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Published Oct 2008
336 pages
Genre: Mysteries
Publication Information
It’s a case tailor-made for the Peculiar Crimes Unit. A lonely hearts killer is targeting middle-aged women at some of England’s most well-known pubs—including one torn down eighty years ago. What’s more, Arthur Bryant happened to see one of the victims only moments before her death at the pub that doesn’t exist. Indeed, this case is littered with clues that defy everything the veteran detectives know about the habits of serial killers, the methodology of crime, and the odds of making an arrest. Now, with the public on the verge of panic and their superiors determined to shut the PCU down for good, Detectives Bryant and May must rise to the occasion in defense of two great English traditions—the pub and the Peculiar Crimes Unit.
That’s easier said than done. A lost funeral urn, the eighteenth-century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, the Knights Templars, the secret history of pubs, and the discovery of an astounding religious relic may be enough to convince one of the pair to take back his resignation letter. But with Bryant consulting a memory specialist and May encountering a brush with mortality, do the Peculiar Crimes Unit’s two living legends have enough life left to stop a murderous conspiracy…and a deadly cupid targeting one of their own.
"Starred Review. If this is indeed the last in the series as the conclusion suggests, then the versatile author has ended on a high note." - Publishers Weekly.
"Learned excurses on pubs, conspiracy theories and the blood of Christ keep the pot boiling, though the answers this time aren't as satisfying as the wildly inventive questions." - Kirkus Reviews.
"Fowler, one of the most original writers working in the mystery genre today, has once again produced a unique and engaging crime novel that will appeal to readers who enjoy unusual crimes and detectives with a British accent." - Library Journal.
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Photo: Martin Butterworth
Christopher Fowler was the award-winning author of over thirty novels and twelve short story collections, including the Bryant & May mystery novels, for which he was best known. The novels featured veteran detectives solving unusual crimes in London from the second world war to the present day.
Fowler died in March 2023 of cancer, aged 69. More
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