Book description
When a bomb devastates the office of London's most unusual police
unit and claims the life of its oldest detective, Arthur Bryant, his
surviving partner John May searches for clues to the bomber's
identity. His search takes him back to the day the detectives first
met as young men in 1940.
In Blitz-ravaged London, a beautiful dancer rehearsing for a sexy,
sinister production of 'Orpheus In The Underworld' is found without
her feet. Bryant & May's investigation plunges them into a bizarre
gothic mystery, where a faceless man stalks terrified actors and death
strikes in darkness. Tracking their quarry through the blackout,
searching for a murderer who'll stop at nothing to be free of a
nightmare, the duo unwittingly follow the same path Orpheus took when
leading Euridyce from the shadows of Hell.
Back in the present day, John May starts to wonder if their oldest
adversary might be the killer who took his partner's life. He must
work alone to solve a puzzle that began over half a century earlier...
In a war-shaken city of myths, rumours and fear, Bryant & May
discover that a house is not always a home, nothing is as it appears,
the most cunning criminals hide in plain sight, and the devil has all
the best tunes. Dark drama and black comedy combine as Bryant &
May take centre stage in their first great case.
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.
