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    Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
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    Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
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    Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
    Ebook449 pages6 hours

    Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery

    By Christopher Fowler

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Edgy, suspenseful, and darkly comic, here is the first novel in a riveting mystery series starring two cranky but brilliant old detectives whose lifelong friendship was forged solving crimes for the London Police Department's Peculiar Crimes Unit. In Full Dark House, Christopher Fowler tells the story of both their first and last case—and how along the way the unlikely pair of crime fighters changed the face of detection.

    A present-day bombing rips through London and claims the life of eighty-year-old detective Arthur Bryant. For his partner John May, it means the end of a partnership that lasted over half-a-century and an eerie echo back to the Blitz of World War II when they first met. Desperately searching for clues to the killer’s identity, May finds his old friend’s notes of their very first case and becomes convinced that the past has returned . . . with a killing vengeance.

    It begins when a dancer in a risque new production of Orpheus in Hell is found without her feet. Suddenly, the young detectives are plunged in a bizarre gothic mystery that will push them to their limits—and beyond. For in a city shaken by war, a faceless killer is stalking London's theaters, creating his own kind of sinister drama. And it will take Arthur Bryant’s unorthodox techniques and John May’s dogged police work to catch a criminal whose ability to escape detection seems almost supernatural—a murderer who even decades later seems to have claimed the life of one of them . . . and is ready to claim the other.

    Filled with startling twists, unforgettable characters, and a mystery that will keep you guessing, Full Dark House is a witty, heartbreaking, and all-too-human thriller about the hunt for an inhuman killer.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRandom House Publishing Group
    Release dateJun 1, 2004
    ISBN9780553900415
    Unavailable
    Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery
    Author

    Christopher Fowler

    Christopher Fowler is the award-winning author of more than forty novels and short-story collections, including the Bryant & May mysteries and he is the recipient of the 2015 Dagger In The Library.

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    Reviews for Full Dark House

    3.5/5

    480 ratings58 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Another great Peculiar crimes Unit book. I have read about 3 of these books but not in order. They are very well written, well researched and full of information. Full Dark House tells us about living through the second world war in England as well as entertaining us with a Bryant and May mystery. Well worth reading.
    • 2/5
      The Peculiar Crimes Unit, set up by the Home Office during WWII has always perched on shaky ground. Hardly surprising then that a bomb should obliterate both its headquarters and its first lead officer, Arthur Bryant, more than sixty years later. Pigeons coming home to roost perhaps? That may be more true than could be imagined, since Bryant was apparently digging again into the first case the he and his partner, John May, investigated together back during the war. He must have disturbed something or someone, especially seeing as forensics has informed May that the incendiary material used in the bomb was most certainly decades old. Now John May must follow a sixty year old trail that his former partner had unearthed in order to both re-solve the crime that solidified their working relationship and bring closure for this latest victim. Peculiar indeed.Although beset by an awkward frame with chapters jumping back and forth between WWII and 21st century London, Fowler manages to bring his principal characters to life. Bryant and May are supported by a cast of curious and more or less helpful associates leaving open endless possibilities for future novels in this series (which were later realized by Fowler). For those who like this sort of thing (I confess I’m not usually of that persuasion), then this is the sort of thing I’m sure they will like. There is a lot to Bryant that could be unravelled over a long series, and maybe May is even more surprising in his steadfast sidekick way.
    • 3/5
      The writing in this book is rather rocky and uphill, forcing the reader to pay close attention to each sentence to get meaning rather than moving the story right along. The characters are gimmicky yet somehow standard and the setup is as unreal as it gets while staying barely on this side of urban fantasy - or just over the edge a bit, actually, though that bit is well calculated not to scare away the 'I don't read fantasy' contingent.
    • 3/5
      The first book in the series which I did not read until after reading a later book in the series. I enjoyed this one but there was something about it which left me wanting. This will not keep me from reading the next book. I like the characters too much.
    • 3/5
      Maybe 3.5. I have mixed feelings. It was a little too dark and creepy in just a few spots, but was compelling and well written. I liked reading about life in London during the Blitz. Will probably try another in the series.
    • 4/5
      I first tried to read Full Dark House shortly after it was published during my first trip to the UK. I think I was on sensory overload because I did not care for the book at all. But then I read White Corridor, the fifth book in the series, and it became one of my best reads last year. This encouraged me to start at the beginning again.Full Dark House has a complex mystery that I enjoyed trying to solve, and along the way, I also learned plenty of theater lore. Another very strong point in the book was the excellent feel for life in London during the Blitz that Fowler gives us. The smell of unwashed bodies (since so many water lines had been bombed). Walking through the streets during the blackout trying not to fall in any craters. The spectral walls of blasted buildings looming in the darkness. Sewage lines being hit and emptying themselves out in the subway system. I like books that add to my knowledge of social history.There was also the pleasure of getting to know the young Bryant and May, and of enjoying Fowler's sense of humor. Bryant and May are quite the pair, and I'm going to enjoy working my way through this series. The only thing that really didn't work all that well for me in Full Dark House was the transitions between the present-day and World War II timelines. Many's the time I found myself stopping to figure out what year it was.Am I glad that I read this book again? Yes, I am. I'm also glad that I have quite a few left to read. I'm looking forward to a long and pleasurable association with Bryant and May.
    • 3/5
      Bizarre, but enjoyable. May pursue more in this series at another time.
    • 4/5
      The first outing of detective partners Bryant and May, which, oddly enough, starts with Bryant's death and May has to reinvestigate their first case in order to find out who Bryant's killer is. I've read one of the later books in the series and fell immediately in love with this pair and their team, so I thought I'd go back and see how it all started and was very pleased to see that the Peculiar Crimes Unit's beginnings were as entertaining as I had hoped. The chemistry between the main characters are reminiscent of the Holmes/Watson-chemistry and since Holmes/Watson is one of my all-time favorite teams, I have a feeling I shall hugely enjoy the rest of Bryant and May's adventures.
    • 3/5
      Very dry read
    • 4/5
      Can there be a more auspiciously named series than that of the Peculiar Crimes Unit Mysteries? Set up in the dawning age of WWII, the Unit was formed to address the types of cases the London constabulary either didn't care to or couldn't tackle. In theory, it was to be comprised of original civilian minds and bright young police officers. In actuality, it soon became a way station for ... ahem, 'peculiar' types. The book opens with a modern era bombing of the Peculiar Crime Unit's offices. All that can be found of Arthur Bryant, who had stayed late the evening before, are bits of flesh. Bryant's partner of almost 70 years, John May, vows to find those responsible, even as the London PD moves on to more pressing cases. Perusing Bryant's cryptic notes, May finds Bryant had been revisiting their very first case together at the height of the London Blitz. A venerable theater has been witness to a horrible crime -- a dancer killed by chopping off her feet. The memories come flooding in as May tries to discover what relevance that age-old solved case might have to the present crime. Picked up the series based upon some hearty recommendations. I quite enjoyed the interaction between young May and Bryant and their cohorts at the newly formed Unit. Bryant is the quirky, brilliant civilian with odd reading habits. May is the young, freshly minted officer who helps inject a more pragmatic perspective, keeping Bryant from his more egregious flights of whimsy. I adored such phrases as: "He had the suicidal expression of a Norwegian painter and the posture of an unstuffed rag doll." Fowler uses enough theater vernacular and references old London haunts to give a genuine sense of place without that "Look-at-all-the-research-I've-done" dump of information infecting many a historical tale. The crimes themselves were enough to keep me guessing and caught up in the mystery. The alternating chapters between present time and WWII are not well delineated and might be off-putting to some readers. I was able to pick up relatively easy within a paragraph or two, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue. I will be re-visiting this series again!
    • 4/5
      Interesting to fascinating mix of modern and WWII era mysteries with overlapping characters at the beginning and apparent ends of their careers with the Peculiar Crimes Unit. The central characters of Arthur Bryant & John May are polar opposites and intriguing for that very reason, though it's a given they're tight from the get-go (as revealed by their long-standing partnership in modern time chapters). Well worth a read, though everyone's mileage may vary depending on your like of historical mysteries.
    • 4/5
      I had never heard of this series until fairly recently. I read about it on Book Riot and made note of it. Then, when browsing my library for something else, I stumbled across this and figured it was a sign that it should be my next read. And so it was.Without giving too much away, this is two stories in one with the central characters being a couple of detectives who have been partners for many decades in a 'peculiar crimes' unit in London. The story jumps back and forth in time between their first and final cases as partners. Their first case, set in war-time London during the blitz when the men are in their 20s involves several grisly murders set in a theater ostensibly perpetrated by a phantom. The final case takes place six decades later, as the men are in their twilight years and involves a bombing that has a connection to their first case.The writing goes cross-genre in a good way and it was fun to see a little Christie a little Wodehouse, a little literary this-and-that while still being distinct from anything else I've read before. I'm undecided on investing in the entire series, but I do think I'd like to sample another story in the series and see how the partnership ripens.
    • 3/5
      The plot is very loose, as mysteries go. It barely holds together, and really needed to be reworked. The writing is also a bit loose and sloppy, like Fowler isn't sure who the narrator should be. I didn't particularly connect with the main characters, but did enjoy the London setting.
    • 1/5
      ** spoiler alert ** Clearly this is a book that many people enjoy, I'm just not one of them -- and I do think it was well written, it just wasn't my cup of tea.I found the characters hard to relate to, unlikable, and generally neither brilliant nor interesting, despite the assurances of their friends. The setting was decent, but then the plot (which purported to be somewhat paranormal) devolved instead into Phantom of the Opera, which I found deeply uninteresting. I kept hoping there would be some plot twist or another to rescue it, but apparently I saw the twist coming from early on as well. Oh well. I think it did capture the bleak malaise that living in a city under continuous bombing must have caused, I just wanted something different from the plot.
    • 3/5
      A robust murder mystery and police procedural in which the past comes back to haunt the present.When a bomb destroyed the London offices of the Peculiar Crimes Unit early one Sunday morning, founder and lead detective Arthur Bryant had been seen already inside, still at work from the night before. Work was Arthur’s life, after all. His long-time partner and second-in-command, John May, was devastated by his sudden death; their personal and working relationship stretched back decades to WWII during the Blitz. Despite his grief, May pulls himself together, determined to find the bomber and bring them to justice and avenge his friend’s death. His investigation immediately focuses on their current cases. But as he backtracks Bryant’s movements on his last days and the cases he was working on, the clues seem to lead him to London’s the Palace Theatre, the location of May’s very first case with Bryant more than a half-century earlier. Bryant had always been interested in the supernatural; was his death a matter of a ghost from the past returning to wreak death and destruction in the present?If you’re interested in a puzzling mystery and a realistic story of living in London during the Blitz, Full Dark House is for you. The author recreates wartime London with the populace already amid nightly bombing raids by the Germans, sudden death, destruction, sleepless nights, rationing, and the indomitable spirit of the British people. The mysteries are intriguing, and the circumstances in the Palace Theatre are palpably tense throughout the book. The murders are pretty unusual and kept me wondering when the next shoe (or body) would drop. I know I’ll have an extra shiver or two the next time I visit a theater.I enjoyed the two main characters, though; with the complex storylines and two full investigations running, I didn’t get a complete picture of who these men really are. Arthur Bryant is quirky and interested in myriad subjects, willing to experiment, and has a secret personal tragedy in his past. He reminded me of CSI’s Gil Grissom if he’d been operating in 1940s London. John May is the steady, normal one. Together, we are told, they balanced each other out to create a very successful investigating partnership for the Peculiar Crimes Unit. I also liked that some of the supporting characters in the present-day part of the story were the children of former Peculiar Crimes Unit members active at the time of the flashback crime.However, this book felt long and seemed to drag at times. There were two crimes and two timeframes, and this is the setup for a series, so I’m also feeling it is to be expected, so I plan to read the next book in the series. I recommend FULL DARK HOUSE to mystery readers that enjoy a full-on, step-by-step investigation in their stories, historical mysteries, or mysteries set in London during WWII or in a theatre setting.
    • 3/5
      The first book in the Bryant and May mystery series, recommended by fellow LTers. A pair of British detectives, who have been partners since World War II, are torn apart in modern-day London by a bomb. Investigation indicates that the answer to today's mystery lies in the archives of their first case, a serial killer stalking a theater troupe during the Blitz.I found this one to be a slow starter. It was definitely a case where my usual method of knowing as little as possible about a book before reading it worked against me, as I spent the first several chapters trying to figure just what the heck was going on. However, the parts set back in the 1940s were engaging in a confusing sort of way, and the modern-day segments seemed a bit shoehorned in, as it were. I'm not sure I was captivated enough to seek out the rest of the series.
    • 5/5
      Christopher Fowler is sensitive, realistic and funny. It makes for a great writer.
    • 3/5
      In some ways, quite intriguing. Interesting characters, but the plot seems needlessly complicated and deliberately arcane.
    • 3/5
      First of a series featuring London's Peculiar Crimes Unit, which began during WWII as a place to "dump" cases that were unlikely to be solved and would make the regular forces look bad. This one features multiple murders in the Palace theatre, which is preparing for the opening of Orpheus in the Underworld, a production likely to shock the public and possibly get banned by the Lord Chamberlain for its near-nudity and sexual content. Even in the midst of regular bombing, with cast members being skewered by props or slashed by a mysterious "phantom", the show must go on. I like the main characters, but didn't care for the way the story was plotted. And the whole Orpheus connection seemed overworked. Red herrings and side-plots felt a bit "plugged in". I saw one twist coming, and probably should have suspected another, but the whole just didn't satisfy me. Might give Bryant and May one more chance.Review written October 2014
    • 4/5
      Plastic carrier bags floated around the traffic lights at the end of the Strand like predatory jellyfish. The hum of traffic around them was like the drone of bombers. The air was acrid with exhausts. Bryant leaned on his walking stick to catch his breath. The stick was a sore point; May had bought it for his partner's birthday the previous year, but Bryant had been horrified by the suggestion that he was facing mobility difficulties. It had remained in his conservatory for several months, where it had supported a diseased nasturtium, but now the elderly detective found himself discreetly using it.I have met detectives Bryant and May before, as minor characters in the novels "Rune" and "Soho Black", but this is the first book in their own series. An explosion in the offices of the Peculiar Crimes Unit turns out to have links to the very first case they worked on together back in World War II, which starred with the death of a dancer backstage at a London Theatre.A good introduction to the work of the Peculiar (originally in the sense of 'particular') Crimes Unit which was set up during the war to work on cases that could cause public panic. I'll be picking up the rest of the series whenever I come across them.
    • 2/5
      1st in a new series - takes place today and back in 1940's in London during WWII - two great characters, brought together as amateur detectives to solve murder that in the end comes back 50 odd years later to kill again.
    • 4/5
      A fun mystery... actually two mysteries at the same time in a way, with flashbacks. The interplay between the the two main characters should be a lot of fun in the following books from the series... nice Felix and Oscar vibe :)
    • 4/5
      A good mystery duo that is ripe for serialization - and coming to it so late, it's a series well in progress. I enjoyed the lunatic foibles of the detectives and the concept of a special police unit to solve Peculiar Crimes and love that it is actually named the Peculiar Crimes Unit. I liked it well enough to commit to the reading the series.
    • 4/5
      The first in a series and I think I’ll look for others!This bounces between 2000 and when the two partners met during WWII – 1940s.John May reported early to his new job. He was of a tall, sportive look, down to earth, good with people and 19 years old. He is reporting to Arthur Bryant, indoor type, shorter and heavier, an ever curious mind that works on its own system, and not always good with people. The two unlikely will form a working bond that stretches over 60 years, while working on the North London Peculiar Crimes Unit of the police force.The first case is an unusual murder at the Palace Theatre. It is a gruesome sight and things keep being more gruesome and peculiar. The play is “Orpheus in the Underworld,” based in Greek mythology. The murders seem to tie into the various actors and the characters they play.In trying to untangle and tie the threads in a logical order, Bryant calls in a psychic friend to see if she can give a reading. Bryant also seems to go off on strange tangents in analyzing the clues and actions involved. Meanwhile, May is a more standard procedure type, and finds himself frequently puzzled by Bryant’s behaviour.The action in 2000 involves an explosion at the Peculiar Crime offices. A body is found in the rubble with no ID, but it is figured to be Bryant. Being an insomniac, it isn’t unusual for him to work late or all night. May was the last to see Bryant when he left.It is also found that Bryant is revisiting the Palace Theatre murders from WWII. There is a loose bit Bryant is determined to snag and tie up, even though the case was considered solved. Is there someone still alive, who is responsible for the blast that was involved in this old case?The story moves and meanders, but the assortment of characters keeps it
    • 3/5
      An interesting hodge-podge of a book with an implausible plot, odd allusions, a meticulous base in both the London of the Blitz and in the present day, and a lot of unlikely motivations, this mystery still managed to keep my attention for a good read. It was difficult in the beginning to follow when it switched from the present to the past, and there were a few too many characters, but after a while I got the hang of it.
    • 4/5
      Terrific book. The story is excellent, with plenty of twists and surprises to keep you guessing. The characters are all well developed and feel very real, especially Brant and May.

    • 3/5
      This has got to be the most eclectic and strange pairing of detectives that you'll ever find in crime fiction. Bryant and May are introduced to us here in the first book of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. This strange crime unit is located in London. The time is actually 2005 (when the book was released), but it flips back to crimes in 1940 at the beginning of WWII and right during the Blitz. Bryant and May, when we meet them are old curmudgeonly detectives that have worked together in the Peculiar Crimes Units for six decades. They are each brilliant in their own way, and each compliments the other in their detective style. May is the practical one and Bryant is the nerdy, unorthodox and the one who firmly believes in the occult and in magic. This book covers these two old detectives as they solve their first case together (during the war) and their last case in the present day. A very strange murder occurs in an old London theatre called The Palace. Somehow the two crime sprees that occur in the book are connected, even though there is a 60 year break between them. I enjoyed the premise and I liked the characters, but I found the book very confusing to read at times. And there was far too much theatre-lore in it to my taste. It was hard to get caught up in the mystery and thrill because of the constant switching back and forth. This could be an interesting premise for a detective series, and I'm presuming that the author's writing skills will improve with each additional book, but I'm not sure that I'll be reading any more in this series.
    • 4/5
      Excellent and imaginative. Bryant and May's friendship is most admirable and Mr. Fowler is expert at handling the transition of the chapters from past to present. A most enjoyable mystery amd written with a fine sense of humour. I'm looking forward to reading more of Bryant and May.
    • 3/5
      Full Dark House by Christopher Fowler is the first book in the Bryant and May mystery series, and I think it will also be my last in this series as well. I did enjoy the parts that described life in wartime London well enough but the mystery itself didn’t grab me nor did I like the jumping back and forth in time as it did.Bryant and May are aged detectives that work in the Peculiar Crimes division, the book gives us the details of their first case which was the familiar story of a creepy phantom-like creature who is killing off actors in order to close down the theatre. Sound familiar? Criss-crossing back and forth from 1940 London to modern times, I simply felt confused and eventually lost interest in the story. I found myself more irritated than intrigued by Full Dark House and although it’s certainly well written, it just isn’t a series for me.
    • 4/5
      Atmospheric thriller/mystery set mostly in London during the Blitz. Oddball detective Arthur Bryant and his stolid partner John May try to solve a series of murders at the Palace theater as an operetta prepares for opening night.