Water Room [Hardcover]

Christopher Fowler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

When an elderly lady is found inside her own house with her lungs full of river water, London's Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to search for a logical solution. But the property's next tenant is plagued by mysterious damp patches and the sound of rushing water, and Arthur Bryant decides to divert the investigation into strange new territory. Meanwhile, his partner John May finds himself in hot water when he sets out to save the reputation of an academic whose arcane knowledge of London's forgotten underground rivers looks set to destroy his career. The geriatric detectives soon discover that in a city full of the rich, the poor and the dispossessed, there's still something for which a desperate murderer is willing to kill again. Pooling their information to investigate hitherto undiscovered secrets of the city, Bryant & May make some sinister connections. With the death-toll climbing and the unit facing an uncertain future, the nation's oddest investigators prepare to face madness, greed and revenge armed only with their wits, alcohol and boiled sweets in a mystery that goes to the heart of every London home...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Traditional mystery buffs with a taste for the offbeat will relish British author Fowler's wonderful second contemporary whodunit featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its elderly odd couple, Arthur Bryant and John May (after 2004's Full Dark House). A former colleague asks the eccentric Bryant, whose lack of polish coupled with a razor-sharp mind will remind many of Carter Dickson's Sir Henry Merrivale, to investigate his sister's death. Incredibly, the victim was found dead in her basement, apparently drowned, despite the absence of any moisture on her body or her surroundings. Bryant rapidly loops in his more down-to-earth partner, May, who has also been looking into a mystery with a personal connection—the unusual nocturnal ramblings of a disgraced academic who has begun probing London's underground rivers. More strange deaths follow before the unmasking of the surprising murderer. The author's black humor evokes Peter Lovesey's Peter Diamond series, and his successful revival of the impossible crime genre is reminiscent of John Sladek's superb Thackeray Phin novels, Invisible Green and Black Aura. Best known for his horror fiction (Rune, etc.), Fowler should win a whole new set of readers with these fair-play puzzlers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Britain's Fowler seems to be one of those multitalented types who can write anything and do it well. He has written edgy thrillers, wildly imaginative fantasies, and memorable short fiction; now, with the Bryant and May series (of which this is the second installment), he has come up with a clever twist on the traditional police procedural. Arthur Bryant and John May, "both far beyond the statutory retirement age," are members of London's Peculiar Crimes Unit; they've been partners for more than 50 years. You don't see many senior citizens in mystery fiction who aren't amateur sleuths, but these guys are pros, and they're about as far away from your typical kindly old meddler as you can imagine. This time they're trying to find out how an elderly woman managed to drown in her dry basement, and the plot itself proves perfectly satisfying. But the real thrill here is the delightful duo in the starring roles, two fresh and unusual characters who manage to breathe new life into an established genre in which it's getting harder and harder to find anything genuinely fresh. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 279 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385605544
• ISBN-13: 978-0385605540
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,941,218 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

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely wonderful!, September 17, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: The Water Room (Bryant & May Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The first of this series, "Full Dark House," was very good and this was even better. My only two regrets are that (1) the characters are of an age where you wonder how long they can be around and (2) I wish there were more books already there for me to read. But I know the next book is due out soon, so I'll take heart. The relationship and dialogue between the two detectives is priceless, and there are great supporting characters. The writing is wonderful-it's funny, suspenseful and educational, and, as with fine wine, should be savored but thoroughly enjoyed. Very highly recommended.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a riveting read, July 1, 2005

By 

tregatt (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Water Room (Bryant & May Mysteries) (Hardcover)

The genius of this series, I believe, lies in the fact that the author has taken the traditional police procedural genre and completely turned it around on its head. To begin with we have the Peculiar Crimes Unit -- not your usual conventional police department dealing with robberies and murder but rather a unit that has been currently assigned to deal with the more troublesome, less cut and dried cases that seem to be heading no where, and that uses (on occasion) witches, psychics and academics to help solve crime. And then we have Bryant and May, who are also not the usual fare (the Brit detectives who simmer with intelligence, neuroses and sex appeal), but who happen to be 70-something police officers who should have been retired years ago, who are fully capable of doing their jobs and who relish doing them. In "The Water House" Bryant and May are back in full form as they enthusiastically delve back into the work, setting up their new offices (the previous one had been destroyed in a bomb explosion), and taking a stab at solving crimes that other police officers have either overlooked or else washed they hands off.

Kallie Owen is terribly afraid that her relationship with her longtime boyfriend, Paul, is on its last legs. Money is short and Paul (who is in the music business and who is facing redundancy) is expressing the need to travel and see the world (without Kallie at his side) before he grows too old. Desperate for advice and a friendly ear, Kallie goes to visit an old school friend, Heather Allen, who persuades her to buy a house on her street (Balaklava Street) that's just gone on the market. The old lady, Ruth Singh, who had lived in the almost decrepit house has suddenly died, and her brother wants to make a quick sale so that he can immigrate to Australia. Carried away by Heather's enthusiasm, Kallie succumbs and buys the house. Except that things don't really work out as she had hoped. The house needs a lot of work, and this is pushing her and Paul even further apart. Add to that the rumours surrounding Ruth's unexplained and sudden death, and the unnatural interest that the Peculiar Crimes Unit seems to be taking in Ruth's death, and Kallie is beginning to wonder if she has done the right thing to buy the house. And when Kallie begins to sense a sinister presence in her house, she really beings to wonder if she's about to have a nervous breakdown or if there is something (or someone) truly evil haunting Balaklava Street...

This is the second Bryant and May, Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery novel, and it proved to be as quirky, absorbing and enjoyable a read as the first book in the series, "Full Dark House." Fast paced and with a very intriguing storyline, "The Water House" held my interest from beginning to end. It was a slightly more complex read than the usual police procedural, but it really was well worth the sticking out factor. Especially since the author had managed to make the book less dense by employing a lighter and slightly humourous prose style -- this really helped to keep things riveting from start to finish. So with a clever storyline, good prose style, excellent pacing and chock full of intriguing historical information (I especially enjoyed all the bits of history about the course of the English underground river system), Christopher Fowler's "The Water Room" can definitely be classified as a worthwhile and excellent read that should not be missed.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Offbeat Mystery, May 16, 2006

By 

Melissa McCauley (North Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Water Room (Bryant & May Mysteries) (Hardcover)

If you like an offbeat, thought-provoking story, I highly recommend this mystery by Christopher Fowler. Bryant and May, the odd-couple detectives of London's peculiar crimes unit are at it again. This time they must solve the mystery of the dry woman drowned in her basement. It leads them through lost rivers, Roman mythology, paganism, and, of course, the history of London and its class struggles.