant duo of Arthur Bryant and John May uncovers a nefarious plot behind the seemingly innocuous death of an old lady—and when the case leads them to London Bridge, it all comes down on the Peculiar Crimes Unit.
When ninety-one-year-old Amelia Hoffman dies in her top-floor flat on a busy London road, it’s considered an example of what has gone wrong with modern society: she slipped through the cracks in a failing system.
But detectives Arthur Bryant and John May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit have their doubts. Mrs. Hoffman was once a government security expert, though no one can quite remember her. When a link emerges between the old lady and a diplomat trying to flee the country, it seems that an impossible murder has been committed.
Mrs. Hoffman wasn’t the only one at risk. Bryant is convinced that other forgotten women with hidden talents are also in danger. And, curiously, they all own models of London Bridge.
With the help of some of their more certifiable informants, the detectives follow the strangest of clues in an investigation that will lead them through forgotten alleyways to the city’s fabled bridge in search of a desperate killer.
But just when the case appears to be solved, they discover that Mrs. Hoffman was smarter than anyone imagined. There’s a bigger game afoot that could have terrible consequences.
Review: “Quirky, witty, wonderfully atmospheric, and entertaining from its opening line ("May in Regent's Park could put a spring in the step of a corpse"), LONDON BRIDGE IS FALLING DOWN will delight Christopher Fowler's many fans, and appeal to readers looking for something unique and challenging in the annals of crime fiction. Absolutely brilliant.” (Reviewing the Evidence)
Bonus Bryant & May books by Christopher Fowler
Bryant & May and the Secret Santa
In this fast-paced Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery, available as an eBook short story, detectives Arthur Bryant and John May must crack a puzzling Christmas case with some extra assistance from Santa’s little helpers.
The streets of London are covered in twinkling lights and freshly fallen snow, but the mood inside the Christmas department of Selfridges is decidedly less cheery. Bryant and May have arrived there to investigate the death of an eleven-year-old boy who inexplicably fled the store after a routine visit to Santa’s Wonderland.
Their only clue is a torn scrap of blue cloth discovered at the scene. Now, Bryant and May are making a list of suspects, but they’d better check it twice to catch a shifty culprit in disguise.
Review: “This is a tragic tale involving boarding school bullying, a scrap of blue cloth and the two diligent detectives. It is the first story in this series that I’ve read, but it works well as a standalone story in its own right. I’ll certainly be looking out for more in this series as the innate humour between the detectives, their camaraderie, strategies and the ingenious plot make this a quick but riveting festive read and one I have no hesitation in highly recommending!” (Splashes Into Books)
London’s Glory: The Lost Cases of Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit
Arthur Bryant and John May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit are London’s craftiest and bravest detectives—and there’s no better pair to solve the city’s most confounding crimes.
In this riveting eBook collection of mystery short stories, available together for the first time, Christopher Fowler takes Bryant and May on a series of twisting adventures and brings readers behind the scenes of his beloved novels.
In “Bryant & May in the Field,” a woman is found with her throat slashed in a snowy park, yet the killer managed to escape without leaving any footprints.
In “Bryant & May and the Nameless Woman,” a businessman drowns in the pool of a posh club, and the only suspect is a young woman who remains almost too calm during questioning.
And in “Bryant & May Ahoy!” the pair go on holiday on a friend’s yacht in Turkey, but Bryant realizes there’s something fishy about their fellow passengers.
From London’s grandest mansions to its darkest corners, from the Christmas department of Selfridges to a sinister traveling sideshow, there’s no scene too strange for the Peculiar Crimes Unit and the indefatigable detectives at its helm.
Review: “The first-ever collection of Bryant & May stories not only sheds light on eleven classic cases (including the CWA Short Story Dagger shortlisted ‘Bryant and May and the Nameless Woman’) but also contains everything you need to know about the two octogenarian detectives and the Peculiar Crimes Unit.” (Mighty Ape)
Buy London’s Glory: The Lost Cases of Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit from Amazon
Bryant & May: England’s Finest: Stories (Peculiar Crimes Unit)
The Peculiar Crimes Unit has solved many extraordinary cases over the years. Some have been forgotten, others hidden, a few lost down the back of the Unit sofa—until now. . . .
“The most delightfully, wickedly entertaining duo in crime fiction.”—The Plain Dealer
Arthur Bryant remembers these lost cases as if they were yesterday. Unfortunately, he doesn’t remember yesterday, so newly revealed facts come as something of a surprise—to everyone, really, not least an increasingly exasperated John May.
Here you will discover the truth about the diva and the seventh reindeer, learn how a consul’s son came to be buried in the Unit’s basement, and understand why a corpse might end up in a swamp of Chinese dinners. There’s an ordinary London street corner that’s prone to strange accidents, and the Post Office Tower plays host to some ghoulish Halloween goings-on—but how a forgotten London legend could be responsible for an apparently impossible death is anybody’s guess. Each of the PCU’s oddest characters has a part to play—and the long-suffering Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright reveals a mystery of her very own.
Twelve crimes in all, solved without resorting to modern technology (possibly because nobody knows how to use it). Expect misunderstood clues, mislaid evidence, arguments about Dickens, various churches and pubs, and, of course, the usual disorderly conduct from the investigative officers laughingly called England’s Finest!
Review: “It often feels like you have hit the jackpot when you fall in love with books featuring terrific fictional characters and discover that there are plenty more to read that have already been published. So it was, when I picked up this collection starring the unique and exceptionally eccentric DCI Arthur Bryant and his partner DCI John May of the Met’s Peculiar Crimes Unit.” (Crime Fiction Lover)
Thinking of a jaunt to England? Let Arthur Bryant and John May, London’s oldest police detectives, show you the oddities behind the city’s façades in this tongue-in-cheek travel guide.
“The best fun is running all over the city with these amiable partners.”—The New York Times Book Review, on Bryant & May: The Lonely Hour
It’s getting late. I want to share my knowledge of London with you, if I can remember any of it.
So says Arthur Bryant. He and John May are the nation’s oldest serving detectives. Who better to reveal its secrets? Why does this rainy, cold, gray city capture so many imaginations? Could its very unreliability hold the key to its longevity?
The detectives are joined by their boss, Raymond Land, and some of their most disreputable friends, each an argumentative and unreliable expert in their own dodgy field.
Each character gives us a short tour of odd buildings, odder characters, lost venues, forgotten disasters, confusing routes, dubious gossip, illicit pleasures, and hidden pubs. They make all sorts of connections—and show us why it’s almost impossible to separate fact from fiction in London.
Buy Bryant & May: Peculiar London from Amazon
Reviews
“[Bryant & May: Peculiar London] is a fun last look at beloved characters for their devotees.”—Publishers Weekly
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