Off the Rails

Starred review from August 2, 2010
British author Fowler's outstanding eighth Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery (after 2009's Bryant & May on the Loose) easily conveys the main characters' rich backstories in the course of a typically bizarre series of puzzles. In the previous book, the PCU, spearheaded by elderly senior detectives Arthur Bryant and John May, apprehended the King's Cross Executioner (aka Mr. Fox), who beheaded his victims, but failed to keep him in custody. In making his escape, Fox killed a police constable. In order to continue being funded, the team now has a week to recapture the fugitive. A series of mysterious events in the London Underground may also be Fox's work: the fatal fall of a single mother down a flight of stairs and the disappearance of a drunken social engineering student after boarding a late-night train. Fowler has few peers when it comes to constructing ingenious and intricate plots—or integrating contemporary technology into a golden age mystery plot.

August 1, 2010

London's Peculiar Crimes Unit has exactly a week to solve a case that promptly blossoms into two cases.

After killing PC Liberty DuCaine, the deadly Mr. Fox (Bryant & May on the Loose, 2009) has made his escape from a holding cell and is once again at large. Because he has a mysterious tropism for King's Cross station, senior detectives John May and Arthur Bryant are certain that he'll return there. But that's all they're certain of. No sooner has Home Office liaison Leslie Faraday given them a deadline for recapturing Mr. Fox than beautician Gloria Taylor is thrown to her death down a staircase in the King's Cross underground station, and Tony McCarthy, a junkie who gave Mr. Fox aid and comfort, is skewered in the neck. Bryant and May use a sticker with a stylized "K" affixed to Gloria's cardigan to link her to both Mr. Fox—whose latest communication is a note reading, "Mr. Fox was born below in Hell and now there will be Kaos"—and Cassie Field, the artist who designed the K logo for the Karma Bar. From this point on, matters get wilder and woollier, culminating in the disappearance of a sozzled housemate of Cassie's ex-lover from a train moving without a pause between King's Cross and Russell Square.

Bryant and May don't shine as detectives, and the unguessable solution depends on some whopping coincidences. But the culprit is well drawn, the PCU staff sterling company and the encyclopedic information about the London Underground irresistible.

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September 1, 2010

Fowler's eighth series adventure begins where Bryant and May on the Loose left off: a budding serial killer has escaped, killing a Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) officer along the way, and elderly detectives Bryant and May have seven days to recapture the elusive Mr. Fox before their unit is permanently shut down. Mr. Fox's trail leads the team to the London Underground, where a fatal fall down a flight of stairs, a passenger's mysterious disappearance from a subway car, and a vicious tunnel attack have the PCU team pondering the haunted history of the world's oldest subway system. Could these incidents be linked to Mr. Fox, or is there a more supernatural explanation? VERDICT For Anglophiles and fans of mysteries that feature smart humor, engagingly quirky characters, and fascinating tidbits of obscure history, this is one of the most delightful series around. However, it is essential that readers read the previous book to get a clear grasp of the plot, and newbies should start with earlier titles like Full Dark House. [See Prepub Mystery, LJ 5/1/10.]--Wilda Williams, Library Journal

Copyright 2010 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 1, 2010
The death of a fellow member of the Peculiar Crimes Unit sends senior (as in old) detectives Bryant and May in search of a subway killer in this eighth entry in Fowlers consistently entertaining series. Bumbling and disheveled Arthur Bryant is inclined to unorthodox methods, which include dabbling in the occult. His partner, John May, is fastidious and plays strictly by the book (Arthur drives him nuts!). But they set aside their differences in hopes of solving their most difficult case yet. There is no method to the Tube killers madness, and nothing to link his victims, who include a cosmetics salesgirl who plummeted down the subway stairs and an unprepossessing student who boarded the train and never got off. The London subway system is rich with history, lore, and ghost stories, and native son Fowler clearly enjoys regaling the reader with tales of the citys underbelly. Even when the investigation falters and the body count climbs, the author keeps readers spirits up with plenty of Bryant and May hijinks, among them Bryants relentless efforts to perform card tricks (hard to do when ones not playing with a full deck . . . ). Clever, comical, and suspenseful, this latest installment is great fun from page one.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)