"The most delightfully, wickedly entertaining duo in crime
fiction."--The Plain Dealer
When a prominent politician is crushed by a fruit van making a delivery,
the singular team of Arthur Bryant and John May overcome insurmountable
odds to reunite the PCU and solve the case in this brainy new mystery
from acclaimed author Christopher Fowler.
On a spring morning in London's Strand, the Speaker of the House of
Commons is nearly killed by a van unloading oranges and lemons for the
annual St. Clement Danes celebration. It's an absurd near-death
experience, but the government is more interested in investigating the
Speaker's state of mind just prior to his accident.
The task is given to the Peculiar Crimes Unit--the only problem being
that the unit no longer exists. Its chief, Raymond Land, is tending his
daffodils on the Isle of Wight and senior detectives Arthur Bryant and
John May are out of commission--May has just undergone surgery for a
bullet wound and Bryant has been missing for a month. What's more, their
old office in King's Cross is being turned into a vegetarian tapas bar.
Against impossible odds, the team is reassembled and once again what
should be a simple case becomes a lunatic farrago involving arson,
suicide, magicians, academics and a race to catch a killer with a master
plan involving London churches. Joining their team this time is Sidney,
a young woman with no previous experience, plenty of attitude--and a
surprising secret.
