If there is a genre of fiction I avoid at all costs it is crime stories and murder mysteries in particular. I spent my professional career in criminal court and have represented probably over two thousand murder defendants. As a consequence of my real world experiences fictional crime is beyond laughable for me. In fact I do not understand how something I know to be so violent and ugly and never done with anything resembling thought let alone planning can be a source of entertainment and especia...

A mysterious phantom haunts a creepy old theater in an apparent attempt to scare the performers and keep the latest production from starting. Does that sound like a Scooby Doo episode, or is it just me? “I’d have gotten away with it if it wasn’t for you meddling kids!” Or in this case, meddling English detectives instead of talking dogs and damn dirty hippies.Actually, this was a pretty dark and well done mystery with an intriguing concept and structure. Arthur Bryant and John May have been dete...

It starts in modern day & left me with a Hmmmm as the text talks of a wartime mystery/crime to solve, there’s also a reveal which further unravels the series.....Then we’re back into the past & in London theatreland at the height of the blitz, a whole host of characters are thrown at the unsuspecting reader all with the tag of “potential murder” hanging over them leaving me totally flummoxed, situation normal then!Murders, missing people, suspects multiple, clairvoyants, spiritual “stuff”, intro...

There was too much that was vague about this story for me to rate it any higher. The chapters shift between the present (the book was published in 2003) when Arthur Bryant and John May are both in their eighties and 1940 when they're working their first case together as members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. The problem is that, when it comes to the relationships and the investigation of multiple murders, there is too much telling and not enough showing. For the investigation things are suddenly a...

3.5 stars (wasn’t quite good enough to round up to 4 stars) This is one I seem to have had on and off my tbr list for a long time. When it came up in the kindle daily deal, I reckoned it was time to give it a go and I snapped up the audio for only a couple of quid. I wish I hadn’t because the audio wasn’t great. The book itself switches forward to the present then back to the past quite often, but there was no difference between the old and young detectives in the voices, which made it tricky wh...

If I had to classify this novel in terms of genre, it would be somewhere along the lines of British police procedural meets the X-files. I was thinking while I was reading this that it would make a fun movie, but I countered that thought with the knowledge that some screenwriter would just screw it up, so better to leave it in book format. What a cool book! I originally bought this book in mass market paperback format eons ago, but never got around to reading it until I saw the same book in trad...

There were two quotes on the back of the paperback copy of Full Dark House I picked up that caught my attention: "A madcap mystery..." and "How many locked-room puzzles can the duo unlock..." My kind of book; or so I thought.Not only is there no locked room (the detectives took another character's word for it on that one) it wasn't terribly madcap either. Nor was the plot original; yes, folks, it's another "reinterpretation" of that famous Gaston Leroux novel, The Phantom of the Opera. I do lik...

This is the first of the series featuring Arthur Bryant and John May, of the Peculiar Crimes Unit in London. The book begins in the present, with an explosion in the offices, and Arthur Bryant inside. The Unit opened in 1939 and, recently, May was aware that Bryant had been writing his memoirs and writing up his first case. This leads him to try to track down who was responsible for the destruction of the office, as well as coming to terms with losing his partner.In this book, we are taken back

I hate to cheat, but I may just cut to the end. Have you ever felt annoyed with a book for wasting your time? This is one of those books. But don't take my word for it - lots of positive comments on mystery forum. Other readers enjoy the history (ww2 Britain) and humor. I enjoy history too, but it if it isn't delivered in a compelling style it doesn't make the book worthwhile. And the humor, well, if quirky, cranky & British make characters fun for you, read this book. I need a really good story...

I think my love for this series was summed up in a phrase of one of the characters portrayed by author Christopher Fowler: "Everyone wants the things that remind them of childhood. I just re-imagine them with the materials of the present." Full Dark House captures my favorite aspects of my "childhood" mysteries-Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie, especially come to mind, dressed up in very contemporary dark humor and time manipulation.Although not the first I've read, Full Dark House is the fir...

This book was a tedious read for me. The plot got too bogged down with descriptions in hope of building an atmosphere. London during the Blitz was interesting, but the interior of the theatre was not. The investigators Arthur Bryant and John May didn’t connect with me, whether it was in 1940 when they were aged 19 and 22 or in 2003 when they were in their 80's. The secondary characters, especially those in the theatre, just made me sad. I reviewed the first few pages of the second book in the se...

 Feet on the ground… or not? It really was a hell of a blast. The explosion occurred at daybreak on the second Tuesday morning of September, its shock waves rippling through the beer-stained streets of Mornington Crescent. It detonated car alarms, hurled house bricks across the street, blew a chimney stack forty feet into the sky, ruptured the eardrums of several tramps, denuded over two dozen pigeons, catapulted a surprised ginger tom through the window of a kebab shop and fired several roofi...

Arthur Bryant and John May are parters in the PCU and have been for over sixty years. That's Peculiar Crimes Division. At least they were, until a bomb goes off and ends their partnership. While May copes with his loss and tries to piece together what happened to Arthur, he thinks about their first case and how the two events may be related.I never thought I'd enjoy a book about the partnership of two crotchedy British detectives so much. The primary setting, a old theatre during the WWII bombin...

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 TakeIt’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...

FULL DARK HOUSE (Police Procedural-London-Cont/WWII) – G+Fowler, Christopher – 1st of seriesBantam Books, 2003- HardcoverWhen a present day bombing of the Peculiar Crimes Unit kills elderly detective Arthur Bryant, his partner, John May looks to their first case for clues as to why.*** 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...

Well, this Crime Fiction was better than I thought it'd be, I'd give it 5 stars if it wasn't too long and too detailed. But it's to be expected since it's a historical fiction also. The novel is the first in the series that revolves around the adventures of Arthur Bryant and John May in the peculiar crime squad unit. It focus on the first case they worked on together during the world war 2. It's about a series of murders that occurs in the Palace theater, a murderer who moves swiftly and mange t...

I love this British mystery series set in London, England and featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit run by two eccentric octogenarians, Arthur Bryant and John May. The author weaves all kinds of fascinating facts about London into the stories, which are truly original and unusual. My favorite quote comes from a grumpy Bryant who says, "I wish I hadn't tried the mystery meat pie at luncheon, I feel most uncomfortable."

Well, hm.This book was recced to me for humor, which turns out not to be quite the case -- more irony and dark wit. Too dark for my current reading needs, which took it down a star subjectively, but well written, which added a star objectively. Quirky and eccentric without being cozy.Written in omniscient, with parallel tales taking place in two times -- Detectives Bryant and May's first case, occurring during the London Blitz, and their last, in the early 21st Century. The omniscient voice allo...

Ah I have finally finished it - I will have to hold my hand up and apologise this book took far too long to read and that should in no way reflect on the quality of the story or abilities of Christopher Fowler - nope this one sits with me. A mixture of bad timing (I was reading it as I was preparing to head to the US on business) and the fact I am shallow and was easily distracted by other books to read at the same time.But what of the book! Well this if I remember correctly (go on correct me) w...

 A disappointment, July 2, 2016Verified Purchase(What's this?)This review is from: Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery (Bryant & May series Book 1) (Kindle Edition)I finished Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery with some disappointment. I had eagerly anticipated starting this series but found the writing and organization of this novel disjointed. Particularly in the first third of the book. I found the dialogue difficult to follow, often hard to determine which character