The Burning Man by
Christopher Fowler
Published by Doubleday
26th March 2015
Hardback Edition
London is under siege. A banking scandal has filled the
city with violent protests, and as the anger in the streets detonates, a young
homeless man burns to death after being caught in the crossfire between rioters
and the police.
But all is not as it seems; an opportunistic killer is
using the chaos to exact revenge, but his intended victims are so mysteriously
chosen that the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to find a way of stopping
him.
Using their network of eccentric contacts, elderly
detectives Arthur Bryant and John May hunt down a murderer who adopts
incendiary methods of execution. But they soon find their investigation taking
an apocalyptic turn as the case comes to involve the history of mob rule,
corruption, rebellion, punishment and the legend of Guy Fawkes.
At the same time, several members of the PCU team reach
dramatic turning points in their lives - but the most personal tragedy is yet
to come, for as the race to bring down a cunning killer reaches its climax,
Arthur Bryant faces his own devastating day of reckoning.
‘I always said we’d go out with a hell of a bang,’ warns
Bryant.
This is the twelfth Bryan and May novel by Christopher
Fowler, but it is the first one I've actually read. I have no idea why this crime series hasn't been brought to my
attention before, but I'm glad that I've now finally found it.
Bryant and May are two old-school detectives, trying to work
in the modern day. Arthur Bryant can
only be considered eccentric by those who work around him, but his unusual
methods bring with them their own successes, and whilst there are many who
would like the team to work in a much more orthodox way, there is no arguing
that Bryant and May get results.
London is under seige from protestors. The banking world has been filled with
scandals that are considered unacceptable by the masses, and riots are filling
the streets. With Guy Fawkes night
approaching, the rioters are lighting bonfires, wearing masks and creating as
much mischief as is legally possible.
This means that for those who want to pave their own path of
destruction, things just got a little bit easier.
When a homeless man is found burnt to death in a disused
building, the team are called in to investigate. Then a second death occurs and links between the two, however
flimsy they may seem, are made. Arthur
Bryant fears a serial killer may be at work, but can they stop him, or her,
before their pyromaniac fantasies spiral out of control?
In between solving the case, Bryant is facing his own demons
too. For a man whose mind is legendary
on the force, at the times when he needs it most, it is starting to fail
him. Can he remain sharp enough, and on
the team, to continue with finding the killer before it is too late?
I really enjoyed Christopher Fowler's style of writing, and
I adored the characters of Bryant and May.
His incorporation of the history of London was both fascinating and
interesting, and added another element to the reading of The Burning Man. I only hope that this isn't the last in the
series, but I'm planning on catching up with those I've missed out on just as
soon as I can!
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