This Bryant and May novel has a 'frame' around it, set in the present day - Arthur Bryant is dining out with his agent to discuss what old case he might write up next as volume 2 of his - as he admits rather exaggerated - memoirs. The main body of the novel is set in 1969 at the time of the case chosen.

The two detectives are at Camden Lock enjoying a festival when Bryant spots a dangerous psychopath aboard a barge - their attempt to arrest him goes awry and the two discover themselves on borrowed time, the head of the Peculiar Crimes Unit seizing upon this to try to have them sacked from the police force. An official in the civil service comes to the rescue by putting an assignment their way - to guard a key witness in a fraud trial over the weekend. The problem is, the man insists on going down to the country to a 'house party' - being held at a dilapidated stately home - in order to waylay a millionaire business man with a proposal that will save him from going bust as a result of the testimony he is about to give. The house party soon involves murder and general mayhem, including attempts on the life of the key witness, and the two detectives' future looks increasingly grim. If they can't resolve the case and get the man to the trial on Monday, they are sure to be driven out of the force.

I found this an interesting change from the usual B&M setup, seeing the two men as young and rather different yet similar. Bryant already shows signs of the eccentricity he later develops with his difficulty with people, preferring research and books to get to the truth. May has a flair with people, but in this we see him also as occasionally brash and impulsive. There is also 'local colour' from the 60s setting re the fashions of the day, but also the attitudes - their charge is nastily racist and Bryant ends up calling him out on it. The two men are for once younger than those they are questioning and feel somewhat daunted. So it was interesting to get a different slant on them.

The only thing that held this back from a full rating was that about three quarters of the way through it did seem a bit overlong. But there were some good twists/surprises in what was superficially an Agatha Christie setting, with the added point that by the 60s that way of life was well on the way out due to social changes, lack of money by the titled, and a general malaise, as with the son of the house who is a drug taking hippy with no desire to carry on the family tradition. So I rate this as a page-turning 4 stars. ( )

A prequel of sorts, the story gets off to a slow start but it got me to care by the end. I find it hard to not care about Bryant and May though, whether they are young and capable or old and unsteady. ( )

The latest in the Bryant & May series (as of 2018) and the usual good stuff from Mr. Fowler. The humor and the interplay between Bryant and May and the rest of the world is my favorite part of the series. This book is outside of the regular series timeline. The year is 1969 and the detectives are ordered to protect a government witness for two days before he as to testify on Monday morning. There is a fear that the powerful property developer who the witness will be testifying against may try yo bump him off. The witness insists on spending the weekend at a large manor house whose owner is desperate to sell the castle to a wealthy American businessman. In addition to the guests invited to the castle for the weekend there is also an "ashram" of hippies camped out in the manor grounds, friends of the somewhat drug addled owner. Due to torrential rains and a snafu by a local British army unit conducting war games in the neighborhood the manor's occupants are confined to the vicinity of the manor house. Murder, mayhem and much hilarity ensues! Also the first appearance of a young Maggie Armitage! The only person who can out weird Bryant!

I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Even though the books are in a series most of them (including this one) can be read as a stand alone volume. A couple of the books in the series are tied together. See wikipedia.org for more details.

There was one flaw in the final explanation though: the number of bodies didn't match the number of "murders". See if you can spot it. ( )

Christopher Fowler has dropped his Peculiar Crimes Unit detectives into a superb English manor house mystery story. It's set in 1969 when "England Swings" was the mantra as the country enjoys a renaissance from WW2 and its aftermath. Readers get a younger set of detectives too. Bryant and May are closer to the beginning of their careers with the PCU.

Bryant is a lost soul for most of the book because he is outside of his City comfort zone: he does not know or like the countryside. He is separated from his books and his other resources. On the other hand, May is at home with the country house weekend party crowd.

May & Bryant are tasked with keeping an eye on a Crown witness over a weekend. The witness is ready to testify against an aristocrat businessman accused of fraud and his evidence is key to a conviction. However, he insists on going to a country weekend party hosted by the wealthy financier and drags the detectives along with him. Upon arrival at the manor we meet what will become the suspect pool. It's a quirky bunch of people and readers soon learn several of them are hiding something. Halfway through the book, there's a murder. It's the standard country house trope in spades, but the addition of Bryant and May make it a standout.

All in all, I found this one of the best Bryant and May PCU novels. ( )

This new entry in the Bryant & May Peculiar Crime Unit mystery series was an ER book. It's one of the best by Fowler that I've read in a while. Can a murder mystery be a romp? This one was. Over the top and funny - and you find out why it's over the top at the end, in yet another clever twist.

This is a series' prequel, with the two detectives at their careers' start in 1969. Bookish, portly Bryant and slim, fashionable May complement each other in their very different detecting techniques, and this one finds them in a country house mystery in Kent. (What?!!) They're far from the normal urban operations of the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

They're baby-sitting an annoying businessman for the weekend, prior to his expected testimony against a cheapskate contractor whose building collapsed and killed people. There's a "can't miss" get-together at Tavistock Hall, and the ensuing dark doings seem to target the businessman, but inexplicably, other attendees as well. Our heroes recognize that they've apparently walked into an Agatha Christie novel. “If it’s a proper country house murder it needs to follow country house rules”.

Parody, banter, and slapstick abound. Sinister forces come into play. The two must sort out Lady Beatrice Banks-Marion and her stoner son (who finances a hippie encampment on the grounds), an American millionaire and his wife, a button-downed lawyer, a toothsome nightclub singer, an interior decorator, a mystery novelist, and various staff who have gleaned much while serving the house. If the two don't figure out what connects seemingly disparate clues and avoid the red herrings, death will have its way. This one was a fun read. ( )