Synopsis

In fact, Arthur Bryant remembers very little about yesterday, but he does remember the oddest investigation of his career… It was late in 1973. As strikes and blackouts ravaged the country during Edward Heath’s ‘Winter of Discontent’, sundry members of a wealthy, aristocratic family were being disposed of in a variety of grotesque ways – by reptile, by bomb, by haircut. As the hours of daylight diminish towards Christmas, Bryant & May, the irascible detectives of London’s controversial Peculiar Crimes Unit, know that time is the key – and time is running out for both the family and the police. Their investigations lead them into a hidden world of class conflict, craftsmanship and the secret loyalties of big business. But what have seventy seven ticking clocks to do with it?

Now the full story can at last be revealed, in this most eerie of adventures that features Arthur Bryant at his rudest, John May at his most exasperated and a gallery of colourful, bizarre characters who could only make their home in a city like London…

Reviews

‘Very cleverly plotted…simultaneously scary and alluring.’
Gerald Kaufman Daily Telegraph 'Books of the Year'
 

‘Bawdy, unpredictable and at times hilarious, with a cast of wonderful grotesques.’
Guardian

‘Madcap mystery…crazy and great fun for it.’
Los Angeles Times

‘Witty, charismatic, occasionally touching and with a genuine power to thrill.'
JOANNE HARRIS

About the Author

Christopher Fowler is co-founder and co-creative director of Creative Partnership. He also writes novels, screenplays and short story collections, and has had over twenty books published to date. His story The Master Builder was a CBS movie starring Tippi Hendren. Another, Left Hand Drive, won Best British Short Film in 1993. Others have been published in Time Out, The Big Issue, the Independent On Sunday and the Mail On Sunday. He was the 1998 recipient of the BFS Best Short Story Of The Year for Wageslaves. His first novel, the bestseller Roofworld, has been developed as a film for producer Marc Samuelson. Subsequent novels include Darkest Day, Spanky, Psychoville (film rights owned by Jude Law and Sadie Frost), Soho Black, Calabash and the two Bryant & May mysteries, Full Dark House and The Water Room. More books by this author Author 'Like for Like' recommendation