Review: BRYANT AND MAY ON THE LOOSE by Chrstopher Fowler

Bryant and May on the Loose was a book I picked up on a whim at the library because of its cover. It just looked so funny and I was definitely in the mood for a humourous read. It did prove to be that but did have its serious moments as well.

The plot revolves around the disbanded and disgraced Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) finding itself in the midst of a murder case and so being reunited. As they work there way through the clues to try to solve the crime, they meet a host of off-beat characters, including one who dresses up as a ‘stag-man’. Who he is and why he dresses up in a costume is one of the mysteries running through this book and lending to it some of the dark comedy.

I found the book to be very entertaining. The characters were engaging and likable. I found it helpful to have a list of the main ones in the first chapter of the book, though one character, April May, who in at the beginning, did not show up again until the very end, which I found a bit odd.

I thought the plot was slightly confusing but that could be put down to having started a mystery series with the next to last book! I did not know, and it was not glaringly obvious to me from the cover, that this book was part of a series by Christopher Fowler. Had I taken a closer look, I would have seen the words, ‘A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery’ depicted on a moving box on the cover. It just goes to show how observant I can (not!) be sometimes. In any case, though I enjoyed this book, I would have definitely benefited from reading the series in order. The up side is that I found a new series I like and I’ve now reserved the first book at my local library.