Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart - A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery

Nobody needs my review, but I couldn't resist. And then when I read the 3-star review I was glad I decided to do one because those of you who read reviews well know there is no accounting for either tastes or opinions. In particular, this 3-star review decried the lack of "relationship" between characters, as well as complaining that Arthur Bryant wasn't clever, just grumpy. I swear, it leaves you wondering what book in another dimension did they read?

First of all, relationships abound and we don't need to ramp up the same old ties between the PCU personnel anyway because we've all heard it dozens of times. (I'm assuming you've read more than one of these in the series. I mean, how could you not?) But, as a conscientious author, Christopher Fowler does touch the bases of connection as well as memory among the staff. In terms of present relationships, we get the dissolution of Meera and Bimsley, not to mention the sudden and violent separation of Longbright and Renfield. In addition, he introduces a new character -- with the luscious name of Orion Banks --whose "office-speak" is as accurate as it is funny. Can you savor, "It's about the practicalities of real-time assignment, it's about synchronizing capabilities and transitional organizational options, including logistical contingencies."?

Second, and of consuming interest, our Arthur falls back through time to a traumatic event in his childhood, which led to his eventually becoming a police officer, but which dread is still buried in his subconscious. A "necromancer" -- a fascinating nemesis we've met before -- taps into this fear and turns Arthur from his usual light, teasing acceptance of death to the dark side of the end of one's existence. That part is especially well done. And how Arthur triumphs is a lesson for us all.

And then there are the much-looked forward to throwaway insights that Arthur does so well. Here's only two: About Putin and Russia's new population of billionaires: "Some say they passed from barbarism to decadence without going through civilization." On the Devil: "Ah, yes, the Devil. Satan, a corruption of Saturn the Destroyer. A creation of the church and so often a resident within it." And finally, as is Arthur's wont, he bemoans to John May (who -- my only criticism -- is often underused) that he isn't up on the modern technologies and techniques, saying, "'I'm just an obstacle.'" And May replies, "No, you're a touchstone. If others can't see that, it's their loss." Amen.

If there is one fictional character in this unholy, by-the-book, jargon-rich, lock-step thinking, rigid, fundamentalist, overly electronic world who embodies the creative mind, imagination, spontaneity, intuition, freedom of expression, individuality -- all holy things -- it would be that touchstone, Arthur Bryant.

Eleventh in the Bryant and May detective mystery series (a.k.a., the Peculiar Crimes Unit) and revolving around a pair of ancient detectives in London who should have retired years ago.

My Take
I do enjoy Fowler’s start to these stories with that memo from Land, filling us in on the characters and the antics at the PCU. And Fowler has just increased the fun with the new PLO from the Home Office, lol. She’s providing plenty of opportunities for laughter, vis-a-vis Bryant taking the mickey out of her. Of course, it does add to the suspense, since she is so not impressed and wants that man gone!
I know just how he feels, lol:
”Bryant tapped at his hearing aid. ‘I’m sorry, he said loudly, ‘I think this thing’s on the blink. I can see your lips moving but all I can hear is rubbish.’”
As usual, it’s a complex mystery with plenty of twists, all focused on vengeance and greed using third-person omniscient point-of-view, so we learn about all the events and of everyone’s thoughts, feelings, and/or actions in an unbiased fashion. Although, it doesn’t prevent Fowler’s narrator from having fun, lol.

Spooky…hmmm, I probably should keep this for Halloween, since Bryant says that St. Georges Gardens was one of the first cemeteries to be hit by resurrectionists! And bodies are rising up from their graves!

The Story
Saddled with yet another unbeliever in the form of the new Public Liaison Officer from the Home Office, Bryant and May (oh, and the PCU) scramble to prove their abilities. In spite of their unorthodox methods.

People are being dug up from their recent graves, more are being harassed — and not only are the Tower’s ravens missing, but Dirty Dick’s is missing their collection of mummified cats and the London Zoo can’t find their colony of bats.

The Characters
Detectives Arthur Bryant, who inhabits a world of alternatives, and the GQ John May are past the age of retirement and have no intention of going anywhere. Alma Sorrowbridge is Bryant’s keeper and housemate; Nathalie is his long-gone wife. Victor is Bryant’s bashed-up primrose yellow Mini Minor. Brigitte is the French girlfriend who gave up on May.

The Peculiar Crimes Unit was…
…created during World War II to solve crimes that threatened British morale. Ever since, the Home Office has been trying to shut it down. Dan Banbury is both IT tech and scene-of-crime. Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright really wants to be involved in Jack’s life. Sergeant Jack Renfield likes that the PCU let him be who he is; Sennen is his fifteen-year-old daughter who lives with her mother, Angie. Detective Constables (DC) Meera Mangeshkar and Colin Bimsley are the only lower echelons now that DC Fraternity DuCaine is on secondment to a Met unit. After 15 years, Raymond Land is giving up on the idea that he’s temporarily in charge. His wife leaving him probably brought him to his “office” senses at least. Crippen is the office cat, a momma. Amanda Roseberry is their new intern, and she has quite the high opinion of herself. The Daves are Turkish carpenters who are still rehabbing the warehouse office. Pavils was a temporary replacement.

St. Pancras Coroner’s Office is Giles Kershaw’s province with the ghoulish Rosa Lysandrou his housekeeper. The Ladykillers Café is a post-modern re-creation of a 1950s English tearoom, at 21st century prices that is a favorite haunt of the PCU. PC Julie Biggs runs into her own miscreant.

The new Public Liaison Officer, Orion Banks, is a marketing guru *eye roll* who is “a calculating machine that weighed everyone’s worth in terms of economic value to the company … double-crossed with less empathy than any male … and would string up her closest colleague for target practice.”

Romain Curtis is a high school student into astronomy and planning to study fashion design at college. Louisa Curtis is his mother. Lenny is his discouraging father. Shirone Estanza is quite appealing. Nico and Enrico are her dodgy brothers. Mr. Tarrant is a teacher.

Martin Wallace is an annoying fellow student with a pash for Shirone. Vanessa is his angry, venomous mother. His father, her husband, Thomas Edward Wallace, a partner in a small law firm, committed suicide. Dr. Iain Ferguson had been Wallace’s doctor.

Defluotech Management Systems is…
…a waste disposal brokerage with Wallace as their corporate lawyer. Krishna Jhadav and Justin Farthingale are directors. Irina Cope is Jhadav’s girlfriend. CaroFrend Processing is one of their clients; David Callow is the site manager.

Bryant’s consultants and/or friends include:
Dr. Evrim Ersoy, a neurologist, is acting as a consultant at the Wellcome Collection and is employed at the University College Hospital. Maurice Weiss is the maker and supplier of traditional bird tricks to the magic trade. Paul McEvoy, a Royal Academy painting restorer, is the country’s leading expert on premature burial. Maggie Armitrage is a witch and the leader of the Coven of St. James the Elder. Professor Peregrine Wosthold Merry is a dangerous academic to whom Maggie introduced Bryant in The Invisible Code , 10. Raymond Kirkpatrick is an English professor. Dierdre Cornholt owns a fish shop, and her son is a sports master at Harrow. Herbert Constable is a former MI6 cryptography expert. Jackie Quinten helps tend public gardens and would like to be closer to Bryant.

The Beefeaters, a.k.a…
…Warders, are the guards at the Tower of London and look after the Tower ravens: Hugine, Erin, Merlin, Munin, Rocky, Pearl, and Porsha. Should these ravens ever leave the grounds, it’s said that England will fall. Matthew Condright is the Raven Master and a friend of Bryant’s. Mr. Pettigrew is the Tower’s veterinary surgeon.

St. Georges Garden was…
…the first graveyard never associated with a church. Elspeth Mary Duncannon died just before Wallace. Carmelina Dominguez’s apartment overlooks St. Georges. Cherry, a Maltese terrier, is the reason there’s a Hyde Park pet cemetery.

John Wells and Sons is…
…a funeral parlour that’s been around since the early 1800s. Ronald Rummage and William are partners. Andy Orton is the embalmer; Betty handles accounts.

The New Resurrectionists are…
…today’s body snatchers and include Dr. Stephen Emes and Addison Court.

The Cover and Title
The cover has an orange-yellow background with a full moon spanning the title and the centered graphic of a gravestone with a raven atop the cross. Fowler makes good use of the base of the stone to include the series information. The base itself is surrounded by a bed of fallen leaves on which two black kittens from Crippen's litter flank the gravestone. Behind the kitten on the right is a red heart, punctuated by five arrows. Ouch. The title (at the top) and the author’s name (at the bottom) both use black in a script font, which keeps intact the laughter.

The title is Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart, an apt description of the threat painted in the PCU attic, but more importantly, an indication that a corpse can be revived.

In his popular Bryant & May novels, Christopher Fowler amuses us while offering intriguing tidbits about the history and geography of London. Fowler's latest, "Bryant and May and the Bleeding Heart," finds the dapper John May and the scruffy Albert Bryant up to their ears in death, larceny, and resurrection. A corpse appears to rise from his grave; a young man finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time; and a daring heist threatens England's tourist industry. Raymond Land, the Peculiar Crime Unit's Chief, warns Arthur: "I don't want you running around like a superannuated Harry Potter spreading insurrection...."

With tongue firmly in cheek, Fowler pokes fun at exasperating bureaucratic jargon (Orion Banks, the Public Liaison Officer who holds the fate of the PCU in her hands, is a corporate type who favors "hard-nosed young go-getters" and speaks in unintelligible jargon). She has little use for an "old fossil" like Arthur Bryant. Nevertheless, for all of his eccentricity and maddening habits, Arthur remains an invaluable asset, thanks to his keen intuition, wide-ranging contacts, and vivid imagination. Banks, however, is not pleased with Arthur and his cohorts, since she dismisses them as incompetent and too slow to wrap up high-profile cases.

Bryant is oblivious to external pressure and sticks to his tried and true methods: smoking a smelly pipe, digging into obscure and musty tomes, conferring with people on the fringes of society, and drawing conclusions that some would consider preposterous. A few elements are inadequately developed. For example, a voluptuous intern joins the unit for a few weeks and turns heads, but we see very little of her as the book progresses. In addition, everyone who knows anything of importance lies to the detectives, which prolongs the story considerably. The plot, to put it mildly, is wildly convoluted and ridiculously far-fetched.

However, most fans are likely to overlook these flaws because it is such a pleasure to observe the irascible Arthur Bryant work on knotty problems with his partner, the intelligent and organized John May. The two are ably assisted by the hardworking DS Janice Longbright, pathologist Giles Kershaw, and the rest of their dedicated team. Although the PCU headquarters is leaky, overrun by kittens, and would not pass a sanitation or fire inspection, the intrepid members of this specialized group resolutely tackle whatever challenges they face. In "Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart," the author invites us to play amateur sleuth, shares arcane facts about a city steeped in legend and folklore, and makes us laugh out loud. Fans of offbeat British mysteries will enjoy Bryant & May's tireless efforts to foil malefactors, minimize public distress, and keep their beloved city free of violence and mayhem. (Four and a half stars)

You know when the crime-fighting unit in this brilliantly conceived series is called the PCU --- Peculiar Crimes Unit, you are in for a treat. In the deft hands of author Christopher Fowler you will not be disappointed.

The lead Detectives of this close-knit and eclectic squad are Arthur Bryant and John May. They are described as being two sides of the same brain. Both brilliant in their own way --- Bryant is bizarre, sloppy and at times uncouth while May is pragmatic, buttoned-up and the ultimate professional.

In the 11th entry in this London-based mystery series, THE BLEEDING HEART, we are presented with one of the oddest cases the PCU has faced to date. Two teens, while star-gazing in an old cemetery one night, witness a body literally rise from the grave. Is this a case of premature burial, pure supernatural trickery or something else?

Turns out the corpse was a man who recently hung himself. He left behind a wife and teen-aged son, both of whom are angered and horrified over the macabre activities in the graveyard. Just as the investigation is given to the PCU they lose a major witness. The teen boy who witnessed the 'walking dead man' is run down in a hit and run. The oddest thing is that someone took the time to change the victims shirt before his body could be claimed.

Bryant, May and team have their hands full in this case and are getting pressure from all sides --- specifically Scotland Yard who has sent in a special investigator to analyze the team and their unorthodox methods. The mystery begins to focus on an underground group who call themselves the Resurrectionists. It also involves uncovering the truth behind the legend of Bleeding Heart Yard --- a courtyard known for housing murderous activity.

THE BLEEDING HEART is Fowler at his finest. Best of all --- anyone can jump right in not having read the previous ten novels and will instantly feel at home with this great bunch of characters. Never predictable and containing elements of classic mystery, some horror and spine-chilling action --- nicely mixed with social commentary and some truly moving passages. A winner!

Reviewed by Ray Palen for Curled Up With A Good Book

Bryant is his most amusing self solving the mystery of whether a man was buried alive by accident, and why a witness to his resurrection may have been murdered. What kind of skulduggery is afoot? That's what the PCU needs to find out. Complicating their efforts, aside from the littler of black kittens underfoot at their offices, there is a new sheriff in town: Orion Banks. Bryant & May have a new boss who goes by the book, and talks like one, and wants to look good to her higher-ups. Do Bryant & May ever make their superiors look good?

I read these books primarily for Bryant's humor, and the tour of London and its environs where the clues lead the Peculiar Crimes Unit. This time we're at the Tower of London, among other locations. Love the motley assortment of characters - witches, wizards, magicians and whatall - and their interaction with Bryant. This is an ingenious plot which I'm still trying to figure out. Don't think you'll be able to solve this one on your own. You'll probably need Bryant's explanations. This series keeps getting better and better. I was thoroughly delighted by this story.

The Peculiar Crimes Unit has now moved from its previous rundown quarters to new (to them) rundown quarters in the City of London, that square mile within the huge metropolis where the original Roman settlement was and that constituted the entire city for hundreds of years. The City has its own police authority, and the PCU is now part of it, rather than London's Metropolitan Police. The good news is that their longtime nemesis boss, the saturnine Oscar Kasavian, is now out of the picture. The bad news is that while the new boss, Orion Banks, is younger, female and easier on the eyes, she has just as much impatience with the PCU's methods.

Banks thinks the remit for policing the City is the huge financial crimes that happen every day, not the kind of oddities that the PCU normally handles. This time around, it's a suicide's buried corpse that a couple of stargazing teens see climb out of his coffin, lurch around and utter what sounds like "Ursa Minor." Then there's the hit-and-run killing of one of the teen witnesses and, just because these things always come in threes, the disappearance of the ravens from the Tower of London; the ravens whose presence is said to protect the crown from falling.

The book is as delightful as this series always is. Maybe the ancient and slovenly curmudgeon Arthur Bryant isn't quite as loony as usual, but the tradeoff is that we find out a bit more than we knew about his past. Although the book is filled with the characters that regular readers will love to revisit, this is one of those series titles that can be enjoyed almost as much by someone who hasn't read the PCU books before.

If you enjoy audiobooks, Tim Goodman is an excellent narrator for this series. His voicing of Arthur Bryant is especially entertaining.

I'm so thrilled that Christopher Fowler continues writing this brilliant series; I was so afraid with the last few installments that we were going to lose the Peculiar Crimes Unit - or worse, Arthur Bryant or John May, which would be the same dire result! But despite encroaching age, modern technology and mind-boggling bureaucracy, the PCU rolls on like the mighty Thames...

Any long-time fan of the series is familiar with the unusual investigative techniques and sources utilized by Arthur Bryant - white witches, magicians, fringe academics, healers, and spiritualists, to name a very few, along with the most wide-ranging, arcane and intriguing personal library I've ever heard of, judging by the book titles thrown out by the author. But this outing brings us in contact with sources and plotlines bizarre and distasteful even by the PCU's standards: the international buying and selling of waste, resurrectionists (yup, modern-day grave robbers), and the return of the menacing and nasty necromancer Mr. Merry. Our beloved curmudgeon Bryant must come to grips with his deepest fears, and several of the relationships in the PCU are tested. No spoilers, but all round another great installment in one of the best modern police mytery series out there. Highly recommended, and I hope you're writing fast, Mr. Fowler - I can't wait for the next book!

Oh boy, another wacky caper with two of my favorite British detectives. This series is so outrageously good I find it hard to understand why every mystery buff hasn't discovered Bryant and May. Transferred to the City of London police force the Peculiar Crimes Unit will be dealing with an investigation that is reminiscent of Charles Dickens' London with a cast of characters that would do the famous author proud. This is a very entertaining romp with Bryant, naturally, at its center. Do yourself a BIG FAVOR. If you haven't discovered this series now's a good time to do so!

Book provided by publisher.

Fans of the entertaining series about the Peculiar Crimes Unit by Christopher Fowler are those readers who will delight in the eleventh installment titled, Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart. New readers who like crime fiction should take a look at this novel and the series. Detective John May is disciplined and methodological while Arthur Bryant follows an erratic and indirect path while solving the unusual cases assigned to this unit. There’s a cemetery at the center of the action in this installment, and graves are being opened for nefarious purposes. There’s secrecy, danger, murder, mayhem, and the Peculiar Crimes Unit now reports to a new boss who expects greater bureaucratic compliance. Needless to say, Bryant & May are on the case in their clever and entertaining fashion.

Rating: Four-star (I like it)

The Peculiar Crimes Unit starts their eleventh book under the new jurisdiction of the City of London. Raymond Lamb, Unit Chief, resigned that he will be with the PCU until he retires, sends out the usual memo including warnings, no weird stuff, play by the book, don't be imaginative and try to behave normally - for once. With these admonitions, the reader realizes at once that the PCU is no ordinary crime solving unit and the crime will be unusual in nature.
One late night, Romain Curtis, teenage astronomer, takes his date, Shirone Estanza, to St. George's Gardens which houses a cemetery almost three centuries old where they see a corpse rise out of a grave.
Arthur Bryant and John May along with Dan Banbury of the PCU are called to investigate an open grave where the body, several days deceased was dug up. Arthur Bryant, always interested in the history of London places, points out that St. George's Gardens is the birthplace of body snatchers to which May replies, "...this is what you always do, Arthur, you try to connect entirely separate events to form a pattern where none exists."
The PCU has a new liaison Officer Banks, to try to oversee and ultimately shut down the unit since the general concensus throughout law enforcement in London is that the Peculiar Crime Unit has outlived it's usefulness and is no longer an effective crime solving force. However, closing down the unit may be premature with the onslaught of their new case involving murder, suicide, resurrectionists, desecrated graves and Ravens missing from the Tower of London.
The Bryant and May series is a pleasure to read. The characters are eccentric, diverse and the PCU attract witches, psychics, conspiracy theorists, and historians to help with their cases.
In Lamb's words, " ...They attract the unusual."
Christopher Fowler can't write fast enough.

This was so much fun. Good old-fashioned detective work pitted against the modern technology of police work. It is sort of like Columbo went to London. For me the best part was the location, Bloomsbury, one of my favorite places in London. The quirky characters make me want to read more of this series. What a PBS show this book series would make.

Five stars for plot, characterization, atmosphere, and humour. I love it when I am positive that an author is in control of the game. His allusions are myriad and fascinating. How long can these characters live!!? It is fiction,so forever! Thank you for a book without boredom. Please visit the States and skewer one of our cities with your delightfully sharp pen.

Christopher Fowler continues to deliver with his Bryant and May series. They are never a disappointment. As always, a mystery until the very end, with lots of interesting facts about lesser-known aspects of London!

I received a free paperback copy of Bryant & May - The Bleeding Heart by Christopher Fowler from Dead Good Crime group on goodreads in exchange for a fair review.

I gave this British mystery about The Peculiar Crimes Unit four stars. I liked that Arthur Bryant & John May, both senior detectives are 'of a certain age'.

It was a fun read with plenty of twists & turns. There are mysterious happenings with dead bodies seeming to rise from the grave.

Link to purchase: http://www.the store.com/gp/product/0857502344/ref=x_gr_w_bb?ie=UTF8&tag=x_gr_w_bb-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0857502344&SubscriptionId=1MGPYB6YW3HWK55XCGG2

Very smart. I am torn between wishing Fowler would write faster and not wanting to rush the process. Bryant’s linear thinking always confounds me--as it does his staff--but it amazes me how it always manages to make sense (in a very Bryantian way) at the end.

Bryant and May are two of my favorite detectives of all time, and this latest addition to the series did not disappoint. Fowler blends the old with the new in a perfect blend of crime, wistfulness, and humanity. I only hope US editions were available the same time as the UK ones!

Mr Fowler never disappoints me with this series. The elderly duo of detectives and the quirky police in the department of peculiar crimes is intriguing. The humor in these books is fabulous and the many twists and turns in the novels, keeps one guessing as to "who done it". the historical references of London are a bonus in my opinion. I know one day these old men will soon be shuffling off this mortal coil but until that day, i look forward to more of Bryant and May!

And it's another great book by Christopher Fowler. I love the characters. Both the good guys and the bad guys. Every book is different. Nothing predictable about these books. One of my favorite authors.

This was so much fun. Good old-fashioned detective work pitted against the modern technology of police work. It is sort of like Columbo went to London. For me the best part was the location, Bloomsbury, one of my favorite places in London. The quirky characters make me want to read more of this series. What a PBS show this book series would make.