The Victoria Vanishes (Bryant & May 6)
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Product Description
GUARDIAN
'The sixth novel to feature Bryant and May, the most endearing pair of old farts in crime fiction, has plenty of Fowler's trademark quirky details as well as a page-turning plot. Fowler's latest bears all the hallmarks of the classic British mystery - think Edmund Crispin's 1946 novel The Moving Toyshop, but much funnier and more distinctive, with plenty of mordant humour, fascinating trivia about London past and present, and the basis for an epic pub crawl of your own. What more could you want?'
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Book Description
Quirky detail and a page-turning plot combine as British fiction's most enigmatic detectives since Holmes and Watson search for a murderer
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I do admit that this review might be slightly biased as Christopher Fowler is one of my favourite authors. This is the latest and concluding instalment of the Bryant and May series. Although you don't have to have read the other books in the series to enjoy this one, reading them will give you a better understanding of the role of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, the characters and previous investigations which are referenced throughout the novel.
This time Bryant and May decide to investigate a spate of killings that are taking place in some of London's most historic pubs. A mysterious man with a wine-mark on his face is targeting middle aged women and murdering them using a lethal injection. As you'd expect, the plot is good, the characterisation is fabulous and Arthur Bryant is up to his usual tricks. As this is the end of the series, I was also incredibly impressed that Fowler didn't fall into the usual trap of tying up every loose end and leaving some room for the reader's imagination.
As with other books by Christopher Fowler, expect the usual humour and lightness of touch, as well as a wealth of information and unknown facts about London. I can't wait to see what he'll come up with next (CF - if you're reading this, could we have something else featuring the Insomnia Squad please?!)
As usual, highly recommended.
This time Bryant and May decide to investigate a spate of killings that are taking place in some of London's most historic pubs. A mysterious man with a wine-mark on his face is targeting middle aged women and murdering them using a lethal injection. As you'd expect, the plot is good, the characterisation is fabulous and Arthur Bryant is up to his usual tricks. As this is the end of the series, I was also incredibly impressed that Fowler didn't fall into the usual trap of tying up every loose end and leaving some room for the reader's imagination.
As with other books by Christopher Fowler, expect the usual humour and lightness of touch, as well as a wealth of information and unknown facts about London. I can't wait to see what he'll come up with next (CF - if you're reading this, could we have something else featuring the Insomnia Squad please?!)
As usual, highly recommended.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked this book up in my local bookstore and did judge it by its cover, luckily that paid off and I found a great book/series.
A very entertaining murder mystery set in todays London, someone is murdering women in busy crowded pubs, they are found dead with only a small injection mark/wound but no one has seen anything, and oddly one of the murders seems to have happened in a pub that had been closed and demolished 80 years ago but her body is found in the street today near Euston Road.
A great story that tells you something of the rich history of the London Pub. This book was a great find. I will now look at the others in the Bryant and May series.
A very entertaining murder mystery set in todays London, someone is murdering women in busy crowded pubs, they are found dead with only a small injection mark/wound but no one has seen anything, and oddly one of the murders seems to have happened in a pub that had been closed and demolished 80 years ago but her body is found in the street today near Euston Road.
A great story that tells you something of the rich history of the London Pub. This book was a great find. I will now look at the others in the Bryant and May series.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Arthur Bryant of the Peculiar Crimes Unit witnesses a woman walk into a pub, The Victoria, who is subsequently found murdered. There is but one problem with his eye-witness testimony of some of her last moments: when he returns to the location, the pub is not there and the site has been occupied for years by a shop.
In other words, this - the sixth book in Christopher Fowler's series featuring Arthur Bryant and his colleague John May of London's Peculiar Crimes Unit - is once again an homage to the traditional English crime novel such as The Moving Toyshop, which featured a dead woman and a shop that is there and then isn't.
The Victoria Vanishes contains many of the popular elements of the previous books in the series. It is firmly set in a London background, with this time the histories, locations and customers of London pubs providing much of the raw material for the plot and setting.
Arthur Bryant may have just about conquered his problems with technology, but once again we learn more about the regular characters as the plot develops. Much of John May's family history is filled out, but to keep readers wanting more there are also a range of hints and names related to Bryant's own family introduced for the first time.
Sometimes the number of references to events in previous books almost threatens to stifle this one, but Fowler skilfully navigates between providing enough free-standing information in the references for new readers to be able to follow the story whilst keeping it brief enough that for regular readers it does not sink into being a `best of' highlights repeat show.
Fowler also once again shows his skill in coming up with a plausible explanation for the sort of narrative artefacts that an author often needs to keep the tension and mystery. This time round information is regularly withheld from the reader not out of the pure caprice of characters or by clichéd cutting between scenes but by Arthur Bryant in his old age struggling with his memory and only slowly remembering key facts as his memory classes begin to have an impact.
As the plot unfolds, the reader is taken into a world of an implausible conspiracy but, as with the conspiracy behind Seventy-Seven Clocks (Bryant & May 3), Fowler always plays fair with the reader as the Peculiar Crimes Unit follows a logical thread through the evidence, until eventually unearthing the full story - which is about much more than simply who carried out a murder in a disappearing pub.
As ever, the audio version is narrated by Tim Goodman - who once again shows how a really good narrator adds to the author's text.
In other words, this - the sixth book in Christopher Fowler's series featuring Arthur Bryant and his colleague John May of London's Peculiar Crimes Unit - is once again an homage to the traditional English crime novel such as The Moving Toyshop, which featured a dead woman and a shop that is there and then isn't.
The Victoria Vanishes contains many of the popular elements of the previous books in the series. It is firmly set in a London background, with this time the histories, locations and customers of London pubs providing much of the raw material for the plot and setting.
Arthur Bryant may have just about conquered his problems with technology, but once again we learn more about the regular characters as the plot develops. Much of John May's family history is filled out, but to keep readers wanting more there are also a range of hints and names related to Bryant's own family introduced for the first time.
Sometimes the number of references to events in previous books almost threatens to stifle this one, but Fowler skilfully navigates between providing enough free-standing information in the references for new readers to be able to follow the story whilst keeping it brief enough that for regular readers it does not sink into being a `best of' highlights repeat show.
Fowler also once again shows his skill in coming up with a plausible explanation for the sort of narrative artefacts that an author often needs to keep the tension and mystery. This time round information is regularly withheld from the reader not out of the pure caprice of characters or by clichéd cutting between scenes but by Arthur Bryant in his old age struggling with his memory and only slowly remembering key facts as his memory classes begin to have an impact.
As the plot unfolds, the reader is taken into a world of an implausible conspiracy but, as with the conspiracy behind Seventy-Seven Clocks (Bryant & May 3), Fowler always plays fair with the reader as the Peculiar Crimes Unit follows a logical thread through the evidence, until eventually unearthing the full story - which is about much more than simply who carried out a murder in a disappearing pub.
As ever, the audio version is narrated by Tim Goodman - who once again shows how a really good narrator adds to the author's text.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
another bryant and may caper
Another fun book from Christopher Fowler . Loved all the details about London pubs [ even mentioned my fav Vicky stakes} and it made in laugh out loud on the tube a few times . Read more
Published 8 months ago by cartoon
a long way past its best
The quirkiness of the Bryant and May series has made it entertaining, with frequent laugh-aloud comic passages, but it has become fossilised into a rather smug and sentimental... Read more
Published 13 months ago by piscator
They're at it again
Bryant and May, the oldest detectives.... in the world, are back in another seemingly bizarre case (or cases). Read more
Published 15 months ago by Mr D
Definitely something different in a mystery novel.
Yes, this was definitely an interesting reading experience, especially if you have a love of that great institution, the British pub. Read more
Published on 12 May 2010 by J. Lesley
Bryan & May Fantastic Fiction
The Esteemed Duo of Bryant & May are at it once again and never, ever fail to please.
Once more 'Christopher Fowler' made me believe every single twist and turn and every... Read more
Once more 'Christopher Fowler' made me believe every single twist and turn and every... Read more
Published on 2 May 2010 by Avid Listener
The Final Act
Whilst not as witty or original as earlier titles in the series, The Victora Vanishes is a suitably amusing yet maudlin conclusion to the Bryant & May detective series. Read more
Published on 3 July 2008 by R. M. Loydell
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