The brilliant duo of Arthur Bryant and John May uncovers a nefarious plot behind the seemingly innocuous death of an old lady--and when the case leads them to London Bridge, it all comes down on the Peculiar Crimes Unit.
When ninety-one-year-old Amelia Hoffman dies in her top-floor flat on a busy London road, it's considered an example of what has gone wrong with modern society: she slipped through the cracks in a failing system.
But detectives Arthur Bryant and John May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit have their doubts. Mrs. Hoffman was once a government security expert, though no one can quite remember her. When a link emerges between the old lady and a diplomat trying to flee the country, it seems that an impossible murder has been committed.
Mrs. Hoffman wasn't the only one at risk. Bryant is convinced that other forgotten women with hidden talents are also in danger. And, curiously, they all own models of London Bridge.
With the help of some of their more certifiable informants, the detectives follow the strangest of clues in an investigation that will lead them through forgotten alleyways to the city's fabled bridge in search of a desperate killer.
But just when the case appears to be solved, they discover that Mrs. Hoffman was smarter than anyone imagined. There's a bigger game afoot that could have terrible consequences.
Highlights from the PW Reviews department, which reviews about 9,000 books per year, tweeted by the editors: reviews, author interviews and profiles.
'London Bridge Is Falling Down: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery' by Christopher Fowler. Fowler’s excellent 20th Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery (after 2020’s 'Oranges and Lemons') finds the London police unit yet again at risk of being shut down. https://t.co/41oJiQzeFM https://t.co/vgJtUV4ikJ
Author of It's Hard Not to Hate You, Thin Is the New Happy, Four Of a Kind, and many other books. Mom, crazy cat lady.
finished Invisible Code: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler and gave it 4 stars http://t.co/HkVmvW0PQ3
You've found Christopher Fowler, #crimewriter - British novelist, author of the Bryant & May mysteries, thrillers and non-fiction (now managed by Pete)
The place: Waterstones Islington Green. The time: July 6 @ 18:30 The authors: Kim Newman, Barry Forshaw, Christopher Fowler The books: Simenon, Chandler, Bryant & May. https://t.co/g5PB4FYPpt
"Captivating."--The Seattle Times
"[Christopher Fowler's] ardent American following deserves to get much larger."--Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Fowler, like his crime-solvers, is deadpan, sly, and always unexpectedly inventive."--Entertainment Weekly
"Thrilling."--Chicago Tribune
"Unbeatable fun . . . [Fowler] takes delight in stuffing his books with esoteric facts."--The Guardian
"Dazzling."--The Denver Post