The Victoria Vanishes

Sixth in the Bryant and May series and almost as good as the Water Room, my favourite, so I would rate this 4.5 stars.

It commences shortly after The White Corridor. The Peculiar Crimes Unit throws a wake for their late pathologist, whose death formed one of the threads in the previous book. On the way home, Arthur Bryant, the most eccentric of the unit's two elderly detectives, notices a woman going into a pub. When she is later found dead in the street, it turns out that she was murdered, but Bryant starts to doubt his memory when there is no pub at the place where he saw her - it was demo!ished many years ago. The resolution is one of the series' usual rather unlikely ones, yet the enjoyment in this book is how the various characters show more interact, the dry humour, and the setting of London, which as in most of the series, is a character in itself. The ending is poignant and I think ties in with something I read, that Fowler originally planned the series as six books, but he was obviously persuaded to write more, and I look forward to reading the rest. show less

The Victoria Vanishes is a very good police procedural, except the Peculiar Crimes Unit profiled in Fowler's series isn't very good at procedure. As investigators, their off-the-wall techniques raise a lot of eyebrows (especially at the Home Office, which is trying to shut them down!) but manages to get to the heart of some unsolvable crimes.

Fowler's characters are very real, and he very deftly manages to avoid stereotypes - the quirky genius is quirky but makes mistakes with the rest of us, the sidekick isn't Watson-ish at all, but manages to actually contribute meaningfully to the solving of the case, the rest of the unit are people with real lives and cares. The plot was a good, although not deep mystery, and I loved that this book show more is set in London pubs with all the atmosphere and history they contain. And Fowler does have a way with descriptive language.

Highly recommended, but you probably want to read the series in sequence. show less

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 show more 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. show less

Something terrible is happening in the old pubs of London. Women are being gently killed in the middle of crowded and noisy nightspots. The first couple of deaths are not tied together right away. But then the similarities are noticed by Arthur Bryant of the Peculiar Crimes Unit and the hunt for a murderer begins.

Bryant and his partner, John May, are an unusual pair. They are in their eighties and have been solving London's oddest crimes for years. They are an anachronism, solving cases the old fashioned way (with Sherlock Holmes-like detection) rather than with modern technology. The Home Office has been trying to close their unit for years.

While walking home from a gathering, Bryant sees what turns out to be one of the victims leaving show more a pub, The Victoria Cross. When they later go back to investigate, there is no pub there. The property in question is now a grocery, the Victoria Cross has not existed for eighty years. This does not bode well for Bryant's employment status, the Home Office will definitely use his apparent hallucination as a reason to disband the unit. The case must be solved satisfactorily to preserve the PCU.

The entire team at the PCU is quirky and interesting. They work together well despite their totally divergent personalities. There is a creative mystery that has a satisfying resolution.

Embedded in the narrative is a lovely homage to the classic old London pubs, which are fast disappearing due to high property values and development schemes.

"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 and unappreciated indication of who we are, and a sign of all we've lost and remember fondly."

This is the sixth, and I think final, entry into the Bryant & May mystery series. I'll be going back to read the first five, this last one peaked my interest. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the adventures of these unusual detectives. show less

Filled with London arcana, a social agenda, and brilliant twists, as per Fowler's usual abilities. Characters, locations, and Greater London all combine to present a wonderful and worthwhile read. Intellectually stimulating, without being preachy or pedantic. Fun! And filled with pubs! Who could resist?

The agents of London's Peculiar Crimes Unit are investigating the sudden death of a middle-aged woman in a local pub when a second middle-aged woman dies in another pub, then a third. There are too many similarities for them to be unrelated, but lead investigators Bryant and May can't see how the women are connected and how someone is killing them in crowded pubs yet getting away unseen.

I've had this one, and a few others, on my shelf for awhile, so I grabbed the one that was earliest in the series. This seems to be a series that should be read in order and I wished I'd had the first. I think this is the sixth, and it's pretty far along in terms of character relationships. Bryant is past retirement age in this story and there are show more numerous mentions of previous cases, but I found it gripping anyway, and really well-written. Bryant and May, and their unit, are likable and the premise is unique, so now, great, another series I need to continue. show less

Christopher Fowler has created a wonderful series in his Peculiar Crimes Unit, in which a couple of eccentric old men and their younger but equally eccentric support staff handle the crimes in London that are too, er, unusual for the regular police force. The Victoria Vanishes is the sixth novel in the series; this finds Arthur Bryant questioning his own memory and perhaps his faculties as a whole, as one night he sees something happen at an old pub that couldn't possibly exist. There have been a string of strange deaths of middle aged women in pubs, very public places where the murderer somehow feels capable of taking lives without anyone noticing - and he's getting away with it too, until Bryant and his partner John May become show more interested in the puzzle. Also, as usual the Home Office is trying to shut the PCU down once and for all, and it seems possible that this time, it might even succeed....Although these novels deal with heinous crimes, the series is also very, very funny; and Fowler's intimate knowledge of the history and life of London adds a further delightful dimension to the books. I think one could read The Victoria Vanishes without having read the previous five novels - Fowler makes mention of some earlier cases, but the reader doesn't need to know those stories to appreciate this one - but it's a richer experience when you have had time to get to know the characters from the previous books. Recommended! show less