Product Description

'The newspapers referred to it as the case of the seventy-seven clocks. There was quite a fuss at the time. We got into terrible trouble. Dear fellow, it was one of our most truly peculiar cases. I remember as if it was yesterday.' In fact, Arthur Bryant remembers very little about yesterday, but he does remember the oddest investigation of his career...It was late in 1973. As strikes and blackouts ravaged the country during Edward Heath's 'Winter of Discontent', sundry members of a wealthy, aristocratic family were being disposed of in a variety of grotesque ways - by reptile, by bomb, by haircut. As the hours of daylight diminish towards Christmas, Bryant and May, the irascible detectives of London's controversial Peculiar Crimes Unit, know that time is the key - and time is running out for both the family and the police. Their investigations lead them into a hidden world of class conflict, craftsmanship and the secret loyalties of big business. But what have seventy seven ticking clocks to do with it? Now, the full story can at last be revealed, in this most eerie of adventures that features Arthur Bryant at his rudest, John May at his most exasperated and a gallery of colourful, bizarre characters who could only make their home in a city like London.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49978 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

From the Back Cover
The newspapers referred to it as the case of the seventy-seven clocks. There was quite a fuss at the time. We got into terrible trouble. Dear fellow, it was one of our most truly peculiar cases …

It was late in 1973. As strikes and blackouts ravaged the country during the Heath government’s ‘Winter of Discontent’, members of a wealthy, aristocratic family were being disposed of in various grotesque ways – by reptile, by bomb, by barber. As the hours of daylight diminish towards Christmas, Arthur Bryant and John May of the Met’s Peculiar Crimes Unit know that time is the key – and time is running out for the family and the police. The ill-matched duo’s investigations lead them into a hidden world of class conflict, craftsmanship and the murky, clandestine loyalties of big business. But what have seventy-seven ticking clocks to do with it?

With Arthur Bryant at his rudest, John May at his most exasperated and a gallery of colourful, not to say bizarre, characters who could only make their home in a city like London, only now can the truth can be revealed.

The Bryant & May mysteries:

‘Very cleverly plotted…simultaneously scary and alluring’ Daily Telegraph

‘Witty, charismatic, occasionally touching and with a genuine power to thrill’
Joanne Harris

‘Witty, charming, and informed about London, but – this is important – the storylines are vivid, tough and have a hard edge’The Times

About the Author
Christopher Fowler is the acclaimed author of fourteen novels, including the Bryant & May mysteries Full Dark House - which won the 2004 BFS August Derleth Award for Best Novel - and The Water Room - nominated for the CWA People's Choice Dagger Award. He is a director of the film-marketing company Creative Partnership and lives in North London. His new Bryant & May novel, Ten Second Staircase, is now available from Doubleday. Visit www.christopherfowler.co.uk