Review: Bryant & May- the Burning Man by Christopher Fowler

The Burning Man by Christopher Fowler
Publisher: Doubleday
Release date: 26 March 2015
Rating: ****

Back cover blurb: London is under siege. A banking scandal has filled the city with violent protests, and as the anger in the streets detonates, a young homeless man burns to death after being caught in the crossfire between rioters and the police. But all is not as it seems; an opportunistic killer is using the chaos to exact revenge, but his intended victims are so mysteriously chosen that the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to find a way of stopping him. Using their network of eccentric contacts, elderly detectives Arthur Bryant and John May hunt down a murderer who adopts incendiary methods of execution. But they soon find their investigation taking an apocalyptic turn as the case comes to involve the history of mob rule, corruption, rebellion, punishment and the legend of Guy Fawkes.At the same time, several members of the PCU team reach dramatic turning points in their lives...  contd.


I was very kindly pointed in the direction of this novel by Sophie Christopher at Penguin Random House, and I am very glad I was.

The Burning Man is the 12th novel in the Bryant and May series, but the authors introductions to Bryant and May themselves at the beginning of the novel meant that it really didn't matter if I hadn't read another book in their series (I hadn't).

Bryant and May have a brilliant relationship, both inside and outside of their roles as Detectives for the Peculiar Crime Unit of the City of London police force. Theirs is the kind of relationship experienced by very few. Each has a deep mutual respect for the other, even if they wouldn't admit it!

But the truth is, as Senior decectives, they are seen as bumbling and ageing by many of those around them. Only their closest colleagues are aware of their true brilliance.

In the Burning Man, the crimes that the Peculiar Crime Unit are initially asked to investigate are brutal-but it's nothing Bryant and May haven't seen before.

With Londoners becoming increasingly scared of the rioters on their streets, Bryant and May must work hard to catch a serial killer who seems intent on destroying his chosen victims beyond recognition.

The ending of the novel both surprised and saddened me, and I would love to know if there is another Bryant and May release in the pipeline. In the meantime, I am trying to clear some room on my 'to be read' pile for the previous Bryant and May novels!
  

Bryant & May-The Burning Man is available from Amazon online and all good book shops.

    Thank you to Sophie Christopher who provided me with an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Review: the A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah

the A to Z of You and Me by James Hannah

Publisher: Doubleday

Release date: 12 March 2015

Rating: *****

Back cover blurb: I'm lying here in a bed, my head full of regret, with only a little bird flitting through a tree to comfort me. Friends want to visit, but I refuse them. So my carer Sheila has given me a task to keep me occupied. An A-Z list. Think of a part of my body for each letter. Tell a little tale about it. When I reach H for Heart, what will I say? How we loved to string crocheted hearts in trees? How our hearts steadily unravelled? So I begin with A. Adam's apple. Will you be there to catch me when I fall?

The A to Z of You and Me is a beautifully written love story with years of grief and regret at its heart.

Ivo is dying, he is forty and in a hospice, refusing to see friends and family and just waiting for the time to come. Ivo is too young to be in a hospice, but life has dealt him more than one tragedy so Ivo just accepts that is where he has ended up.

Sheila (who is brilliant) is Ivo's carer. She is warm and funny, and encourages Ivo to take part in a game she has created for the hospice patients. Ivo must think of a body part for each letter of the alphabet, and create a story to accompany that body part.

At first Ivo is reluctant, but as he begins to recall events from his past, he becomes a willing participant.

Through Ivo's A to Z we learn much about his life, his family, friends and how he has come to be in the hospice. But we mostly learn about Mia, Ivo's ex girlfriend, some might say love of his life. For it is clear that she meant everything to him.

As we learn more about Ivo's life with Mia, we begin to understand his reluctance for visitors, particularly his former best friend, Mal. Yet Ivo's friends are (almost) as stubborn as he is and won't take no for an answer.

 

Will he agree to see them before the end, or will it just be too late to revisit the past?

The A to Z of You and Me by its very subject matter could make for a depressing read, but if anything it is uplifting. 

 

A beautifully woven tale of life and death, family and friendship. Funny yet sad and always brutally honest, the A to Z of You and Me is perhaps one of my favourite books so far this year.

Thank you James Hannah for writing such an accomplished debut. I look forward to the next...

The A to Z of You and Me is available from 12 March 2015. 

You can pre-order it now from Amazon online and Doubleday.

    Thank you to Alison Barrow (Transworld) who sent me an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for an honest review.