books

Fantasy Mystery Romance Comics Non-Fiction

Full Dark House

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Full Dark House (2003) Christopher Fowler

Bryant & May met during the bombing of London during WWII, when May joined the force and was set to the Peculiar Crimes Unit, where Bryant was the lead detective.

The story starts in the modern day, when the PCU office has been blown up and it is believed that Bryant was inside at the time. Since Bryant was starting to outline his memoirs, May believes that their first case has something to do with his death, which is how we end up going back and seeing that first murder case.

Bryant & May are partners, but also best friends, although they could not be more different from one another.

‘I once took a call while I was going through the Gates of Hell, hit one of the pit-stickers and nearly broke his leg. The cheeses weigh about twelve pounds.’

‘Am I supposed to have any idea what you’re talking about?’ May asked.

May’s modern appearance matched the freshness of his outlook. Despite his advanced age, there were still women who found his attentiveness appealing. His technoliteracy and his keen awareness of the modern world complemented Bryant’s strange psychological take on the human race, and their symbiotic teamwork dealt them an advantage over less experienced officers. But it still didn’t stop them from arguing like an old married couple. Their partnership had just commenced its seventh decade.

The mystery is interesting, but what I find most fascinating about this particular book are the glimpses of life during WWII.

On the second to last page of his ration book was a list of mysterious serial numbers and a government message that read: DO NOTHING WITH THIS PAGE UNTIL TOLD WHAT TO DO. It summed up the official attitude to everything.

Children carried their gas masks to school. Public information leaflets explained the rules of the blackout. Rationing made the nation healthier.

He kept his shirt-tail hanging out below the hem of his jacket as a white flag to motorists; over four thousand people had been killed in blackout accidents during the first few months of the war.

Conan Doyle had been dead for a decade.

I think that one statement, more than anything else, took me aback.

Plus, there are lots of fun words and phrases that make me love having an ereader.

demob suit
tachygraphy
cumuliform
okapi
entresol
vitrine

I think demon suit is my favorite of that lot. :)
Rating: 8/10

Published by Bantam

 

No comments

Leave a Comment


XHTML: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

RSS feed Comments