- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Transworld Hardbacks (Aug 1 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385605536
- ISBN-13: 978-0385605533
- Product Dimensions: 22 x 14 x 4.2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 581 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,174,948 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
It's no surprise to find plenty of gothic touches in British author Fowler's debut mystery, the first in a series, given the renown of his horror fiction (Rune, etc.). When 80-year-old police detective Arthur Bryant gets blown up in an explosion at the North London Peculiar Crimes Unit headquarters, his longtime partner, John May, investigates his death. After some long, lecturing dialogue and an early chapter told from the viewpoint of a character who turns out to be of no consequence, the author reaches the core of his story—a flashback to the duo's first case during the London Blitz. In late 1940, the Palace Theatre is staging a production of Orpheus in the Underworld when the body of a dancer is found, sans feet. From this point forward, the intrigues of the theater murders, which decimate the cast, create considerable drama. The potency of Greek myth, conjured up by the opera being staged, is skillfully played out in the detectives' theories about the killer. The dynamic between May and Bryant makes for compelling reading, while the hubris of a police underling, Sidney Biddle, provides additional tension. Both past and present plots reach satisfying resolutions. Now that Fowler has set the stage, no doubt his second Bryant and May mystery will get off to a better start.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–This mystery features the impending retirement of a Scotland Yard detective and the death of another. When Arthur Bryant is apparently blown up, his erstwhile partner, John May, begins reflecting on their first case together more than 60 years earlier. May, a raw recruit of 19, and Bryant, a 23-year-old detective, became the core of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, created to handle cases that were too important to ignore, yet that somehow seemed disproportionately insignificant in the face of the hundreds of civilians killed each night during the Blitz. Both men had been hurried through training and were suddenly faced with the strange case of the Palace Phantom, a killer victimizing the cast in an elaborate production of Offenbach's Orpheus in the Underworld. May was both intrigued by and dismayed at Bryant's methods and seeming flights of fancy. He used everything from crime-scene forensics to spiritualists to help him build his case. Fowler skillfully shifts the action between 1940 and the 21st century, building suspense and growing awareness as each case comes to its respective climax. Not surprisingly, they are connected. The details of wartime London and the destruction and deprivation of daily life are vividly conveyed. Today's teens will identify with the young lives so drastically affected by the war while following the clues, and red herrings, to a satisfactory conclusion.–Susan H. Woodcock, Fairfax County Public Library, Chantilly, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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It really was a hell of a blast. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
It really was a hell of a blast. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
just not my kind of mystery,
This review is from: Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery (Paperback)
The writing wasn't great, kind of tedious, got the story flipping through because I wasn't getting that much enjoyment reading it all. Found the murders scary, just too grizzly for me. There were parts that were well written but most just seemed drawn out, not engaging. Interesting story but I'm too squeamish to have liked the book. Too bad, the idea of the series really appealed to me. Give it a try though, it's probably just personal preference - I love the Alan Bradley mysteries, Tarquin Hall's Case of the Missing Servant, those appealed to me a lot more.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun, Funny and Factual,
By
This review is from: Full Dark House: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery (Paperback)
Full Dark House is one of those unusual books of historical fiction (although a significant amount of the story takes place in present day) that manages historical accuracy with a hysterical sense of humour. The characters are wonderfully drawn, the times (present and past) wryly described. I enjoyed the play between past and present and I enjoyed the presentation of two men across a lifetime. This is an ambitious novel though it is carried off in a way that makes it seem easily written. I've bought all the books in the series and am going through them one at a time. A lovely discovery. Well worth your time.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Too much; Not enough,
By
This review is from: Full Dark House (Mass Market Paperback)
I have little to add to the other reviews here except to say I did not find the book as good as they did.
The mystery itself was interesting and Bryant's off beat reasoning was fun at first but became tedious as the book went on. I sometimes got confused when the book went back and forth between the present and the past. While the apparent blowing up of Bryant doers play a role in the story, I think the book would have been much better without any reference to the present. It is as if author Fowler had two books in mind and put them together. But the one thing that this book made me want to do was to see a performance of Offenbach's Orpheus.
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