Product Description

One night, Arthur Bryant witnesses a drunk middle-aged lady coming out of a pub in a London backstreet. The next morning, she is found dead at the exact spot where their paths crossed. Even more disturbing, there's a twist: the pub has vanished and the street itself has changed. Bryant is convinced that he saw them as they looked over a century before, but the elderly detective has already lost the funeral urn of an old friend. Could he be losing his mind as well?Then it becomes clear that a number of women have met their ends in London pubs. It seems a silent, secret killer is at work, striking in full view...and yet nobody has a clue how, or why - or where he'll attack next. The likeliest suspect seems to be a mental patient with a reason for killing. But knowing who the killer is and catching him are two very different propositions. As their new team at the Peculiar Crimes Unit goes in search of a madman, the octogenarian detectives ready themselves for the pub crawl of a lifetime, and come face to face with their own mortality...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #230337 in Books
• Published on: 2008-06-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

GUARDIAN
'The sixth novel to feature Bryant and May, the most endearing pair of old farts in crime fiction, has plenty of Fowler's trademark quirky details as well as a page-turning plot. Fowler's latest bears all the hallmarks of the classic British mystery - think Edmund Crispin's 1946 novel The Moving Toyshop, but much funnier and more distinctive, with plenty of mordant humour, fascinating trivia about London past and present, and the basis for an epic pub crawl of your own. What more could you want?'

From the Inside Flap
The London pub was once a haven, a place where anyone could sit with a drink and ruminate on the ways of the world. Not, it seems, any more . . .

While walking London’s backstreets one evening, Arthur Bryant sees a middle-aged lady, slightly the worse for wear, coming out of a pub. The next morning, her lifeless body is found at the point where their paths crossed.

In itself disturbing enough, but there’s a twist: the pub has vanished. Bryant is convinced that he saw the street as it had been a century earlier; however, having recently lost an urn containing the remains of an old friend, could the elderly detective be losing his mind as well?

It soon becomes clear that the lives of a number of women have been cut short in London pubs. A silent, secret killer is at work, striking in full view, and yet nobody has a clue how, why, or where he’ll attack next. The main suspect seems to be a recently released mental patient. But knowing who the killer is and catching him are two very different things.

As their new Peculiar Crimes Unit team go in search of a madman, octogenarian detectives Bryant and May find themselves on the pub crawl of a lifetime – and come face to face with their own mortality.

About the Author
Christopher Fowler's include include Roofworld, Spanky, Soho Black and five further Bryant & May mysteries: Full Dark House - which won the BFS August Derleth Award for Best Novel; The Water Room - nominated for the CWA People's Choice Dagger Award and the August Derleth Award; Seventy-Seven Clocks, Ten-Second Staircase and White Corridor. He lives in King's Cross, London.

Customer Reviews

Unplug the phone and ignore the front door....it's the new Christopher Fowler
I do admit that this review might be slightly biased as Christopher Fowler is one of my favourite authors. This is the latest and concluding instalment of the Bryant and May series. Although you don't have to have read the other books in the series to enjoy this one, reading them will give you a better understanding of the role of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, the characters and previous investigations which are referenced throughout the novel.

This time Bryant and May decide to investigate a spate of killings that are taking place in some of London's most historic pubs. A mysterious man with a wine-mark on his face is targeting middle aged women and murdering them using a lethal injection. As you'd expect, the plot is good, the characterisation is fabulous and Arthur Bryant is up to his usual tricks. As this is the end of the series, I was also incredibly impressed that Fowler didn't fall into the usual trap of tying up every loose end and leaving some room for the reader's imagination.

As with other books by Christopher Fowler, expect the usual humour and lightness of touch, as well as a wealth of information and unknown facts about London. I can't wait to see what he'll come up with next (CF - if you're reading this, could we have something else featuring the Insomnia Squad please?!)

As usual, highly recommended.

The Final Act
Whilst not as witty or original as earlier titles in the series, The Victora Vanishes is a suitably amusing yet maudlin conclusion to the Bryant & May detective series. The by-now-familiar double act of old codgers ruminate, digress and tangent to good effect through a convuluted and rather disbelievable mix of murder, conspiracy theory, M.O.D. cover-up, street-theatre stunt and departmental collapse to end up just where you'd expect them: down the pub. In fact on one level this book reads as a guide to London's long-lost pubs - I shall certainly be checking some of those mentioned out next time I visit my mum in the big city. Meanwhile, bid farewell to this inimitable pair of detectives and their arcane skills and encyclopaedic knowledge. I for one will miss them.