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The Victoria Vanishes: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery (Peculiar Crimes Unit Mysteries (Bantam Paperback))

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The Victoria Vanishes is the sixth installment in the Peculiar Crimes Unit series featuring Bryant and May, two detectives who have unusual methods of solving unusual crimes. One evening, in front of the Victoria Cross pub, Bryant sees a woman murdered. Later, when he goes to investigate, he finds that the pub doesn't exist. One murder turns into several as a killer is tracked down.

There's not only murder in this intelligent mystery, but lore about the old pubs of London and a government conspiracy. The strength of the novel lies in the psychological evaluations of the murderer, the characterizations of Bryant, May, and their colleagues, and the pub lore. As one of the characters says, "The pubs of London are taken almost completely for granted by those who drink in them. Every single one has a unique and extraordinary history...these places hold the key to our past, and therefore present. They're an unappreciated indication of who we are, and a sign of all we've lost and remember fondly." And every now and then, Fowler attempts to infuse the book with a little humor. This novel is well-written and charming, and I look forward to reading more novels in the series.

In Christopher Fowler's "The Victoria Vanishes," the London-based Peculiar Crimes Unit investigates the case of a mysterious killer who targets women, seemingly at random, in English pubs. Arthur Bryant and John May, who are senior detectives and long-time partners, for many years have used their esoteric knowledge, unique skills, and willingness to skirt the law to solve unusual and confounding crimes. Both men are past retirement age and it shows. May, who is the more grounded of the two, is ailing and scheduled for surgery; Arthur's memory, vision, and hearing are all gradually deteriorating and he is considering retirement.

Meanwhile, both men still care deeply about their mission: "to deal with crimes that could cause civil unrest and political embarrassment," as well as with those arcane matters that no ordinary detective would have the imagination and expertise to tackle successfully. Unfortunately, the top brass at the Home Office has long tried to shut the PCU down. To hasten the unit's demise, a stickler for procedure named Jack Renfield has been named the PCU's Duty Sergeant. He smugly declares, "I'll be putting a curb on some of your more illegal habits...making sure there are no more of your famous breaches of conduct."

When Arthur witnesses a woman walking into a pub called the Victoria Cross, he believes that he has unearthed a clue to a series of killings could conceivably terrorize the city's female population. However, he later discovers that the Victoria Cross has not existed for over seventy-five years. Is this a sign that he is losing his mind at last? Why would someone kill women in pubs at all, a place where there are witnesses galore? Even when the PCU's team closes in on a suspect, Bryant suspects that the situation is far more complex than any of them could have imagined.

The most entertaining aspects of this novel are its intelligent humor and amusingly sarcastic and witty dialogue. I laughed until I cried at the irreverent eulogy delivered by Bryant at the wake of the late, unlamented Oswald Elias Finch, the PCU's former pathologist who died in his own morgue. Bryant drunkenly ticks off the deceased's less attractive qualities: "No sense of humour, no charm, friendless, embittered, stone-faced and bloody miserable, on top of which he stank." For some unaccountable reason, Bryant has the job of disposing of the dead man's ashes, an assignment which proves to be a bit too much for the sloshed detective.

Fowler celebrates the unique character of London, a place steeped in both history and eccentricity. He has created a wonderful cast of characters in the PCU: Sergeant Janice Longbright, a lonely woman who has sacrificed a social life for her career and is beginning to regret it; Meera Mangeshkar, a tough female cop who grew up on a council estate; the ethereal April, John May's granddaughter, a recovering agoraphobic who is superb at assembling and interpreting police reports, evidence, and witness statements; twenty-eight year old Giles Kershaw, a brilliant Eton graduate who is stepping into Finch's shoes as the unit's new pathologist; and Dan Banbury, a hacker who uses his considerable abilities as the PCU's "IT guy and crime scene manager." Each of these individuals has a role to play and, although they bicker at times like any family, they have grown to care deeply about one another.

The book's sole flaw is the mystery itself. For quite a while, the novel moves along briskly, building up a fair amount of suspense, but the implausible and anticlimactic conclusion falls flat. Nevertheless, fans of this series should read "The Victoria Vanishes" for its colorful descriptive writing, inventiveness, and veneration of London's fascinating ambiance. Fowler appreciates life's vagaries as well as the importance of maintaining a bit of skepticism even when things appear to be as plain as the nose on your face.

The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) mystery series by Christopher Fowler is one of a kind. Unapologetically British, one finds elements of Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, James Bond, "The Avengers" and "Danger Mouse" circulating throughout the books, yet the concept is delightfully unique. The PCU is a division of the London Metropolitan Police Department, which has been in existence for over 60 years. Arthur Bryant and John May, its stalwart, eccentric detectives, have been at the de facto helm for more or less the entire time, riding herd over a group of square but interesting pegs who can't fit in anywhere else.

In THE VICTORIA VANISHES, middle-aged women are turning up dead in London pubs. The manner of their deaths --- the administration of a painless, extremely quick-acting poison --- is puzzling as well. What is confounding is that Bryant appears to have been the last person to see one of the victims alive, outside of a pub that had been demolished some 80 years previously. He is at a loss. Already coming to doubt the veracity of his observational faculties, he is seriously contemplating retirement. As with so many of their other investigations, the sheer volume of Bryant and May's case history, and Bryant's encyclopedic if arcane body of knowledge --- hampered only by his sporadic though temporary memory lapses --- ultimately win the day.

There is a bit of logic to this, given that, in their world, Bryant and May have been investigating cases for over six decades in one location. Elements of past and present cases dovetail, cross over, dip and swirl, and fall back on themselves. But in this book, when the identity of the murderer is revealed and the cad is apprehended, Bryant is not done. There are some unanswered questions that deal not so much with the murderer's motivation --- that is all too clear --- but with what, or who, wound him up and pointed him toward these particular victims. And what about that vanishing pub?

THE VICTORIA VANISHES is one of those rare books in which the real excitement begins after the murderer is brought to justice. And talk about multiple endings! Fans of the series will be screaming, jumping up and down, unable to believe what they are reading by the time they reach the conclusion. I had to read the ending a couple of times before it sunk in that Fowler indeed was actually carrying out an act that had been hinted at since the beginning of the series. Or is he? That is but one of the many attractions of these novels, which are as delightfully and insidiously addicting as a serotonin supplement.

Fowler makes demands on the reader: the plots are complex, the characters are multi-faceted, and the humor is fast, furious and subtle. This is not a work to be skimmed on the bus, but rather to be read in the quiet of solitude so that every word, sentence and nuance can be fully appreciated alone and within context.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

This is evidently a series of Bryant and May detective novels by Fowler but this is the first one I have read. I must say I enjoyed it immensely and you don't have to read the ones that came before it to enjoy the novel. Anyway Arthur Bryant and John May are a couple of elderly detectives who work for the Peculiar Crime Unit (PCU) of the London Police Department. The PCU has been in existence for 60 years and Bryant and May seem to have been there since its inception.

It begins with Bryant leaving the wake of a colleague, Oswald Finch, walking home when he spots a woman entering a bar which has not existed in London in over 80 years. Then the next day the woman is in the morgue and thus begins the investigation by the PCU. The woman has been injected with some type of drug at the base of her neck in a crowded bar and the whole team begins investigating women found in similar circumstances. Of course finding the killer means staking out various bars and pubs in London and some other unusual clubs as well. This novel is full of interesting tidbits about London's history as well as diverse and unusual people.

Bryant and May are workacholics who lead a team of junior detectives through loyalty. The PCU is not welcome at the other London Police Department's units and the head management is always trying to think up ways of disbanding this unique group. This novel will keep you interested all the way to the last page and I couldn't figure out the ending until I got there. Great murder mystery book!

In popular London pubs, middle age women simply collapse and die. Initially there is no evidence of foul play; especially as all the witnesses insist nothing happened except the woman dropping dead and pathologist Oswald Finch recently died so no follow-up occurred.

Everything changes when Peculiar Crimes Unit senior detective Arthur Bryant claims he was with victim Carol Wynley just before she died outside the Victoria Cross; an edifice torn down over eight decades ago in 1925. Since the elderly sleuth misplaced Finch's urn containing his last remains, everyone even his partner Senior Detective John May worries about his senility. Still they investigate while the brass considers closing down PCU starting with the sale of their building and the addition of by the standard operating procedures Sergeant Jack Renfield.

The latest PCU police procedural (see TEN SECOND STAIRCASE and WHITE CORRIDOR) is a fabulous single sitting thriller that hooks the audience throughout the exhilarating story line as fans like the cops will wonder if this is an urban fantasy or Arthur suffers from senility. The need to know what is going on makes for a delightful tale as the PCU members visit pubs and uncover a religious relic that frightens and elates their blood while beginning to connect the dots of a murderous conspiracy. Christopher Fowler provides a strong entry that lives up to the peculiar label of this sleuthing unit.

Harriet Klausner

Christopher Fowler's Peculiar Crimes Unit mysteries are always satisfying and feature great characters and interesting plots. He has definitely raised the bar with his latest effort in this series - "The Victoria Vanishes".

The title refers to a bar that is suddenly not there. The only trouble is that this bar was the scene of a crime - a crime that ends up being one in a string of serial murders. The crimes and the missing bar somehow tie into British pub history as well as a missing religious artifact of biblical significance. The reason that this novel stands out is that the chracters of the PCU are so well written - with great interaction - that the crime they are working on is almost an interference. I wanted to spend more time with these characters and hope that Christopher Fowler continues to allow me to do so.

Well done!

Another well-written tale with lots of interesting background on London pubs. Maybe a tad too long and drags a bit at the end, and the solution is confusing and a little hard to believe, but it's an enjoyable entry in the series.

Where has this series been all my life? The writing is witty, the characters eccentric without being preposterous, the mystery engaging, the historical context fascinating - heck, even the cover makes me smile! Definitely geared towards readers who prefer their mysteries eccentric (without ever veering into "cute"), intelligent (without having to worry about complex timetables or alibis), historical (without the "gee whiz!" over-enthusiasm of Da Vinci Code), sly (without ever veering into nasty sarcasm), and satisfying. In the style of John Dickson Carr, Fowler creates a "that can't possibly happen!" plot (in this case, one of the detectives witnesses the latest victim moments before her death - at a pub that hasn't existed for 80yrs) and then dares the reader to figure out how it could be done. Having said that, not entirely sure Fowler provides all the clues you would need to solve the crime yourself - probably considered "cheating" by some purists - and I'm not sure all the loose ends are satisfactorily sewn up (the whole ending seemed a little rushed, actually), but I was having so much fun getting to know the characters, chasing after red herrings, and learning about the archane history of British pubs that I didn't care. Am looking forward to reading others in the series in hopes they are as entertaining as this outing.

Our two elderly heroes, London Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May, with their Peculiar Crimes Unit, (PCU), are back in their 6th adventure. As their name suggests, the PCU is tasked with solving Peculiar Crimes using peculiar investigative tactics. This is a quirky, unique, witty and engaging series and The Victoria Vanishes may be the best addition of this excellent series.

Protagonist Arthur Bryant has the air of the eccentric absent minded professor about him - if you are familiar with the TV show The Big Bang Theory, he could be Sheldon's grandfather. He can also be laugh-out-loud funny. (In this book he delivers an impromptu eulogy for a fallen comrade that is priceless.) His partner and friend John May is the dapper older gentleman, has a way with the ladies, smooths over the waves Bryant constantly leaves in his wake and has a droll sense of humor.

The rest of the PCU team - a group of loveable misfits, each with their own idiosyncrasies - is a strong supporting cast. While crime-solving the PCU is constantly fighting for its existence - The British Home Office looking for any reason to close down what they perceive as an expensive and archaic operation. Yet this group of unlikely crime-stoppers muddles through and consistently gets "results".

In The Victoria Vanishes the PCU team is called in to solve the seemingly random, mysterious and deadly efficient murders of middle aged women in the pubs of London. As the investigation proceeds, the plot thickens - really becoming a plot within a plot within a plot. The reader also gets an education on the history of London pubs as well as a brush with a "conspiracy theory". The conclusions of these PCU books can be a little over the top - and this addition is no exception - but they are still great reads.

If you are looking for "something a little different" in your mysteries - look no further - you won't be disappointed with the Bryant & May PCU series.

In this possibly last adventure in the PCU chronicles, Fowler has outdone himself with a tightly plotted novel full of wonderful characters that we've all come to know and love. I can't recommend this series highly enough.