The Victoria Vanishes: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery [Paperback]

The Victoria Vanishes is the sixth installment in the Peculiar Crimes Unit series featuring Bryant and May, two detectives who have unusual methods of solving unusual crimes. One evening, in front of the Victoria Cross pub, Bryant sees a woman murdered. Later, when he goes to investigate, he finds that the pub doesn't exist. One murder turns into several as a killer is tracked down.

There's not only murder in this intelligent mystery, but lore about the old pubs of London and a government conspiracy. The strength of the novel lies in the psychological evaluations of the murderer, the characterizations of Bryant, May, and their colleagues, and the pub lore. As one of the characters says, "The pubs of London are taken almost completely for granted by those who drink in them. Every single one has a unique and extraordinary history...these places hold the key to our past, and therefore present. They're an unappreciated indication of who we are, and a sign of all we've lost and remember fondly." And every now and then, Fowler attempts to infuse the book with a little humor. This novel is well-written and charming, and I look forward to reading more novels in the series.

In Christopher Fowler's "The Victoria Vanishes," the London-based Peculiar Crimes Unit investigates the case of a mysterious killer who targets women, seemingly at random, in English pubs. Arthur Bryant and John May, who are senior detectives and long-time partners, for many years have used their esoteric knowledge, unique skills, and willingness to skirt the law to solve unusual and confounding crimes. Both men are past retirement age and it shows. May, who is the more grounded of the two, is ailing and scheduled for surgery; Arthur's memory, vision, and hearing are all gradually deteriorating and he is considering retirement.

Meanwhile, both men still care deeply about their mission: "to deal with crimes that could cause civil unrest and political embarrassment," as well as with those arcane matters that no ordinary detective would have the imagination and expertise to tackle successfully. Unfortunately, the top brass at the Home Office has long tried to shut the PCU down. To hasten the unit's demise, a stickler for procedure named Jack Renfield has been named the PCU's Duty Sergeant. He smugly declares, "I'll be putting a curb on some of your more illegal habits...making sure there are no more of your famous breaches of conduct."

When Arthur witnesses a woman walking into a pub called the Victoria Cross, he believes that he has unearthed a clue to a series of killings could conceivably terrorize the city's female population. However, he later discovers that the Victoria Cross has not existed for over seventy-five years. Is this a sign that he is losing his mind at last? Why would someone kill women in pubs at all, a place where there are witnesses galore? Even when the PCU's team closes in on a suspect, Bryant suspects that the situation is far more complex than any of them could have imagined.

The most entertaining aspects of this novel are its intelligent humor and amusingly sarcastic and witty dialogue. I laughed until I cried at the irreverent eulogy delivered by Bryant at the wake of the late, unlamented Oswald Elias Finch, the PCU's former pathologist who died in his own morgue. Bryant drunkenly ticks off the deceased's less attractive qualities: "No sense of humour, no charm, friendless, embittered, stone-faced and bloody miserable, on top of which he stank." For some unaccountable reason, Bryant has the job of disposing of the dead man's ashes, an assignment which proves to be a bit too much for the sloshed detective.

Fowler celebrates the unique character of London, a place steeped in both history and eccentricity. He has created a wonderful cast of characters in the PCU: Sergeant Janice Longbright, a lonely woman who has sacrificed a social life for her career and is beginning to regret it; Meera Mangeshkar, a tough female cop who grew up on a council estate; the ethereal April, John May's granddaughter, a recovering agoraphobic who is superb at assembling and interpreting police reports, evidence, and witness statements; twenty-eight year old Giles Kershaw, a brilliant Eton graduate who is stepping into Finch's shoes as the unit's new pathologist; and Dan Banbury, a hacker who uses his considerable abilities as the PCU's "IT guy and crime scene manager." Each of these individuals has a role to play and, although they bicker at times like any family, they have grown to care deeply about one another.

The book's sole flaw is the mystery itself. For quite a while, the novel moves along briskly, building up a fair amount of suspense, but the implausible and anticlimactic conclusion falls flat. Nevertheless, fans of this series should read "The Victoria Vanishes" for its colorful descriptive writing, inventiveness, and veneration of London's fascinating ambiance. Fowler appreciates life's vagaries as well as the importance of maintaining a bit of skepticism even when things appear to be as plain as the nose on your face.

The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) mystery series by Christopher Fowler is one of a kind. Unapologetically British, one finds elements of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, James Bond, "The Avengers" and "Danger Mouse" circulating throughout the books, yet the concept is delightfully unique. The PCU is a division of the London Metropolitan Police Department, which has been in existence for over 60 years. Arthur Bryant and John May, its stalwart, eccentric detectives, have been at the de facto helm for more or less the entire time, riding herd over a group of square but interesting pegs who can't fit in anywhere else.

In THE VICTORIA VANISHES, middle-aged women are turning up dead in London pubs. The manner of their deaths --- the administration of a painless, extremely quick-acting poison --- is puzzling as well. What is confounding is that Bryant appears to have been the last person to see one of the victims alive, outside of a pub that had been demolished some 80 years previously. He is at a loss. Already coming to doubt the veracity of his observational faculties, he is seriously contemplating retirement. As with so many of their other investigations, the sheer volume of Bryant and May's case history, and Bryant's encyclopedic if arcane body of knowledge --- hampered only by his sporadic though temporary memory lapses --- ultimately win the day.

There is a bit of logic to this, given that, in their world, Bryant and May have been investigating cases for over six decades in one location. Elements of past and present cases dovetail, cross over, dip and swirl, and fall back on themselves. But in this book, when the identity of the murderer is revealed and the cad is apprehended, Bryant is not done. There are some unanswered questions that deal not so much with the murderer's motivation --- that is all too clear --- but with what, or who, wound him up and pointed him toward these particular victims. And what about that vanishing pub?

THE VICTORIA VANISHES is one of those rare books in which the real excitement begins after the murderer is brought to justice. And talk about multiple endings! Fans of the series will be screaming, jumping up and down, unable to believe what they are reading by the time they reach the conclusion. I had to read the ending a couple of times before it sunk in that Fowler indeed was actually carrying out an act that had been hinted at since the beginning of the series. Or is he? That is but one of the many attractions of these novels, which are as delightfully and insidiously addicting as a serotonin supplement.

Fowler makes demands on the reader: the plots are complex, the characters are multi-faceted, and the humor is fast, furious and subtle. This is not a work to be skimmed on the bus, but rather to be read in the quiet of solitude so that every word, sentence and nuance can be fully appreciated alone and within context.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 20 reviews  4.6 out of 5 stars