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Loading... The Victoria Vanishesby Christopher Fowler
Fowler is always worth reading for the company alone. (  ) SomeGuyInVirginia | Feb 1, 2013 |  bookeywookey | Nov 25, 2011 | Where has this series been all my life? The writing is witty, the characters eccentric without being preposterous, the mystery engaging, the historical context fascinating - heck, even the cover makes me smile! Definitely geared towards readers who prefer their mysteries eccentric (without ever veering into "cute"), intelligent (without having to worry about complex timetables or alibis), historical (without the "gee whiz!" over-enthusiasm of Da Vinci Code), sly (without ever veering into nasty sarcasm), and satisfying. Like John Dickson Carr, author seems to enjoy creating a "that can't possibly happen!" plot (in this case, one of the detectives witnesses the latest victim moments before her death at a pub torn down 80yrs ago) and then daring the reader to figure out how it could be done. Having said that, not entirely sure Fowler provides all the clues you would need to solve the crime yourself - probably considered "cheating" by some purists - and I'm not sure all the loose ends are satisfactorily sewn up (the whole ending seemed a little rushed, actually), but I was having so much fun getting to know the characters, chasing after red herrings, and learning about the archane history of British pubs that I didn't care. Am looking forward to reading others in the series and hoping they are as entertaining as this outing. (  ) Dorritt | Aug 20, 2011 |  This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers. loumarday | May 3, 2011 | They did what? I forget why, though. ( ) picardyrose | Oct 3, 2010 |
 There’s always a serious point to Fowler’s drolly mannered mysteries, and here it’s the future of London’s historic drinking establishments — many of them visited in the course of this devious puzzle.
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0553589563, Paperback)Murder doesn’t get more peculiar than this. A lonely hearts killer is targeting middle-aged women at some of England’s most well-known pubs. What’s even more peculiar, Arthur Bryant happened to see the latest victim only moments before her death—at a pub torn down eighty years ago! It’s only the beginning of a case littered with clues that defy everything the veteran detectives know about the profiles of serial killers and the methodology of crime. What do the Knights Templars, the secret history of English pubs, and the discovery of an astounding religious relic have to do with this recent crime spree? More important, do the Peculiar Crimes Unit’s two living legends have enough life left in them to stop a murderous conspiracy…and a deadly cupid targeting one of their own? (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:50:37 -0500) Returning to the Victoria Cross pub hours after witnessing the murder of a woman, Detective Arthur Bryant is stunned to discover that the pub itself has vanished and the street around it has mysteriously aged, and calls in the Peculiar Crimes Unit to track down a killer who is stalking London's oldest watering holes.… (more) |
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