About this item
London's most brilliant but unconventional detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, must plumb the depths of a particularly murky mystery. The Peculiar Crimes Unit faces its most baffling case yet - and if Bryant and May can't rise to the challenge, the entire unit may go under. Near the Tower of London, along the River Thames, the body of a woman has been discovered chained to a stone post and left to drown. Curiously, only one set of footprints leads to the tragic spot. "The Bride in the Tide," as the London press gleefully dubs her, has the PCU stumped. Why wouldn't the killer simply dump her body in the river - as so many do? Arthur Bryant wonders if the answer lies in the mythology of the Thames itself. Unfortunately, the normally wobbly funhouse corridors of Bryant's mind have become, of late, even more labyrinthine. The venerable detective seems to be losing his grip on reality. May fears the worst, as Bryant rapidly descends from merely muddled to one stop short of Barking, hallucinating that he's traveled back in time to solve the case. There had better be a method to Bryant's madness - because, as more bodies are pulled from the river's depths, his partner and the rest of the PCU find themselves in over their heads. Fiendishly fun and rich in London lore, Bryant and May: Strange Tide is Christopher Fowler at his best, delivering more twists and turns than the Thames itself. Praise for Christopher Fowler's ingenious novels featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit "Fowler, like his crime-solvers, is deadpan, sly, and always unexpectedly inventive." - Entertainment Weekly "An imaginative funhouse of a world where sage minds go to expand their vistas and sharpen their wits." - Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review "[Fowler] takes delight in stuffing his books with esoteric facts; together with a cast of splendidly eccentric characters [and] corkscrew plots, wit, verve and some apposite social commentary, they make for unbeatable fun." - The Guardian "Mr. Fowler's small but ardent American following deserves to get much larger." - Janet Maslin, The New York Times "The most delightfully, wickedly entertaining duo in crime fiction." - The Plain Dealer "Captivating." - The Seattle Times "Dazzling." - The Denver Post "Thrilling." - Chicago Tribune
About the Author
Christopher Fowler was born in Greenwich, London. He is the multi award-winning author of over thirty novels and thirteen short story collections, and the author of the Bryant & May mystery novels. His first bestseller was 'Roofworld'. Subsequent novels include 'Spanky', 'Disturbia', 'Psychoville' and 'Calabash'. His books have been optioned by Guillermo Del Toro ('Spanky') and Jude Law ('Psychoville') .
He spent many years working in film. His memoir of growing up without books, entitled 'Paperboy', was highly acclaimed, and was followed by a sequel in April 2013, 'Film Freak'. After this came his dark comedy-thrillers 'Hell Train' and 'Plastic', the haunted house thriller 'Nyctophobia' and his homage to JG Ballard, 'The Sand Men', in 2015. This year he was the recipient of the Crime Writers' Association Dagger In The Library Award.
He has written comedy and drama for BBC radio, including Sherlock Holmes stories and Radio One's first broadcast drama in 2005. He has a weekly column in the UK's national newspaper The Independent on Sunday. His graphic novel for DC Comics was the critically acclaimed 'Menz Insana'. His short story 'The Master Builder' became a feature film entitled 'Through The Eyes Of A Killer', starring Tippi Hedren and Marg Helgenberger. He was the winner of the Edge Hill prize 2008 for 'Old Devil Moon', and the Last Laugh prize 2009 for 'The Victoria Vanishes', and the author of the play 'Celebrity'. He also wrote the 'War Of The Worlds' videogame for Paramount with Sir Patrick Stewart.
Christopher has achieved several pathetic schoolboy fantasies, releasing a terrible Christmas pop single, becoming a male model, writing a stage show, starring as a villain in a Batman graphic novel, running a nightclub, appearing in the Pan Books of Horror, and standing in for James Bond.
His short stories have appeared in Best British Mysteries, The Time Out Book Of London Short Stories, Dark Terrors, London Noir, Inferno, Neon Lit, Cinema Macabre, the Mammoth Book of Horror and many others. After living in the USA and France he is now married and lives in King's Cross, London and Barcelona, Spain.
