- Hardcover: 279 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday; First Edition edition (1 Sep 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0385605544
- ISBN-13: 978-0385605540
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.4 x 3.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 605,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Water Room (Bryant & May 2)
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
When an elderly lady is found inside her own house with her lungs full of river water, London's Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to search for a logical solution. But the property's next tenant is plagued by mysterious damp patches and the sound of rushing water, and Arthur Bryant decides to divert the investigation into strange new territory. Meanwhile, his partner John May finds himself in hot water when he sets out to save the reputation of an academic whose arcane knowledge of London's forgotten underground rivers looks set to destroy his career. The geriatric detectives soon discover that in a city full of the rich, the poor and the dispossessed, there's still something for which a desperate murderer is willing to kill again. Pooling their information to investigate hitherto undiscovered secrets of the city, Bryant & May make some sinister connections. With the death-toll climbing and the unit facing an uncertain future, the nation's oddest investigators prepare to face madness, greed and revenge armed only with their wits, alcohol and boiled sweets in a mystery that goes to the heart of every London home...
From the Back Cover
Originally built to house the workers of Victorian London, Balaklava Street is now an oasis in the heart of Kentish Town and ripe for gentrification. But then the body of an elderly woman is found at Number 5. Her death would appear to have been peaceful but for the fact that her lungs are full of river water. It falls to the Met's Peculiar Crimes Unit, led by London's longest-serving detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, to search for something resembling a logical solution.
Their initial investigations draw a blank and Bryant's attention is diverted into strange and arcane new territory, while May finds himself in hot water when he attempts to save the reputation of an academic whose knowledge of the city's forgotten underground rivers looks set to ruin his career. In the meantime, the new owner of Number 5 is increasingly unsettled by the damp in the basement of her home, the particularly resilient spiders and the ghostly sound of rushing water . . .
Pooling their information to investigate hitherto undiscovered secrets of the city, Bryant and May make some sinister connections and realize that, in a London filled with the rich, the poor and the dispossessed, there's still something a desperate individual is willing to kill for - and kill again to protect. With the PCU facing an uncertain future, the death toll mounts and two of British fiction's most enigmatic detectives must face madness, greed and revenge, armed only with their wits, their own idiosyncratic practices and a plentiful supply of boiled sweets, in a wickedly sinuous mystery that goes to the heart of every London home.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Bryant and May's second outing is even better than their first in Full Dark House.
We have swapped the intricacies of theatre architecture for the underworld passages that carry London's lost rivers under the capital. The action is set against an exceedingly wet London autumn and as with other of Christopher Fowler's books the detailed descriptions of the city that he loves shines through, at times his imagery is almost on a par with Peter Ackroyd.
The narrative twists and turns like the rivers he is describing and never fails to surprise and delight.
As exceedingly enjoyable book that can only herald more outings of the Met's strangest duo!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The latest of the Bryant and May novels brings a nice mix of modern and ancient London.
The ongoing partnership between the 2 main characters (Bryant a rule breaker, lateral thinker and a forgetful mind - May a steady hand concerned with following protocol) eases us gently into a new story with all the depth and intrigue of "Full Dark House".
A modern London street with all its neighbours and domestic quarrels is set against a slow discovery of the original waterways of old London town. The story develops steadily and purposefully with an ending that is hard to guess.
My only minor niggle - is that it is a bit too slow for me. Maybe my attention span approaches that of Arthur Bryant ?
The ongoing partnership between the 2 main characters (Bryant a rule breaker, lateral thinker and a forgetful mind - May a steady hand concerned with following protocol) eases us gently into a new story with all the depth and intrigue of "Full Dark House".
A modern London street with all its neighbours and domestic quarrels is set against a slow discovery of the original waterways of old London town. The story develops steadily and purposefully with an ending that is hard to guess.
My only minor niggle - is that it is a bit too slow for me. Maybe my attention span approaches that of Arthur Bryant ?
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Not only have l read every one of Bryant & May books l have become a very addicted reader of Christopher Fowler books. If you like a good old fashion crime...just start reading his books.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
old friends
Old of his best , comic and then old fashioned edge of seat stuff . Can really feel the Kentish town I know from all the descrptions . Read more
Published 5 months ago by cartoon
Great but different detectives
`I'm part of the Transworld Book Group!'
I am not sure what I was expecting when I requested this book but I certainly am not disappointed with my choice as it is extremely... Read more
I am not sure what I was expecting when I requested this book but I certainly am not disappointed with my choice as it is extremely... Read more
Published 6 months ago by rah
Another great Bryant and May mystery novel
The Water Room is the second in a series of novels about two elderly detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, who work for the Peculiar Crimes Unit, a branch of the London... Read more
Published 7 months ago by H. Skinner
The Water Room
This is the second book in the series. I have not read the first, but it did not seem to matter. There were references to the first which got me up to speed with the back-story of... Read more
Published 8 months ago by glitterpuss
Going Underground
Christopher Fowler's detective novel The Water Room maybe set in modern times, but it tells a tale of mystery that harks back to the roots of London and demonstrates the impact and... Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. A. Armstrong
the water room- an old school crime drama
"I am a member of the Transworld Book Group!!"
`The Water Room" follows on from the first in the series of Christopher Fowler's Crime detective books, the first being "... Read more
`The Water Room" follows on from the first in the series of Christopher Fowler's Crime detective books, the first being "... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Tashkins
Intriguing!
This was fascinating.
An unusual death occurs which has everyone mystified. Passed over to the London Peculiar Crimes Unit, workplace for those who have retired... Read more
An unusual death occurs which has everyone mystified. Passed over to the London Peculiar Crimes Unit, workplace for those who have retired... Read more
Published 8 months ago by SusieH
A mystery that holds so much more between the covers
Having previously thoroughly enjoyed `Bryant & May on the Loose' #7 in this mystery series I chose this book from those available as the final one in my Transworld Book Group... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Shazjera
Sparks The Imagination
Christopher Fowlers excellent Bryant & May series continues with "The Water Room". I first discovered this series after winning one in a contest and fell in love with these two... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Ms Jenny Campbell
Water, Water Everywhere
Arthur Bryant and John May are peculiar detectives and head up the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) which is now after being blown up in the first book, housed in offices above the tube... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Joanne D'Arcy
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
