Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery

I loan them out frequently because I love them and want others to fall in love with them! This one didn't come back so I had to have it again in my library. This is the first of the series. You don't have to read it first but I would.

If Gaston Leroux were alive, he'd probably be ringing up his lawyers to start plagiarism proceedings . . . "House" is "Phantom of the Opera" on LSD. "Phantom" was a docu-drama compared to this wild-and-wooly pastiche. "House" is kind of fun to read; lots of stuff happening (too much, really), and the book is about 50 pages too long. But most of it is deeply unbelievable, very little is in the realm of probabilities, the characters (of which there are far too many) are caricatures, and the various denouments [sp??] are splat in the center of No-Way-Jose Land.

There are some nice in-theater touches (I know from my quasi-career therein), nice bits and snatches of Savoyard trivia, a nice instogram of Offenbach's career, and a fairly good and dramatic picture of life during The Blitz. But there is way too much of what passes for happenings that raise eyebrows past the top of one's head and elucidate louder and louder "What's??!!"

And if you want to know why the author felt it important o note that one cadaver had been nailed into its coffin, check the title of this review. "House" is to mysteries what the SyFy Channel is to nature movies . . .

Interesting concept. Interesting characters, but they could have been better defined. Interesting information about London during WW II. Plotting was convoluted. Too many characters to follow and keep track of. The secondary characters needed more definition. Same criticism for the second book in the series.tempt

Silly yet pensive. Abstruse yet keeping my interest, which is not easy these days as I have grown exceedingly picky about my books. I only give between four or five stars on reviews because I never get to the end of inferior books. I liked this book. I would also recommend the books by Sarah Caudwell, such as Thus Was AdonIs Murdered.

I enjoy all Mr Fowler's books, especially the "Peculiar Crimes Unit", where the city itself is a major character, and not to be trifled with! His human characters are eccentric and very clever, very amusing. The crimes are suitably macabre.

This book was challenging for me. It had a gruesome/graphic murder which was more bothersome than most. The story never quite pulled me in. I did read the whole book, although it took me much longer than usual to get through it. It was definitely not one of my favorite books.

If you are into particularly gory murders committed in London during the Blitz, solved by a policeman who uses mysticism and other methods unusable in court, then this is your book! One benefit of reading on Kindle: instant access to a dictionary that can provide translations of Britishisms.

Unfortunately, I did not find this book interesting or entertaining. The time hopping was a bit annoying, and the segues between one period to another were choppy. Sometimes it took a couple of paragraphs to determine if it was present time or the 40s. Generally, not enough substance to keep it engrossing.
This is being saved for one night when I have terrible insomnia.

This was a most refreshing change from the usual 'Shoot 'em, Sock 'em genre.. ' I found a review for this author in my local Sunday paper . I am now buying more by the same author for my Kindle.

Amelianne

Buying used books, I usually expect them to be pretty tattered, and then when they come looking brand new, I am pleasantly surprised. This book wasn't in mint condition, but they didn't claim it would be. So I am pretty happy.

To much time change and characters. After the sixth back word reading to figure out what and where I was I gave up! I normally give a book 100 pages and if not enjoying the read I move on but because this was my book club pick I felt obligated to continue. At one week all participants of book club were in agreement to give up. Was excited to hopefully find a series but this is not to be the one.

First in the Bryant and May Peculiar Crimes Unit historical mystery series and revolving around a pair of detectives who, thankfully, balance each other, and which flips between 1940 and 2000 in London.

In 2004, Full Dark House won the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the Barry Award for Best British Crime Novel.

My Take
It’s a peculiar start with the death of one of the main characters. In between, there are some flamboyant theatrical deaths…shades of Phantom of the Opera(!)…and a contradictory partnership of the offputting Bryant and the more level, realistic, and diplomatic May.

It’s that theatre case in 1940 that finds Arthur going off the deep end and is connected to the event of Arthur’s death which allows May to reminisce about past cases — a brilliant way of dumping information on us. It’s also a great way to introduce Bryant’s fascination with the occult and his fantastic imagination.

The “time travel” can be a touch confusing as Fowler flips back and forth between today’s investigation into Bryant’s death to May’s introspection about their first case together at the Palace Theatre, the progression of which causes Bryant to compare the PCU to Orpheus, “rushing headlong into the light of a terrible new world”.

You’ll learn some interesting tidbits about how Londoners coped with the blitz, such as leaving your white shirttail hanging out when on a bike, so motorists can see you during a blackout, sandbag substitutes, the concern for morale, and the food shortage problems. For the prurient, Fowler explains the “excitement” of the cancan, lol. What he calls “a real trouser rouser”…*laughing*… Fowler also has a lovely explanation of what’s behind the thinking on Offenbach’s Orpheus. Makes me want to the original tale and the opera myself.

Fowler helps create a more fearful atmosphere with the terrible situation for the theatrical people: the fear of the bombings combined with the fear of who is killing them off.

It’s complex and twisting and found me re-reading sections to get the gist, but very well worth reading. You will CRACK up when you get to the end. It’s so Bryant, ROFL. To call Bryant eccentric is to lowball the guy. He’s a danger to technology and stuffed shirts.

Hmm, Fowler never does explain that flute note.

I’m eager to see how Fowler continues in The Water Room since we’ve had the beginning and the (possible) end already.

The Story
A bomb rips through present-day London, tragically ending the crime-fighting partnership of Arthur Bryant and John May begun more than a half-century ago during another infamous bombing: the Blitz of World War II.

Desperately searching for clues to the saboteur’s identity, May finds the notes his old friend kept of their very first case and a past that may have returned…with murderous vengeance.

It was an investigation that began with the grisly murder of a pretty young dancer. In a city shaken by war, a faceless killer stalked London’s theatre row, creating his own sinister drama. And it would take Bryant’s unorthodox techniques and May’s dogged police work to catch a fiend whose ability to escape detection seemed almost supernatural — a murderer who decades later may have returned to kill one of them…and won’t stop until he kills the other.

The Characters
Bryant and May can be found in both times.

September 2000 London
Detective Arthur Bryant died in a bomb blast that took out the office. Just as he and May were about to retire. His partner, Detective John May, is the level-headed one. Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright has just retired. Liberty DuCaine is part of the forensic unit. (His brother’s name is Fraternity.) Sam Biddle is Sidney’s grandson and is the new liaison officer between the Peculiar Unit and the Home Office. Dr. Oswald Finch is the now-retired forensic pathologist. Raymond Land is the new unforgiving head of the Unit.

April is May’s agoraphobic granddaughter; Daphne is May's current girlfriend. Hmm, a granddaughter means the player got married at some point… Alma Sorrowbridge is Bryant’s West Indian landlady.

Dr. Leigh is at the Wetherby, a clinic for patients suffering from senile dementia. R. and Maurice Mamoulian have a dog, Beaumont, and they’re May’s neighbors. Stanhope Beaufort has a practical, ahem, perspective on architecture. I loved his explanation of architecture versus his own comfort. Maggie Armitrage is a spiritualist and one of a very few left in the Coven of St. James the Elder along with Neema; Olive can’t handle the stairs anymore. Do pay attention to Maggie’s predictions. You’ll be surprised.

November 11, 1940 London
The North London Peculiar Crimes Unit is…
…a new organization intended to handle controversial cases that could affect the country’s morale, but more especially the cases the regular force can’t handle — the embarrassing ones. Sidney Biddle is the officious, by-the-book spy planted on Bryant by their boss, Superintendent Farley Davenport, who is completely against the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Arthur Bryant (he has a dicky heart) and firmly believes in outside-the-box thinking, an iconoclast, with a true belief in the paranormal. I suspect it’s partly why he has such a difficult time with the opposite sex. Not a problem that May has. The eighteen-year-old Nathalie was the love of Bryant’s life.
”A Holborn judge … refused to hear any more from the unit’s witnesses until Bryant could assure him that they were all technically alive and in human form.”
John May had codebreaking training and this is his first day on the job; he’s the diplomat who keeps a rein on Bryant’s more excessive imaginings. Detective Sergeant Gladys Forthright (one of the first female ones thanks to the war) is engaged to Sergeant Harris Longbright; she’s also part time with the WVS. Dr. Runcorn is their ancient forensics pathologist; Dr. Finch is the new guy. Police Constables Crowhurst and Atherton are the rest of the staff. “Nasty-Basket” Carfax is the disapproving desk sergeant who’s married to Davenport’s sister.

The Palace Theatre, Cambridge Circus …
…is one of the great theatres and makes a rabbit warren seem organized. Elspeth Wynter is the front-of-house manager. Her father “died … during a trouser-dropping farce in which he had already been dying nightly". Todd is her son. Mr. Cruickshank is the archivist. Helena Parole is the artistic director; Benjamin Woolf is an agent and Helena’s former husband. Harry Cowper is Helena’s assistant and keeps the peace. Nijinsky is the house tortoise. Stan Lowe is the stage doorkeeper; Mouse is his assistant. Geoffrey Whittaker is the stage manager. Madeline Penn is on loan from RADA and the assistant stage manager. Anton Varisich is the conductor. Olivia Thwaite is the costume designer. Mr. Mack is the head carpenter. Raymond Carrington is the lighting chief.

Tanya Capistrania is an upstaging dancer, and she’s been gettin’ busy with Whittaker and Cumberland. Her father, Albert Friedrich Capistrania, will be at the Austrian ambassador’s house. Eve Noriac is playing the title role of Eurydice, and the much-loved Charles Senechal is an Anglo-French baritone playing Jupiter; both are on loan from the Lyon Opera House. Corinne Betts is the comedienne playing Mercury. Miles Stone is the star playing Orpheus. I love that bit about Miles’ agent referring to him as “the Millstone”, lol. Betty Trammel, Jan Petrovic (Phyllis is her worried roommate), and Sally-Ann are some of the chorus girls. The high-strung Valerie Marchmont plays Public Opinion. David Cumberland plays John Styx. Barbara Darvell plays Jupiter’s wife; her son, Zachary, and his friend Larry are in the balcony watching the rehearsal.
”Real stars make you believe in them because they believe in themselves.”
The Three Hundred International Banks is…
…a financial group backing the production with Andreas Renalda, a Greek shipping magnate, who is the chairman. Sirius was his father; Diana his mother; and, Minos was his five-years-older brother who was passed over to inherit the business. Elissa was Andreas’ wife. Euterpe is the Muse of lyric poetry.

The more, ahem, spiritual side includes…
…Edna Wagstaff is a medium who uses stuffed cats but only Rothschild is left. Her spirit guide was Squadron Leader Smethwick. She lost her son, Billy, at Dunkirk and her daughter is in the WRNS. Bryant has friends in the Camden Town Coven, the Southwark Supernaturals, the Prometheus League, the Mystic Savoyards, the Insomnia Squad, and a large assortment of paranormalists, idiot savants, primitives, mind-readers, and madmen. The ghosts include “Man in Grey”, John Buckstone…and Arthur?

Rachel Saperstein is Miles’ mother, and not too happy about his name change nor his divorce from the “lovely” Becky. Seamus is the milkman. Peregrine Summerfield is a journalist friend of Bryant’s who wrote an exposé on the Renaldas that got squashed. The Band of Hope is a temperance group. The Archbishop of Canterbury “says they’re all going to Hell” while Bryant claims he only says that when he finds out people are enjoying something. Gilbert Riley is a snoopy critic.

The Cover and Title
The cover is quite peculiar with its pale yellow background rough edged in a scribble of a darker orangey yellow. The title and author’s name are in a deep chocolate brown. But it’s the graphic in the lower center that really grabs the eye with its old-fashioned green steamer trunk with drawers on one side and a curtained-off space on the other. Circling around it are icons representing events in the story from guns to grenades, a British flag waving as bombs drop, a tragedy mask for the theatrical shenanigans, and one swirling plant…that Bryant…!

The title encapsulates the murders at the theatre, as it results in a Full Dark House.

This book was not exactly as advertised, though I enjoyed it anyway. Some of the blurbs about the book, not to mention the name of the unit in question (Peculiar Crimes Unit), suggested a paranormal, supernatural, and/or occult twist. Though there is plenty of theorizing, outside the box thinking, a medium, and the suggestion of the inexplicable, this ends up being more classic British mystery accented by theatrical overtones and an odd couple detective partnering. The partnership in question, of the intellectually adventuresome and eccentric Bryant and the more stolid and analytical May, is promising and with the flashback nature of the story (mostly set in early WWII London, but fast-forwarded to the 21st century) lets the reader know that both detectives will survive their first case and that it is the beginning of a four decade pairing. I'll definitely try the next book in the series, and maybe this time the explanations will be less mundane and truly peculiar!

I enjoyed my introduction to Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Lots of other unique characters to round out the cast, and I'm looking forward to getting to know each one better.
The story worked on two timelines, the present and WWII era London, but with more of a focus on the past. Here we are introduced to the very young detectives as they investigate their first case together, a case that takes place during one of London's darker periods, the Blitz.
The case centers around an old theatre where a young dancer has been found murdered, her feet sheared off and later found in a chestnut vendor's brassiere. As the detectives investigate, they are presented with plenty of red herrings, dubious suspects and a phantom that haunts the dark labyrinths and shadowy reaches of the old theatre, creating pandemonium in its wake.
Well fleshed-out characters, attention given to the details of the time period, but I often felt lost and unable to see how certain conclusions were reached with so little to go on. I like a whodunit that lets you play along, but found this hard to follow.
I expect Fowler catches his stride in the future books of the series, and look forward to reading the further adventures of Mr Bryant and Mr May.
3 1/2 stars.

I have just discovered the May and Bryant books in the last two months and have plowed through four already. These books are just so funny -- witty, in that inimitable British way (old sausage, as a term of endearment, for example). and loveable but thankfully not saccharine, often actually pretty rude (ie, Bryant biting a little kid with his dentures, after taking them out of his mouth -- awesome) elderly detectives, and incredibly complex plots that mix vivid layered history of London with a supernatural/mystical bent along with lots of funny secondary characters. I never see the ending coming, I am always surprised. Plus, Fowler writes well, not always the thing in this genre let's face it, and of course as I said he is funny and can be at moments moving too. Just fantastic.

Although the beginning blasts you into the lives of Bryant and May, I was disappointed that I didn't find 'Full Dark House' more enjoyable. I bought it after seeing reviews (for the latest book in the series) on ITV's Crime Club and it's quirkiness sold it to me.
A pair of Octogenarian detectives who as the (not quite dynamic) duo Bryant and May, share their names with a famous brand of matches; a branch of the Met called 'The Peculiar Crimes Unit' and some subtle, tongue in cheek humour.

I liked:
* Arthur Bryant and John May's relationship. "Why can't you be like regular old people and put irresponsibility behind you?" (p.403) Anyone who is considered 'old' and irresponsible sounds like fun to be around!!
* The WWII setting for the story (alongside the present day) which has descriptive and emotive scenes of blitzed London.
* An interesting sprinkling of facts, such as the killing of London Zoo's poisonous snakes during the war in case the zoo was bombed and they escaped!

The deaths all take place in the Palace Theatre, and include some imaginative demises. Using an old theatre as a murder setting there are plenty of hiding places, dark rows of stalls (a Full Dark House)and machinery to sabotage. There was no Scooby Doo janitor to unmask but as always in a mystery, the characters are not always what they seem.
Unfortunately I found it a bit draggy in places and had to re-read paragraphs at times, but because I like the premise and I was only able to read in snatches (and some books really do benefit from longer absorption in a story) I wouldn't rule out trying another from this series.

An unusual start for a mystery series. I had read a later book in the series, and that took some of the surprise from this first chronicle of this detective duo. That said, the intermingling of current London and wartime London, and how the past can touch the present as you see younger, green versions of the protagonists and then older, seasoned versions of same characters, is well-done. The author's extraordinary facility in depicting London old and new is in stark evidence once more, and the added bonus of the back story of his principals is entertaining. In the end, the book is somewhat haunting, and this is not surprising given Fowler's history as a horror writer as well. He knows how to set scenes vividly, but does not commit the grave error of gratuitously dwelling too much on the sensational aspects of his story.

Recommended heartily by my highly intelligent 85 year old godmother, and was she ever right. This historical mystery which weaves back and forth to the present from World War II London is deeply intriguing and keeps you on your theatrical and mythological knowledge toes! It’s a hefty read, but well worth it. I “luckily?” caught a horrible cold and was stuck in bed two and a half days, just long enough to finish this without interruption except for naps.

The two protagonists are believable and enjoyable to get to know, and the setting lets you understand they and their unusual wartime team will have a fruitful friendship of 60 more years.

Wish I could be off work for weeks* just to tackle all the rest of these (*but NOT be sick!)

Christopher Fowler has had a long and distinguished literary career. FULL DARK HOUSE is the tenth of his published novels. He has also written and published over 100 works of shorter fiction, most of which appear in nine different collections, as well as MENZ INSANA, a fine graphic novel. Fowler's work is quite diverse; while it may stray into the mystery, suspense or even dark fantasy genres, he is impossible to pigeonhole.
FULL DARK HOUSE is an excellent example of this. There are elements of mystery (ala Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie), police procedurals, horror, history and suspense aplenty here. There is also Fowler's trademark quirkiness. One never knows what to expect. So it is that while FULL DARK HOUSE is the first of a projected series of mysteries featuring Arthur Bryant and John May, it deals with their first, and last, case.
We learn over the course of FULL DARK HOUSE that Bryant and May have a long history together. They met up as the result of the establishment of the London Peculiar Crimes Unit in 1940, at the height of the German bombing of London. The founding of PCU occurred partly from necessity and partly for publicity. Given the frequency of the bombing to which the London populace was subjected, the actions of some of its citizenry became more and more bizarre, resulting in what was referred to with British understatement as "peculiar crimes." Bryant and May, assigned to the unit, became friends; their personal and professional relationship has lasted over 60 years, with Bryant's unorthodox methodology and May's more traditional police work complementing each other nicely.
Fowler begins FULL DARK HOUSE in modern London with ... well, a bang, literally, when the headquarters of the London Peculiar Crimes Unit explodes with Arthur Bryant in it. May is aware that his partner, in the days preceding his demise, had been poking around in the files of their very first case and that somehow he apparently awakened the spirit of a murderer who has now eliminated one of them and seems determined to take the life of the other. May begins retracing Bryant's movements in the few days preceding the explosion, examining Bryant's cryptic, almost indecipherable notes and recalling the events of their first active case in November 1940.
Bryant and May were brought to London's Palace Theater to investigate the bizarre death of a dancer on the eve of the presentation of a controversial production of "Orpheus in Hell." There was initially the possibility that the death might have been an accident; yet, as more deaths occur, by increasingly violent means, the two men were drawn to the conclusion that they are dealing with a cunning, unknown killer with a diabolical motive. As May reviews the events that occurred decades before against the backdrop of war-torn London, he gradually comes to realize that an individual from that investigation has unexpectedly and inexplicably reappeared to wreak havoc once again.
Fowler does a breathtaking job of recreating war-torn London from without and within the Palace Theater, capturing not only the stoic resignation of the public to the horrific bombing but also the theatrical elements of the era. Fowler's descriptions of the theater, from the staging areas, the offices and the costumes to the actors themselves, are simply incredible. While he obviously conducted an incredible amount of research in the writing of this book, that fact does not fully credit Fowler's almost magical ability to transport the reader back in time, to make the passages in the novel read as if they were diary entries written as the bombs fell.
The conclusion of FULL DARK HOUSE is also nothing less than wonderful. I had to take a bit of license here not to reveal it, but I doubt anyone reading FULL DARK HOUSE will object; the journey here is the equal of the destination. Fowler also liberally sprinkles cryptic references to other historical Peculiar Crimes Unit cases, enough so that his readership can expect several more volumes of Bryant and May mysteries in the future.
FULL DARK HOUSE is an ambitious and challenging beginning to what will hopefully be a long-running series.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Everything is good about this book: the plot, the characters, the setting, the parallel stories, and the nice solutions at the end. But, to be honest, the book did not hold my attention in the middle. I lost interest and I'm not sure why but too much of the same: info about subsidiary characters and victims that I knew would not matter in the long-run. So, I'm not sure I will read any more of these books even though I like so much about the series; I pretty much ignored the middle third of the book.

World War II rages and London shudders under the blitz, but the public must be assured that things are normal, that crime doesn't pay, and that the police are on the job. One police grout, the Peculiar Crimes Unit is established to handle the odd and different cases and staffed by one of the most peculiar of England's police--Arthur Bryant. When new detective John May joins, the two set off in search of a body missing its feet and discover a theater production set to explode.

With a modern wrapper centered around a bombing that destroys the Peculiar Crimes building and survivor John May's attempts to make sense of his partner's death--a death that seems linked to their first case together, FULL DARK HOUSE spends most of its time in the past--when May and Bryant were young, when censors could still close down plays for showing too much of a chorus-girl's thighs, and when people could lose themselves in London and only be found when they decided themselves.

Author Christopher Fowler combines straightforward police procedural investigation with a bit of mysticism, numerous allusions to classical mythology, and a strange theater that truly becomes a character in this strange story. May and Bryant's differences (May is logical, Bryant a believer in the occult) deepens their partnership and allows the two of them to argue their way to a solution to the strange crimes. Because the severed feet are only the beginning of the deaths associated with this play.

I thought FULL DARK HOUSE went a little slowly from time to time and I'm still not sure that the modern 'wrapper' added a lot to the story, but May, Bryant, their unfortunate love lives, and the oddly haunted theater add up to solid entertainment.

The job of The Peculiar Crimes Unit is an interesting one. Their job is to fritter out strange crimes and cases that seem impossible to solve.

I like to think of this particular story as a Phantom of the Opera meets Sherlock Holmes style detective novel. I really loved the concept of a theater ghost, even though Phantom of the Opera has a similar concept, in this book it was portrayed much differently. I thought it added a flamboyant flair to the story.

The mystery was a puzzel that kept me interested with lots of strange twists. I already know that I will enjoy this series and I can't wait to read what is in store for the duel next! This is an interesting debut that leaves the reader wondering what peculiar crime will come through the door of the little office on Mornington Crescent. See my full review here: [...]

If you don't mind "new age" pseudo-religious, pseudo-scientific and pseudo-historical fad "intellectualism" and you don't mind skipping pages and pages of slow moving empty dialogue, knock yourself out. If you prefer fast-paced "London" based mysteries try Will Thomas' new books instead.

Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright learns from long time Detective John May that an explosion killed his peer Detective Arthur Bryant. John and Arthur first met when the Peculiar Crimes Unit was established in 1940 and they investigated a weird murder of a dancer at the Palace Theatre. That case with its odd occult like feel forms the start of a long time friendship and partnership.
Now both octogenarians, it appears that Arthur was writing his memoirs when a six decades old bomb from the World War II Blitz exploded and killed him. John, who had talked to his buddy just prior to his death, finds a design of the Palace amongst the ruins of Bryant's residence. Was his partner killed because someone wants the sixty plus years old crime to remain cold or was this just an accident caused by the victim's own absent minded brilliant lifestyle? John believes murder has occurred and he plans to prove it.
FULL DARK HOUSE is a terrific police procedural that uses an occult like homicide from 1940 as the motive for a modern day killing. The story line is driven by the octogenarian John and to a degree supplemented by his long time detective partner Arthur though the latter is dead and appears more as either flashback thoughts or the victim. The sleuthing is fabulous and the support cast realistically add depth to the hero, but when all is said and done this novel belongs to dedicated John, who somewhat obsessed in solving his pal's death hopefully is around for a decade or two solving more London murders.
Harriet Klausner

The first of Christopher Fowler's Bryant & May mysteries (& the first of his books I've read), Full Dark House is one of those wonderful mysteries that lays out all of the clues for you straight from the beginning of the book. It's amusing (& irritating) to look back over the story, putting the pieces all together, realizing that if you'd only been a bit smarter you could have figured the whole thing out yourself.

Sadly, I'm NOT that smart. The person I pegged as the murderer . . . wasn't. Damn!

I'm not big on recapping stories & plot lines, so I won't bother -- I do recommend this book, though, especially for mystery lovers.

I've already bought the entire series currently available in the U.S., & I anticipate many more encounters with Bryant & May.

This is a Phantom of the Opera retelling that takes place during the London Blitz. And it works.

It flips back and forth between present time and WW II. It did drag a bit at times hence why I only gave it 4 instead of 5 stars but all and all I loved it. I would greatly recommend you give this book a try.

Once you make it in a little over 160 pages the action kicks in big time and you will not be able to put it down till the last word of the last page.

Christopher Fowler can write an interesting, intelligent, informative book.
FULL DARK HOUSE is set in London in both the present and during the blitz in November1940. It begins with the destruction of a building housing the Peculiar Crimes Unit, part of the North London Police Department. Only one person, Detective Arthur Bryant, was known to have been in the building. What remains were found were buried. Among the attendees was his longtime partner, Detective John May and Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright. John, especially, was upset that the police department wasn’t doing enough to find the person or persons who set off the bomb. The police, on the other hand, were more concerned with curbing the gang violence in the neighborhood.
John thought back to when he first met Arthur, when they were both in their early twenties. Their first case was the unusual death of a dancer in a racy version of Orpheus in the Underworld. Within days, others associated with the show were killed or disappeared. One thing the deaths had in common was they happened during bomb attacks when the city was in blackout.
I figured out part of the ending of the current part of the story. I did not do so with the 1940 section. I think it was too contrived and parts of it seemed totally impossible.
One of the best parts of FULL DARK HOUSE are the descriptions of what life was like during the Blitz: The damage to the city and its residents and how the survivors coped. A second highpoint are the descriptions of both the old theater, once home to D’Oyly Carte Gilbert and Sullivan productions. It provides a lot of wit: “Helene...had a smile so false she could have stood for Parliament.” “The young detective possessed that peculiar ability more common to elderly men, which produces negative energy around electrical equipment, turning even the most basic appliances into weapons of destruction.”
It predicts the economic future: “The days of the British owning everything on their terms is coming to an end. Future fortunes will be made with the involvement of international cartels such as ours.”
The book was a fast read. It could easily have been somewhat shorter without losing any of the story or effect.
I really don’t like books with short chapters. I think it insults the intelligence of the readers as well as wastes a lot of paper. I automatically lower my rating for such books.

This is all I need, another series to get involved in! But what a series! In present-day London, 80-year-old Arthur Bryant is killed while working late at the Metropolitan Police's Peculiar Crimes office. His grieving partner, 76-year-old John May, attempts to solve the crime, which appears to have something to do with Arthur's re-opening of an old case, the first one which Bryant and May solved together, during the height of the Blitz, when a killer stalked the backstage area of the Palace Theatre. The bizarre circumstances begin when a dancer is found dead with her feet having been sheared off--and then, improbably, even ODDER crimes begin to happen.

Bryant and May are an odd couple; I thought of a 1940s version of Holmes and Watson, with Bryant as the eccentric and May as the more conventional (and more attractive to women). Fowler brings the WWII atmosphere of the Blitz to life--not just hardy Londoners stiffening their upper lips, but the fear and the uncertainty and the spooky feeling of streets under blackout, not to mention the claustrophobic feeling of the theatre. Yet the narration is also offbeat and frequently humorous, especially when presenting Bryant's oddball friends; many times I laughed aloud. An enjoyable book; so enjoyable I bought the rest of the series.

Another in the lovely, quirky "Peculiar Crimes Unit" series, mysteries that combine British history, scholarly inquiry, decidedly peculiar crimes (often revolving less around "who did it?" than "how the heck was it done?"), lovely writing, and characters with a lot more heart than you usually find in this genre.

Full Dark House walks us through the genesis of the "Peculiar Crimes Unit" and early days of long-lived partnership between the unit's co-headmasters: Bryant, the damaged, erratic genius of the pair, and May, his more conventional, socially adept colleague. (Sort of a Holmes/Watson thing, except Holmes is loopier and Watson's a lot more competent.) The story begins in modern-day London with the death of one of the two partners, then loops back to London during the blitz to recount the unit's first investigation - an investigation which, it increasingly appears, holds the key to understanding the horrific attack. Along the way we get a "you were there" visceral glimpse of how Londoners clung to normalcy during the most devastating days of the blitz; a history of British popular theater, from burlesque to comic opera; several highly theatrical deaths; a solution that may or may not revolve around Greek mythology; and - best of all - the chance to look benevolently on as two highly likeable characters begin the business of forging a bond of trust, respect, and deep friendship that will endure for decades to come.

My only beef with this book is the same beef I've had with several other books in the series: the ending feels a little rushed and not all the loose ends are tied up as tidely as a mystery purist might like. I'm usually just such a mystery purist, but I've made an exception for this series. The books are always intellectually stimulating, Fowler's prose unfailingly witty and engaging, and Bryant and May have insinuated themselves in my imagination like a couple of belovedly eccentric uncles ... whatever minor lapses may persist, I can't help coming back for more.

My ever-expanding search for new and different mystery series seems never-ending! A new series (for me) is the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) myteries by Christopher Fowler. This unit has been set up to investigate, well, "pecular crimes" that the ordinary police force hasn't been able to solve.

In "Full Dark House," we are introduced to a pair of "unusual" detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May. It's a "different" take on the plot line, as Fowler uses a flashback parallel to set the stage, as it were.

The story begins when a bomb goes off in present day London, killing the 80-year-old Bryant, thus tragically ending the crime-fighting partnership of Bryant and May which had begun more than a half-century ago during another infamous bombing, the Blitz of World War II.

May desperately searches for clues of the killer's identity and in the process he finds the notes Bryant had kept of their very first case back in the war days. He senses that the past may have returned, indeed. The original investigation began with the murder of a pretty young dancer. London, shaken by the war's bombings already, is now looking for a faceless killer, stalking the city's theatre district.

With Bryant's unorthodox techniques and May's plodding, basic police work, they set out to catch this fiend, who seems almost supernatural--in that, decades later, he (or she) seems to have returned, killing one of the partners and quite likely zeroing in on the other.

Fowler uniquely blends the comic and the grotesque in what we found to be a delightful, but not silly, take on a serious subject: murder.

One of the first Bryant and May detective stories that starts when these two detectives meet on assignment at Particular Crimes Unit which was created during World War II in London.
Two wonderful characters fated to become long time partners.
Excellent plot, a thinking man's mystery, with great sense of time and place.
The story starts in the present but is connected to the first case they ever worked together at The Palace theater. A perfect venue to include sundry characters that fill the best of British mystery novels. Great read.

This mystery starts in the present with an explosion that kills a founding member of the Peculiar Crimes Unit and immediately bounces 60+ years back when the Nazis were bombing London every clear night. The setting is (mostly) in a theater (sorry, theatre) where the body of a ballerina was found missing her feet. The Peculiar Crimes Unit has just started up, and this is their first case with Arthur Bryant and John May. Many more murders take place in the theater before the PCU is able to solve the case. The setting switches back and forth between past and present as Bryant & May solve the theatre murders and May solves the mystery of the explosion that blew up the modern PCU office.

This was a decent mystery, but the most impressive thing about it was the feeling that Londoners must have felt while the bombs dropped. The characters were well drawn and interesting. The writing was engaging. I liked this enough to invest in the other books in the series.

I liked this and look forward to reading the others.

Unfortunately I had read latest book first, which did spoil some of the plot line, but I still enjoyed and was engrossed in the story.You need to be able to tink to follow along, whichI like. Will continue to read the rest of this series.

Setting his mystery in blitz-ravaged London and evoking its atmosphere of night bombing raids and their aftermath in the city streets, along with a risque operatic production trying to make its opening night, Fowler concocted a tanatlizing background for a mystery. He stirs into this already promising mix a stretch of 60 years, a span that presents a boyish pair of detectives during wartime London, and later at the end of their careers (octogenarian detectives?!?! there's a novel twist) in the multicultural London of the 21st century. Back and forth we go between then and now, and not always with the greatest clarity.

The plot involves a "peculiar crimes unit" headed up by the disheveled and eccentric Bryant. He's a well-drawn character and the dialogue between him and May, as well as the out-of-sorts authoritarian Biddle, is enjoyable. But in the end, the various plot elements that are meant to sustain the "peculiar crimes unit" don't really add up. Fowler didn't seem to have the nerve to have the seances and clairvoyants (beloved of Bryant) actually lead us into the realm of the uncanny - throwing the reader (not to mention May and Biddle) into uneasy terrain. He pulls back. May's encounter with a clairvoyant's summoning up of a "deceased personage" could've been a presence or a poltergeist, but - naw - it's just a kitchen accident caused by a nearby train. Even the accident's meaning lacks motivation from the summoned spirit.

A lot of late 20th century British humor, especially in film, seems to hope that if your mise-en-scene accumulates enough eccentric caricatures in the narrative, and go through a routine in a ripe, slightly surreal atmosphere (Fowler's decaying London theatre), you've done your job. Well not quite, old chap.

The Bryant & May series has continued, I see, and I hope that Fowler will take a clue from a British detective fiction writer like P.D. James. She is the same age as the characters Bryant and May, and is a master at convincingly weaving (not just stirring in along the way) character, dialogue, motivation, locale on the way to a compelling denouement/conclusion. Blend that approach with the spot on humor found in the American Anglophile mysteries of Martha Grimes and Fowler's promising ideas and authorial voice will find its mark.

What an interesting use of contrasts. Fowler brings to life 1940s London during the Blitz offset by the Millennium Eye; the chaos of the streets during the Blitz and the insularity of a theatre; traditional police procedure versus use of a medium; a difficult, quirky detective offset by a personable classic investigator. I felt the plot was overly complex and the story slow at times, but I was held in the story by the strong writing, humor, and the relationship between the two protagonists. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.