Bryant & May : hall of mirrors : a Peculiar Crimes Unit mystery

London, 1969. With the Swinging Sixties under way, Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May find themselves caught in the middle of a good, old-fashioned manor house murder mystery. Hard to believe, but even positively ancient sleuths like Bryant and May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit were young once . . . or at least younger. Flashback to London 1969: mods and dolly birds, sunburst minidresses—but how long would the party last? After accidentally sinking a barge painted like the Yellow Submarine, Bryant and May are relegated to babysitting one Monty Hatton-Jones, the star prosecution witness in the trial of a disreputable developer whose prefabs are prone to collapse. The job for the demoted detectives? Keep the whistle-blower safe for one weekend. The task proves unexpectedly challenging when their unruly charge insists on attending a party at the vast estate Tavistock Hall. With falling stone gryphons, secret passageways, rumors of a mythical beast, and an all-too-real dismembered corpse, the bedeviled policemen soon find themselves with “a proper country house murder” on their hands. Trapped for the weekend, Bryant and May must sort the victims from the suspects, including a hippie heir, a blond nightclub singer, and Monty himself—and nobody is quite who he or she seems to be. Praise for Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors “Arthur Bryant has written his memoirs—and a jolly good yarn they make, too. . . . As always in this series, this one’s a lark.” — The New York Times Book Review “[ Hall of Mirrors is] a largely comic escapade whose tone evokes both the biting wit of Evelyn Waugh and the slapsticker shenanigans of P.G. Woodhouse.” — The Wall Street Journal “More fully fleshed-out suspects, clues, red herrings, twists, and honest mystery and detection than in the last three whodunits you read.” — Kirkus Reviews “The narrative [veers] between laugh-out-loud funny to macabre. . . . Eccentric and consistently entertaining.” — Booklist “Fowler evokes the period as neatly as he crafts the plot.” — Publishers Weekly “Wonderful.” — Deadly Pleasures “So Agatha Christie (intentionally). And as in a Christie, nothing is quite what it seems as one murder follows another. Love the butler.” — Poisoned Pen Newsletter "London, 1969. With the Swinging Sixties under way, Detectives Arthur Bryant and John May find themselves caught in the middle of a good, old-fashioned manor house murder mystery. The critics are mad for Christopher Fowler, his irascible creations Bryant and May, and the Peculiar author's gift for writing classic mysteries with delightfully uncommon twists. Entertainment Weekly calls Fowler "deadpan, sly, and always unexpectedly inventive," while The Guardian admires his "splendidly eccentric characters [and] corkscrew plots." This new novel is no exception. As the Swinging Sixties paint dreary London a DayGlo rainbow, detectives Arthur Bryant and John May find themselves caught in the middle of a good old-fashioned manor house mystery. Hard to believe, but even positively ancient sleuths like Bryant and May of the Peculiar Crimes Unit were young once. or at least younger. Flashback to London 1969: mods and dolly birds, sunburst minidresses--but how long would the party last? After accidentally sinking a barge painted like the Yellow Submarine, Bryant and May are relegated to babysitting one Monty Hatton-Jones, the star prosecution witness in the trial of a disreputable developer whose prefabs are prone to collapse. The job for the demoted detectives? Keep the whistle-blower safe for one weekend. The task proves unexpectedly challenging when their unruly charge insists on attending a party at the vast estate Tavistock Hall. With falling stone gryphons, secret passageways, rumors of a mythical beast, and an all-too-real dismembered corpse, the bedeviled policemen soon find themselves with "a proper country house murder" on their hands. Trapped for the weekend, Bryant and May must sort the victims from the suspects, including a hippie heir, a missing millionaire, a blond nightclub singer, and a mystery writer--not to mention Monty himself--and nobody is quite who he or she seems to be"-- Provided by publisher The year is 1969 and ten guests are about to enjoy a country house weekend at Tavistock Hall. But one amongst them is harbouring thoughts of murder. . . The guests also include the young detectives Arthur Bryant and John May – undercover, in disguise and tasked with protecting Monty Hatton-Jones, a whistle-blower turning Queen's evidence in a massive bribery trial. Luckily, they've got a decent chap on the inside who can help them – the one-armed Brigadier, Nigel 'Fruity' Metcalf. The scene is set for what could be the perfect country house murder mystery, except that this particular get-together is nothing like a Golden Age classic. For the good times are, it seems, coming to an end. The house's owner – a penniless, dope-smoking aristocrat – is intent on selling the estate (complete with its own hippy encampment) to a secretive millionaire but the weekend has only just started when the millionaire goes missing and murder is on the cards. But army manoeuvres have closed the only access road and without a forensic examiner, Bryant and May can't solve the case. It's when a falling gargoyle fells another guest that the two incognito detectives decide to place their future reputations on the line. And in the process discover that in Swinging Britain nothing is quite what it seems... So gentle reader, you are cordially invited to a weekend in the country. Expect murder, madness and mayhem in the mansion! London, 1969. The Swinging Sixties are under way: mods and dolly birds, sunburst minidresses. After accidentally sinking a barge painted like the Yellow Submarine, Bryant and May are relegated to babysitting one Monty Hatton-Jones, the star prosecution witness in the trial of a disreputable developer whose prefabs are prone to collapse. They only have to keep the whistle-blower safe for one weekend, but when their unruly charge insists on attending a party at the vast estate Tavistock Hall they're faced with falling stone gryphons, secret passageways, rumors of a mythical beast, and an all-too-real dismembered corpse. Trying to sort the victims from the suspects, Bryant and May discover nobody is quite who he or she seems to be. -- adapted from publisher info It is 1969 and ten guests are about to enjoy a weekend at Tavistock Hall. The guests also include the young detectives Arthur Bryant and John May - undercover, in disguise and tasked with protecting Monty Hatton-Jones, a whistle-blower in a massive bribery trial. The house's owner - a penniless, dope-smoking aristocrat - is intent on selling the estate to a secretive millionaire, but the weekend has only just started when the millionaire goes missing and murder is on the cards. But the only access road is closed and without a forensic examiner, Bryant and May can't solve the case. But then another guest dies ... with their futures on the line, Arthur and John must go it alone