Review: Bryant and May on the Loose

BRYANT & MAY on the LOOSE

Author: CHRISTOPHER FOWLER

British mystery series (A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery)

hard cover large type

ISBN: 978-1-60285-713-1

This case goes way back to 1940 when Mrs. Barker's home was bombed and it was discovered that her house sat on an open well. The deed to the house was never found and then we are brought up to date on the Peculiar Crimes Unit. It's been disbanned because Bryant and May have crossed the line. The others in the unit have found work but Bryant took to his bed and is waiting for death. That is until May finally gets through to Bryant's fog about a murder and about a seperate case one that will lead Bryant and May to the historic challenge of their well known careers.

They will get no help from the home office, no computers or a place to work because they do not exsist. They only have a week to solve this case that has political ties all the way to the top if they fail the unit can no longer survive. As the story nravels we find that the lives of three men have ended and that each man was decapitated.

The PCU is operating out of an abandoned warehouse and their place is not pretty. It has rats, leaks, outdated power sources and is located in one of the worst areas of London but it is near the crime scenes. Bryant has come to life and he's on a mission but first he has to learn all he can about the history of the crime scenes. No killer has ever bested him but this killer knows all, sees all and he even knows all about Bryant and May, he's cunning and what's more he's ruthless.

BRYANT & MAY on the LOOSE is a clock ticker if I've ever read one and everything means something. Christopher Fowler has left no rock unturned in his research and I marvel at the way his mind works. There is not a wasted moment or a detail too small. We go from mythology to the Catholic Church to white witches the black magic and cults all the way back in history to the orginal land owners of development and even a coffee shop has historical ties. We have hallowed grounds evil ground and the dead step by step tell their own story and it's a gruesome one.

I have never been so enchanted and repelled by a story before. The ending is truly penned by a gifted author and I almost didn't read the last little page or two thinking that the case had been resolved but I did and I am so glad I did for those last pages changed everything.

************

Pamela James