Can't Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday #324: Bryant & May: Oranges and Lemons by Christopher Fowler

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event that had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlighted upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

From Goodreads:

On a spring morning in London's Strand, the Speaker of the House of Commons is accidentally killed by a van unloading oranges and lemons for the annual St. Clement Danes festival. It's an absurd way to die, 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 is undergoing surgery for a bullet wound and Bryant has been missing for a month. What's more, the old unit in King's Cross is being turned into a vegetarian tapas bar.

Against impossible odds, the team is reassembled and once again what should have been 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.

Bryant & May: Oranges and Lemons by Christopher Fowler is expected to be published on December 8th, 2020 by Bantam.

Why am I waiting on this book? I've enjoyed the mystery and absurdity that make up the Bryant & May novels in the past. I expect that this novel will live up to the name of the group that solves the mysteries - the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments.so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #194/Can't Wait Wednesday: Bryant & May: Wild Chamber by Christopher Fowler

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event which had been hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. I'm now linking up with "Can't-Wait Wednesday" hosted over at Wishful Endings.

This week I'm waiting on #14 in the Bryant & May series, Wild Chamber by Christopher Fowler. It's due out December 5, 2017 from Random House.

Synopsis from Amazon:
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. 

Why am I waiting on this one? I've become a fan of Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit. They are offbeat detectives. And there is usually some humor to the telling of the story.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Review: Bryant & May and the Burning Man by Christopher Fowler

Published December 15, 2015
 by Bantam

In this 12th installment of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, it's chaos in London as Bryant & May seek out a killer who is using different forms of fiery deaths to accomplish his goals. 

"It was as if after a drowsy, sluggish summer, the streets had undergone spontaneous combustion. It had taken just one match to ignite this inferno, going by the name of Mr. Dexter Cornell." (location 203 on my Kindle) The result is crowds of protesters belonging to various groups all over London concentrating in the financial district as Guy Fawkes night approaches. 

The deaths take place under cover of the activities of the protesters. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to investigate the identity of the first man killed in front of a bank. From there Bryant starts making connections that are obvious to him, but not so much to the others. 

As the riots continue, the body count rises. What is the connection? Who is responsible? When will it end? Can Bryant & May figure it out before it costs the life of one of their own?

This is a good addition to the Bryant & May series. I'd like to say Bryant is in top form, but there are some days where he's not quite himself. On the days that he is together, he accomplishes more than some of the policemen outside of the unit on a good day. I love the characters that make up the Peculiar Crimes Unit. And the pace of the book is well done. The wit and sarcasm add nice spice to the story.

I give this book 4 stars out of 5. It's well written, well paced, and has interesting characters. It can be read as a stand alone even though it is part of a series. It will just whet your appetite to go back and read some of the others.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Teaser Tuesday: Bryant and May and the Burning Man by Christopher Fowler

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. 

Anyone can participate, just do the following:

• Grab your current read and open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and the author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Published December 15, 2015 by Bantam

Excerpt from: "Memo from Raymond Land to All Staff":

"The entrance hall's visual recognition system has been removed after Mr. Bryant proved it could be cheated by the addition of a hat. For now, it's back to using a secure code. I've taped it onto the wall above the machine."

~ 4% through on my Kindle

This is par for the course for the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Would you keep reading?

What's your Teaser this week? Please share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. Happy Reading!

Quickie Review: Bryant and May and the Secret Santa by Christopher Fowler

Bryant & May and the Secret Santa by Christopher Fowler is a short story available November17, 2015.

It's Christmas time in London with the cold, snow and slush expected with the season. Department store Santas have been hired and perform their tasks. But, after one boy visits Santa he becomes frightened and runs out of the store and winds up under a bus. Why did the boy react this way? Who is responsible for frightening him? Bryant and May are quickly called to the scene and begin to investigate.

I don't know much about boarding schools, so I couldn't really anticipate where the pair was going with their line of questioning. But, I didn't mind. All the clues are given that you need to solve along with Bryant and  May. There were a few twists.

I gave this story 4 stars out of 5 possible. Overall, it's a good, entertaining short story. It's worth your time. It can be read whether you are familiar with Bryant and May or not, but it's certainly more enjoyable knowing them from the novels.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this story in exchange for my honest opinion

Review: The Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler

The Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler is #10 in the series of Bryant and May Peculiar Crime Unit mysteries. It was published December 17, 2013 by Bantam.

Two children playing "Witch Hunt" follow their selected witch to St. Bride's Church. Inside the woman collapses and dies with no apparent cause of death obvious. Arthur Bryant expects that this case will be handed over to the Peculiar Crimes Unit, but instead the city police investigate it.

Then, Oskar Kasavian, the head of Home Office Security who also happens to be their nemesis, calls them and asks them for help. His wife has been acting increasingly erratically, and he wants them to get to the bottom of it.

When a second death links the 2 women's cases, Bryant and May end up all over London looking into the case to catch the killer whether arcane or not.

This is a good mystery. It has some dark humor to it, which certainly doesn't hurt. "As a student of human nature he would have made a fine pastry chef." "The Peculiar Crimes Unit was the flea in his ear, the pea under his mattress, the ground glass in his gin, but at least he had lately abandoned his attempts to have it closed down."

As it goes along it waffles between hinting at an arcane solution to the mystery and a logical scientific type answer. As a result, when the answer does come, it's a bit of a surprise. I didn't guess the outcome in advance which was nice. This was my first Bryant and May mystery. I am wondering if all their mysteries are as twisty and delightful as this one. These 2 detectives may be as the author says in the afterword, Golden Agers, but they are sharp as tacks. It's a pleasure to see them work.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I really liked it.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my  honest opinion.

Teaser Tuesday - The Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of 

Should Be Reading. 

Rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week I am still reading the kindle version of The Invisible Code (Bryant & May #10) by Christopher Fowler published by Bantam Books on December 13, 2013. So my teaser sentences come from this book again, just a different spot. And I think they are a little more enticing than the first ones I posted.

" As a student of human nature, he would have made a fine pastry chef. 'Are you telling me that she was murdered?' "

location 454

What's your Teaser this week?

Teaser Tuesday - The Invisible Code by Christopher Fowler

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of 

Should Be Reading. 

Rules:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week my teaser comes from the Kindle version of:

The Invisible Code (Bryant & May #10) by Christopher Fowler published by Bantam Books on December 13, 2013.

location 228 - 5% through

"Where were their parents, and why were they staring? They looked as if they were waiting for something to happen."

There are 2 children watching a young woman. To say more than that about the scene would be to reveal a spoiler. So, yes something will happen. 

What's your teaser this week?