a nice period mystery with just a touch of the surreal. ( )

Christopher Fowler is sensitive, realistic and funny. It makes for a great writer. ( )

I was introduced to this series by other fans of the Rivers of London books. It seems urban fantasy-adjacent, though I was expecting it to be more full-on, so I guess I kept waiting for the paranormal stuff to kick in. Arthur Bryant (it is revealed through flashbacks) is a founding detective in the Peculiar Crimes Unit (sounds promising), but it seems he is more keen to find the supernatural among London's criminals, than actually finding it. His new partner, John May, is skeptical that this is a sensible way to investigate crimes, and it seems that in the course of their first case together, they each start coming around to the other's perspective. When people start dying on the production of "Orpheus in the Underworld," which is being staged at a theatre during the London Blitz, Bryant is convinced there is a phantom at work, or at least a killer who is profoundly influenced by the classical mythology in which the play is steeped. May isn't so sure, or at least, he doesn't know what to think. This telling of the two detectives' first case together in 1940 is interspersed with the contemporary narrative that follows the death of Bryant, in a fiery explosion, and the resulting investigation that May undertakes, although he is grieving the loss of his partner and friend, and feels unmoored without his counterpart. Both cases unfold with surprises, even if they are more mundane than Bryant would like. I've enjoyed this, and I will continue reading about these detectives. ( )

Un atentado con bomba en Londres mata al detective octogenario Arthur Bryant. Para su compañero, John May, su pérdida significa el fin de una amistad de ms de medio siglo. Buscando pistas, May investiga las notas de su amigo sobre su primer caso y pronto se da cuenta de que el pasado ha vuelto... con intenciones asesinas. La representación de Orfeo en el infierno, varias décadas atrás, fue el detonante de una serie de crímenes que arrastra a los jóvenes detectives hacia un macabro misterio. Londres, entonces bajo el yugo de la Gran Guerra, temblaba ante un asesino que acechaba en sus teatros creando su propio drama macabro. Ahora, el siniestro homicida ha vuelto para acabar con uno de ellos... y está listo para matar a su compañero.

The first book in the Bryant and May mystery series, recommended by fellow LTers. A pair of British detectives, who have been partners since World War II, are torn apart in modern-day London by a bomb. Investigation indicates that the answer to today's mystery lies in the archives of their first case, a serial killer stalking a theater troupe during the Blitz.

I found this one to be a slow starter. It was definitely a case where my usual method of knowing as little as possible about a book before reading it worked against me, as I spent the first several chapters trying to figure just what the heck was going on. However, the parts set back in the 1940s were engaging in a confusing sort of way, and the modern-day segments seemed a bit shoehorned in, as it were. I'm not sure I was captivated enough to seek out the rest of the series. ( )