{"id":345,"date":"2007-02-12T19:24:49","date_gmt":"2007-02-13T02:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=345"},"modified":"2021-06-03T15:38:23","modified_gmt":"2021-06-03T19:38:23","slug":"ten-second-staircase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/345","title":{"rendered":"Ten Second Staircase"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ten Second Staircase<\/a><\/em> (2007) Christopher Fowler<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ten Second Staircase<\/em> is the fourth Bryant and May mystery. A controversial sculptor is found dead in one of her pieces, and the only witness describes an impossible killer. Meanwhile, Raymond Land has complained one too many times about the PCU (Peculiar Crimes Unit) and now the unit is being investigated in hopes of being shut down.<\/p>\n

Although I enjoyed Ten Second Staircase<\/em> I was somewhat disconcerted because I knew who the killer was almost immediately, and was somewhat frustrated with Bryant and May, because they seemed as if they were being particularly obtuse. Of course they had plenty of other things to distract them, so perhaps that is what kept them from seeing the truth.<\/p>\n

Knowing the killer wasn’t necessarily a horrible thing, as I often re-read mysteries; it’s the story and the characters that are important. The only problem with knowing the killer the first time through was that I kept looking for evidence that I was wrong, so it was a bit distracting. <\/p>\n

BEGIN SPOILER
\n(rot 13<\/a>)
\nV nyfb dhvgr pyrneyl erzrzore jung vg jnf yvxr gb or n grrantre–sne zber pyrneyl V guvax gung bguref qb. Juvpu znl unir orra jul V vzzrqvngryl fhfcrpgrq gur grrantref. Grrantref pna or rkgerzryl pehry. Gur snpg gung bar bs gur pehryre xvqf va zl uvtu fpubby fubg naq xvyyrq fbzrbar cebonoyl znqr gur zheqreref rira yrff fhecevfvat.
\nEND SPOLIER<\/p>\n

However, in addition to finding the Highwayman, Bryant and May have to go back to solve the mystery of the Leicester Square Vampire in order to save the unit from closure. And that mystery I didn’t figure out–it seems impossible that Bryant and May could solve a case so old.<\/p>\n

One thing that particularly bothered me, and made me re-read a three page section about five times to see if I could get things straight was a bit about a private school. <\/p>\n

Most private schools pupils aren’t bright because their parents had to pay for their education…Since the dot com gold rush, private schools have been treated like banks–parents put their kids in when they’re flush, draw them out again when they’re broke.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

They talk about private schools as being schools that the parents pay money so the children can attend. Except that I thought that in Britain public schools were the ones that parents had to pay money to send their children to–that public schools in Britain were the same as private schools in the US. So that passage completely confused me, and still doesn’t make sense. <\/p>\n

As with the previous books, the strong points of Ten Second Staircase<\/em> were the characters and the storytelling. I really like Bryant and May (well, maybe May a little more) and their relationship. I also like that the secondary characters are developed more with each story–although Longbright continues to confound me. I also liked the continued story with May’s granddaughter April. She’s had it rough, and it’s good that May is finally doing the work he needs to do to make things better with her. <\/p>\n

If you’ve read the previous Bryant and May mysteries, then you will definitely want to read Ten Second Staircase<\/em>. If you have not read a previous Bryant and May mystery, you should be able to read this story without having the background of the other stories. However, I am always a proponent of reading a mystery series in order, just because I think it’s better that way. <\/p>\n

Now my only problem is that it’s going to be quite a while until the next Bryant and May mystery comes out.
\nRating: 7\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten Second Staircase (2007) Christopher Fowler Ten Second Staircase is the fourth Bryant and May mystery. A controversial sculptor is found dead in one of her pieces, and the only witness describes an impossible killer. Meanwhile, Raymond Land has complained one too many times about the PCU (Peculiar Crimes Unit) and now the unit is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[30,8,291,42],"tags":[256,255,257],"class_list":["post-345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-british","category-mystery","category-paper","category-police","tag-bryant-may","tag-christopher-fowler","tag-peculiar-crimes-unit"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2790,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/2790","url_meta":{"origin":345,"position":0},"title":"Bryant & May Off the Rails","author":"Michelle","date":"February 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Bryant & May Off the Rails (2010) Christopher Fowler I have to admit, I put off reading this book for several months, and once I picked it up, put it down several times before I could actually get into the story. This has absolutely nothing to do with the story,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Bryant-and-May-Off-the-Rails.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":300,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/300","url_meta":{"origin":345,"position":1},"title":"The Water Room","author":"Michelle","date":"August 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"The Water Room (2004) Christopher Fowler The second Bryant & May mystery, The Water Room takes place a month or so after the events of Full Dark House--at least the current day events. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is being rebuilt, and during the reconstruction, the unit is at loose ends,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Water-Room.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":299,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/299","url_meta":{"origin":345,"position":2},"title":"Full Dark House","author":"Michelle","date":"August 18, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Full Dark House (2003) Christopher Fowler A Bryant & May Mystery Full Dark House is the first Bryant & May mystery. An explosion destroys the Peculiar Crimes Unit, and Arthur Bryant is believed to have been inside. In order to discover the course and cause of the bombing, John May\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/Full-Dark-House.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":696,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/696","url_meta":{"origin":345,"position":3},"title":"White Corridor","author":"Michelle","date":"October 10, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"White Corridor (2007) Christopher Fowler Once again the Peculiar Crimes Unit is in danger of being closed. After Raymond Land decided to close the until for a week's vacation, a member of the unit is found killed, while Bryant and May are on their way to one of Bryant's spiritualist\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/White-Corridor.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1529,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1529","url_meta":{"origin":345,"position":4},"title":"Victoria Vanishes","author":"Michelle","date":"December 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Victoria Vanishes (2008) Christopher Fowler The Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) has changed Oswald's retirement party to a wake, and on the way home Bryant sees a woman who is later discovered murdered. Unfortunately for him, he sees her across from a pub that hasn't existed in decades. Unsurprisingly, the PCU\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Victoria-Vanishes.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1980,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/1980","url_meta":{"origin":345,"position":5},"title":"Bryant & May on the Loose","author":"Michelle","date":"September 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Bryant & May on the Loose (2009) Christopher Fowler At the close of Victoria Vanishes, the PCU was disbanded, the staff placed on leave, and Bryant remains at home, barely able to get out of bed and slowly slipping away. However, the accidental discovery of a body by a staff\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Bryant-and-May-on-the-Loose.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/345\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}