Again, I am reviewing some time after the reading of this, the most recent Bryant and May novel
I have read. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is now under the control of the City of London Police but
no more secure than it has been for many years. This tale has two teenagers see a dead man arise
from his grave though the male teenager is killed shortly afterwards. Graves are desecrated and
the case develops into an investigation of a local funeral director who provides the common link
between the graves. Parallel to this, Bryant is also trying to find out why the ravens have left
the Tower. With the usual plethora of local London knowledge providing the backdrop to the
investigations, the final solution does rely as much on instinct as it does on regular police work.
The end leaves Bryant and May looking at the Thames from the middle of Waterloo Bridge with
Bryant wrapping up the loose ends. I did not find this quite as good as some of the recent
books in the series though it is still better than most of its kind.
Monday, June 19, 2017
Vargas, Fred: The Ghost Riders of Ordebec
I finished this excellent novel some time ago but have only just decided to review it. The book
features Commissaire Adamsberg who is visited by a frightened woman who will speak to no-one
but him. She tells him of a vision her daughter has had which, according to local legend, is a
forecast of death. Shortly afterwards, a cruel, vicious man disappears and Adamsberg agrees
to investigate though rural Normandy is well outside his jurisdiction. In the course of his
investigation, he meets and is befriended by an elderly lady who turns out to be the wife-to-be
of the local landed nobility. She, too is attacked but does survive, thanks to Adamsberg's
solicitous behaviour. He also meets and lusts after the daughter whose vision seems to be at
the heart of things as well as meeting her rather odd set of brothers. As with all Vargas's books,
there are many twists and turns, a fair deal of esoteric information which just about relates to
the case, an almost irrelevant sub-plot, and, finally, a suitably exciting denouement. It would
seem that Fred Vargas has few peers, if any, as she yet again produces a nonpareil novel.
features Commissaire Adamsberg who is visited by a frightened woman who will speak to no-one
but him. She tells him of a vision her daughter has had which, according to local legend, is a
forecast of death. Shortly afterwards, a cruel, vicious man disappears and Adamsberg agrees
to investigate though rural Normandy is well outside his jurisdiction. In the course of his
investigation, he meets and is befriended by an elderly lady who turns out to be the wife-to-be
of the local landed nobility. She, too is attacked but does survive, thanks to Adamsberg's
solicitous behaviour. He also meets and lusts after the daughter whose vision seems to be at
the heart of things as well as meeting her rather odd set of brothers. As with all Vargas's books,
there are many twists and turns, a fair deal of esoteric information which just about relates to
the case, an almost irrelevant sub-plot, and, finally, a suitably exciting denouement. It would
seem that Fred Vargas has few peers, if any, as she yet again produces a nonpareil novel.
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