The Victoria Vanishes (Center Point Platinum Mystery (Large Print)) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Christopher Fowler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2009 | Series: Center Point Platinum Mystery (Large Print)

One night, Arthur Bryant witnesses a drunk middle-aged lady coming out of a pub in a London backstreet. The next morning, she is found dead at the exact spot where their paths crossed. Even more disturbing, the pub has vanished. Bryant is convinced that he saw them as they were over a century before, but the elderly detective has already lost the funeral urn of an old friend. Could he be losing his mind as well?Then it becomes clear that a number of women have met their ends in London pubs. It seems a silent, secret killer is at work, striking in full view...and yet nobody has a clue how, or why - or where he’ll attack next. The likeliest suspect seems to be a mental patient with a reason for killing. But knowing who the killer is and catching him are two very different propositions. As their new team at the Peculiar Crimes Unit goes in search of a madman, the octogenarian detectives ready themselves for the pub crawl of a lifetime, and come face to face with their own mortality…

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 383 pages
• Publisher: Center Point Large Print; Lrg edition (January 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602853789
• ISBN-13: 978-1602853782
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,329,094 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Fowler was born in Greenwich, London. He is the multi award-winning author of thirty novels and ten short story collections, and the author of the Bryant & May mystery novels. His first bestseller was 'Roofworld'. Subsequent novels include 'Spanky', 'Disturbia', 'Psychoville' and 'Calabash'. His books have been optioned by Guillermo Del Toro ('Spanky') and Jude Law ('Psychoville'). He co-founded Creative Partnership, a company that changed the face of film marketing, and spent many years working in film. His memoir of growing up without books, entitled 'Paperboy', was highly acclaimed.

He has written comedy and drama for BBC radio, including Radio One's first broadcast drama in 2005. He writes for the FT and the Independent on Sunday, Black Static magazine and many others. His graphic novel for DC Comics was the critically acclaimed 'Menz Insana'. His short story 'The Master Builder' became a feature film entitled 'Through The Eyes Of A Killer', starring Tippi Hedren and Marg Helgenberger. In the past year he has been nominated for 8 national book awards. He is the winner of the Edge Hill prize 2008 for 'Old Devil Moon', and the Last Laugh prize 2009 for 'The Victoria Vanishes'.

Christopher has achieved several pathetic schoolboy fantasies, releasing a terrible Christmas pop single, becoming a male model, writing a stage show, posing as the villain in a Batman graphic novel, running a night club, appearing in the Pan Books of Horror, and standing in for James Bond.

His short stories have appeared in Best British Mysteries, The Time Out Book Of London Short Stories, Dark Terrors, London Noir, Inferno, Neon Lit, Cinema Macabre, the Mammoth Book of Horror and many others. After living in the USA and France he is now married and lives in King's Cross, London.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What shall I do without Bryant and May?, August 5, 2008

By 

L. J. Roberts (Oakland, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Victoria Vanishes (Hardcover)

First Sentence: She had four and a half minutes left to live.

Pathologist Oswald Finch is dead, May has been diagnosed with a tumor on his heart and Bryant has submitted his resignation letter. On his way home from Finch's wake, Bryant notices a woman going into a pub. The woman is later found dead and when they go to investigate, the pub is gone. In fact, it had been torn down over 75 years ago. But someone is killing women in, or near, pubs not usually their own.

The principal appeal of this book is the relationship between the characters, particularly Bryant and Mays, the bantering dialogue and the humor. We learn much more about the characters backgrounds.

But it is also the insightful musing of the author and the characters that made this book stand apart from the rest. There is a fascinating look at and history of some of London's pubs but also thoughts on London past and present and the value of an historic perspective. Fowler's descriptions create powerful visual images.

There is also a very good, suspenseful mystery. Just when you think the mystery is solved, there is a second layer to it.

There is a highly unlikely element and one significant proofreading error, but those did not detract from my absolute enjoyment of this book, which made me laugh, think and, in some ways, touched my heart.

This appears to be the final book in the Bryant and Mays series. I have loved this series and shall miss it.