Publisher Description

Christopher Fowler's eccentric detectives Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit become embroiled in a fiendish case involving witchcraft, secret codes, hidden relics and, of course, bloody murder...Winner of CrimeFest 2013's 'eDunnit Award' for 'the best crime fiction ebook published in 2012 in both hardcopy and in electronic format'.Two small children are playing a game called 'Witch-Hunter'. They place a curse on a young woman taking lunch in a church courtyard and wait for her to die. An hour later the woman is indeed found dead inside St Bride's Church - a building that no-one else has entered.Unfortunately Bryant & May are refused the case. Instead, there are hired by their greatest enemy to find out why his wife has suddenly started behaving strangely. She's become an embarrassment to him at government dinners, and he is convinced that someone is trying to drive her insane. She has even taken to covering the mirrors in her apartment, and believes herself to be the victim of witchcraft.Then a society photographer is stabbed to death in a nearby park and suddenly a link emerges between the two cases. And so begins an investigation that will test the members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit to their limits, setting Arthur Bryant off on a trail that leads to Bedlam and Bletchley Park, and into the world of madness, codes and the secret of London's strangest relic.As the members of the Peculiar Crimes Unit dig behind the city's facades to expose a world of private clubs, hidden passages and covert loyalties, they realise that the case might not just end in disaster - it might also get everyone killed.

Notes

The 10th instalment in the popular detective series sees Bryant and May become embroiled in a fiendish case involving witchcraft, secret codes, hidden relics and of course, bloody murder. 'These crime novels have enjoyed a cult following, thanks to Fowler's writing which has been compared to Agatha Christie and Ben Aaronovitch' Stylist Magazine

Back Cover

The game the children were playing was called 'Witch-Hunter'. Spying a woman sitting alone in a church courtyard, they curse her and wait for her to die. And die she does. It would be a case for the Peculiar Crimes Unit, but Bryant & May are otherwise engaged: the wife of their avowed enemy has suddenly started behaving very strangely indeed. He's convinced that someone is trying to drive her insane; she believes she's the victim of witchcraft. It's only when a society photographer is stabbed to death in a London park that Bryant and May realise there is a link between the two investigations. Uncovering a world of private clubs, hidden passageways, madness, secret codes, covert loyalties and murder, they must tread carefully. Because this case might not just end in disaster, it might also get them all killed . . .

Author Biography

Christopher Fowler was the multiple award-winning author of almost fifty novels and short story collections, including the celebrated Bryant & May mysteries. His other novels include Roofworld, Spanky, The Sand Men and Hot Water. He has also written two acclaimed memoirs, Paperboy (winner of the Green Carnation Prize) and Film Freak, plus The Book of Forgotten Authors and Peculiar London, Bryant and May's singular and eccentric guide to the city. In 2015 Chris was awarded the Crime Writers Association's coveted 'Dagger in the Library' for his body of work. He lived in London and Barcelona. Diagnosed with cancer just as the UK went into lockdown in 2020, Chris died on 2nd March 2023.

Review

These crime novels have enjoyed a cult following, thanks to Fowler's writing which has been compared to Agatha Christie and Ben Aaronovitch. A cracking summer read. * STYLIST MAGAZINE *
Bryant and May series... is witty, charming, intelligent, wonderfully atmospheric and enthusiastically plotted. -- Marcel Berlins * The Times *
This quirky series, which describes the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its elderly stars, Bryant and May, does include macabre and horrifying passages, but they are rendered almost cheerful by the wit and humour of the writing... if you like oddities, this series is a very good example. * The Literary Review *

Promotional

Christopher Fowler's eccentric detectives Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit become embroiled in a fiendish case involving witchcraft, secret codes, hidden relics and, of course, bloody murder...

Review Text

These crime novels have enjoyed a cult following, thanks to Fowler's writing which has been compared to Agatha Christie and Ben Aaronovitch. A cracking summer read.

Review Quote

These crime novels have enjoyed a cult following, thanks to Fowler's writing which has been compared to Agatha Christie and Ben Aaronovitch. A cracking summer read.

Promotional "Headline"

Christopher Fowler's eccentric detectives Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit become embroiled in a fiendish case involving witchcraft, secret codes, hidden relics and, of course, bloody murder...

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