Bryant & May Off the Rails

In the 8th volume of the Bryant and May chronicles, our detecting partners are tracking down an old nemesis, Mr Fox, whose spiritual home is the underground (and Underground) of London. Mr Fox had been arrested by the Peculiar Crimes Unit but escaped in dramatic fashion, and now the PCU must recapture him in a week or else the unit will be disbanded for good.

For me the real treat of this book, besides Arthur Bryant's habitual cantankerousness, the crackling dialogue allotted to everyone in about equal measure, and some moments that actually had me hooting out loud (Raymond Land falling through the floor being one example) was the element of the London Underground. Chase scenes, snippets of Tube lore and ghost stories, and some technical show more description of the tracks themselves: for a transport geek this is some good stuff. The mystery itself held my attention for the most part but kind of fizzled out at the end; I almost didn't care how the story wound up. Regardless, my affection for the London Underground and the characters, and the fact that I am now inspired to read more about the Tube, prompted a four-star rating. show less

A series of bizarre and unusual murders and convoluted clues embroil the Peculiar Crimes Unit in Bryant & May Off the Rails. I love the writing and the mix or makeup of the characters of the PCU. And the crime scenes in this book set, and history of, the London Underground I found enthralling. However, the crimes themselves and the criminals less so. A serious mystery is this, but I am still not sure how it all fit together, or maybe I just didn't buy into all of it. Mr. Fox was an Einsteinian, mind-reading, chameleon ninja who could pop up anywhere anytime and did, and was hiding in plain sight the entire time. The students were just odd all the way around; geniuses too apparently, but they couldn't seem to make a dime between them; show more apparently kids these days have never heard of jobs. Anyway, an enjoyable and fast read.

p.s. this was the 8th Bryant & May, and I had previously read the 1st and 19th. While standalone, I think that it would help to read in order if possible. You can deduce previous happenings easy enough, but I felt that I was missing some full context which may or may not help understand all the goings-on. Like is the PCU always being disbanded and moving from random place to random place, packing and unpacking, or was that just happening in the few books I have read so far? That just seemed strange, and maybe had nothing to do with anything. show less

The Peculiar Crimes Unit is sure to be axed. Still reeling from Mr. Fox's murder of one of their own, and then having to cope with his audacious escape while under their custody, the spotlight on the unit's performance couldn't be any hotter.

The PCU has just been relocated to a warehouse that isn't fit for the vermin already in residence. They don't have any electricity, or safe electricity anyway, and the floors seem to have disappeared altogether in some areas. To top things off they've also been given a deadline of a week to catch the elusive killer, Mr. Fox, or be shut down for good. And just to make things a little more challenging there is someone targeting people in the London Underground and the bodies are mounting. The show more perpetrator is never caught on any of the system's network of cameras and rumors abound about a supernatural figure lurking in the abandoned tunnels.

Demoralized, understaffed, and let's face it aging, it's not looking good for the unit charged with protecting the public confidence. Arthur Bryant and John May, the octogenarian crime team, are approaching the situation in their own way with some old fashioned detective work, a few magic tricks, a tarot card reader, and the application of an extensive knowledge of London history aided by a collection of moldering tomes. One or the other of them is sure to figure it out. They do have a week, don't they?

If you haven't already caught this series you really should give it a try. It is smart, funny and best of all unexpected in this age of one size fits all predicability. show less

More brain candy, this one all about the London Underground, and I mean ALL about it. This is a follow-on to the last book, where the duo lost their murder suspect after arrest, so his capture is the initial goal of the story, but of course it ends up about other things as well, involving King's Cross station, flash mobs, and the usual assortment of British history. Why do I read these? No idea. But the mystery is always unraveled satisfactorily at the end.

A strange book which I couldn't fully enjoy. I became confused by the two leading characters and was unable to remember which was which. There was also a sense that the author was showing off his knowledge not bringing it naturally into the plot. The story centred around King's Cross underground station and a murder there being investigated by the eponymous "Peculiar Crimes Unit" for which Bryant and May work.

The story lends itself well to incorporating history of the London underground and some of its stations and the humor between Bryant and May and the team is as good as ever. The plot is a bit hard to follow on audiobook and there are way too many suspects, though! During a trip to London in 2019, I relied on the Russell Square and Euston stations to get around so it was fun to read a book set in their midst.

Bryant & May Off the Rails is the eighth book in what is still one of my favorite series. Christopher Fowler brings alive a different aspect of London in each book and this time it was the London Underground with some of its quirks and secrets. This was a tense story as the Peculiar Crimes Division was fighting the clock to solve the mystery, save lives, and also save their own division from being completely disbanded.

http://webereading.com/2016/01/a-series-of-murders.html