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Full Dark House: (Bryant & May Book 1) [Paperback]

Christopher Fowler
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
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Book Description

1 Sep 2004 Bryant & May (Book 1)

When a bomb devastates the office of London's most unusual police unit and claims the life of its oldest detective, Arthur Bryant, his surviving partner John May searches for clues to the bomber's identity. His search takes him back to the day the detectives first met as young men in 1940.

In Blitz-ravaged London, a beautiful dancer rehearsing for a sexy, sinister production of 'Orpheus In The Underworld' is found without her feet. Bryant & May's investigation plunges them into a bizarre gothic mystery, where a faceless man stalks terrified actors and death strikes in darkness. Tracking their quarry through the blackout, searching for a murderer who'll stop at nothing to be free of a nightmare, the duo unwittingly follow the same path Orpheus took when leading Euridyce from the shadows of Hell.

Back in the present day, John May starts to wonder if their oldest adversary might be the killer who took his partner's life. He must work alone to solve a puzzle that began over half a century earlier...

In a war-shaken city of myths, rumours and fear, Bryant & May discover that a house is not always a home, nothing is as it appears, the most cunning criminals hide in plain sight, and the devil has all the best tunes. Dark drama and black comedy combine as Bryant & May take centre stage in their first great case.


Frequently Bought Together

Full Dark House: (Bryant & May Book 1) + The Water Room: (Bryant & May Book 2) + Seventy-Seven Clocks: (Bryant & May Book 3)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 416 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam; New Ed edition (1 Sep 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0553815520
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553815528
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.6 x 19.9 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 8,587 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

"A bizarre dark comedy of an investigation... bawdy, unpredictable and at times hilarious, with a cast of wonderful grotesques" (Guardian )

"As filled with tricks and sleights of hand as a magician's sleeve... witty, charismatic, occasionally touching and with a genuine power to thrill" (Joanne Harris )

"Fowler shocks and frightens while making us laugh out loud. An original, erudite and exciting whodunnit" (Good Book Guide )

"An evocatively reverential tribute to the genre...the clash of temperaments between Bryant and May makes them great detectives" (Time Out )

"The writing is as ever fluid and pacey, the characterisation deft and the plot fresh and ingenious" (Independent on Sunday )

Book Description

The matchless team of Inspectors Bryant and May investigate a series of macabre murders against the eerie urban chaos of London during the Blitz.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
46 of 47 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Whizz in a blender 14 Aug 2003
Format:Hardcover
If you were to take one Agatha Christie crime novel, a couple of episodes of the X-Files and the two crabbit auld geezers from "The Fast Show" and whizz them in a blender, the result would be very similar to this book.

The "misfit" section of the Metropolitan Police is called the PCU (Peculiar Crimes Unit), and its creation during the Second World War led to the working partnership of Arthur Bryant and John May. Their very first case (theatrical serial killer) comes back to haunt the unit with a vengeance, when Arthur is believed murdered in a bomb blast 50 years later. The plot twists and turns very satisfactorily throughout the book and the switches between present day and the past are well handled.
The background of London during the Blitz is very convincingly written, and is fascinating and challenging to a younger generation who may have only read the historically sanitized versions.
This is a good old-fashioned crime novel, and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone who may have bemoaned the fact that all the best crime novelists are dead (Christie, Sayers, etc). Christopher Fowler promises that we will hear more from his detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May (who have appeared already in "Rune") and I'll certainly be looking forward to that.

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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A Dark Tale of a Dark Time 23 Jan 2005
By J. S. Bundy VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
This is a very enjoyable book; Bryant and May are offbeat, eccentric but ultimately believable characters. The book is set both in present day London and the London that was being devastated by World War Two.

The author paints a vivid picture of turbulent times and has obviously done a great deal of research to make sure that period details are correct, particularly the descriptions of the backstage areas of theatres and the varied staff and procedures for putting on a show.

The premise that the Met should have a department specially set up to investigate peculiar crimes is sheer brilliance and will hopefully lead to a further outing for Bryant and May.

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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars history of some old favourites 12 Sep 2003
Format:Hardcover
if you are a regular christopher fowler reader you would have come across the 'decrepit detectives' Arthur Bryant and John May and their adventures in the North London Peculiar Crimes Unit.This novel takes us back to the beginning of their investigations which started in 1940 as two young policemen seconded to the newly opened unit.The story flashes back between 1940 and the present day and is the usual mix of the weird and wonderful that graces a Fowler book.
The story concerns the mysterious murders that happen during the rehersals and opening for a show of Orpheus at the Palace Theatre (the one where Les Mis plays).the characters are well drawn and fufill their roles well and the good thing is that you find out how some of the other characters that inhabit the Bryant and May universe came to be.This book is part mystery,part horror and part hisory guide with the descriptive writing that Fowler uses to give us the flavours of London 1940.The goods thing is that after a couple of appearances before this looks like the first in a continuing series of B&M novels which in my opinion would make a great tv series(any commissioning editors out there take note Fowlers works would make GREAT tv !!)
A well written book that is definitely worth reading and hopefully this being the first of many.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Loved this book. Great series full of historic fact as well as excellent fictional heroes. Left me wanting more and I'm already looking for my next Christopher Fowler. Great read
Published 1 month ago by BarbaraT
4.0 out of 5 stars The odd couple?
A wonderfully written quirky twist on the detective novel.This book takes us back to the early days of Bryant and May , eccentric coppers of an experimental police unit set up to... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Ealingdean
3.0 out of 5 stars book review
I found this book very difficult to get into. The subject matter I found very odd & I had to make myself finish it.
Published 4 months ago by J. Wallace
2.0 out of 5 stars Dull dark house
I've enjoyed some of Fowler's other books, and the way he frequently manages to capture the essence of modern day London. Read more
Published 4 months ago by BubbaUK
5.0 out of 5 stars The Blitz and London Today
This is the first in the Bryant and May series and one that I have read three times now. I have found bits of previously overlooked material each of the last two readings and have... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Helen McSavaney
4.0 out of 5 stars A well written, though slightly odd, adventure
The first novel in the Bryant and May series starts with an interesting twist - the death of the one of the principal characters. Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. R. Johnson-Rollings
4.0 out of 5 stars First and Last Cases!
I'm glad I had read at least one other Bryant and May book before tackling this one, or I would have become very confused. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Renato Bondonno
2.0 out of 5 stars not very engaging I'm afraid, old boy ....
I was thinking of giving this three stars as the writing isn't too bad in its way, but I decided a review should reflect one's enjoyment of a book, and I couldn't finish this one. Read more
Published 7 months ago by jbc
4.0 out of 5 stars Bryant and May get what they deserve: much success!
My ever-expanding search for new and different mystery series seems never-ending! A new series (for me) is the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) myteries by Christopher Fowler. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Billy J. Hobbs
4.0 out of 5 stars Plot and characters both fascinating - great series opening!
It's rare that a series opener can get away with killing off a main character, but Christopher Fowler pulls off exactly this. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mrs. B. S. Kemp
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