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 & 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.

If this week's selection looks familiar it's because last week's selection also came from the same book. I haven't quite finished it yet even though I am enjoying it.

During a departmental meeting the following exchange occurred:

"Well thank you for that cheerful summation of the week's events," said Land. "I'll just go and gas myself. Or perhaps I'll go up the Gherkin with a machine gun and wipe out all of the protestors."

"Raymundo, you're sweating," Bryant pointed out. "Are you all right?"

60% through on my Kindle

If you're like me, even though I had seen this building on television and in the movies before, I didn't know it was nicknamed the Gherkin. And in the book there are protesters in the vicinity of that building. Thus Raymond Land's comment "Go up the Gherkin with a machine gun and wipe out all the protestors." 

What's your teaser today? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

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.