Bryant & May - Strange Tide - Hardcover

Fowler, Christopher

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0857523422 ISBN 13: 9780857523426

Publisher: Doubleday, 2016

Synopsis

The river Thames is London's most important yet neglected artery. When a young woman is found chained to a post in the tide, no-one can understand how she came to be drowned there. At the Peculiar Crimes Unit, Arthur Bryant and John May find themselves dealing with an impossible crime committed in a very public place. Soon they discover that the river is giving up other victims, but as the investigation extends from the coast of Libya to the nightclubs of North London, it proves as murkily sinister as the Thames itself. That's only part of the problem; Bryant's rapidly deteriorating condition prevents him from handling the case, and he is confined to home. To make matters worse, May makes a fatal error of judgement that knocks him out of action and places everyone at risk. With the PCU staff baffled as much by their own detectives as the case, the only people who can help now are the battery of eccentrics Bryant keeps listed in his diary, but will their arcane knowledge save the day or make matters even worse? Soon there's a clear suspect in everyone's sights - the only thing that's missing is any scrap of evidence. As the detectives' disastrous investigation comes unstuck, the whole team gets involved in some serious messing about on the river. In an adventure that's as twisting as the river upon which it's set, will there be anything left of the Peculiar Crimes Unit when it's over?

About this title

About the Author

Christopher Fowler was the multiple award-winning author of almost fifty novels and short story collections, including the celebrated Bryant & May mysteries. His other novels include Roofworld, Spanky, The Sand Men and Hot Water. He has also written two acclaimed memoirs, Paperboy (winner of the Green Carnation Prize) and Film Freak, plus The Book of Forgotten Authors and Peculiar London, Bryant and May's singular and eccentric guide to the city. In 2015 Chris was awarded the Crime Writers Association's coveted 'Dagger in the Library' for his body of work. He lived in London and Barcelona. Diagnosed with cancer just as the UK went into lockdown in 2020, Chris died on 2nd March 2023.

From the Back Cover

Discover the delights of Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May mysteries:

‘Quirky and original . . . the relationship between Bryant and May is done brilliantly’
MARK BILLINGHAM

‘What Christopher Fowler does so well is to merge the old values with the new . . . he’s giving us two for the price of one.’
LEE CHILD

‘I love the wit and playfulness of the Bryant and May books.’
ANN CLEEVES

‘Off-kilter, witty and unorthodox . . . winningly eccentric . . . London, in all its non-homogeneous, sprawling splendour, is as much a character as Fowler’s sleuthing duo.’
BARRY FORSHAW

‘Atmospheric, hugely beguiling, and as filled with tricks and sleights of hand as a magician's sleeve.’
JOANNE HARRIS

‘Quirky, touching, profound and utterly original.’
PETER JAMES

‘Devilishly clever . . . mordantly funny . . . sometimes heartbreakingly moving.’
VAL McDERMID

‘Fabulously unorthodox . . . [Fowler] takes delight in stuffing his books with esoteric facts; together with a cast of splendidly eccentric characters ranging from white witches to unfrocked and potty academics, corkscrew plots, wit, verve and some apposite social commentary.’
LAURA WILSON

From the Inside Flap

The river Thames is London’s most important yet neglected artery. And it seems that now it is giving up its secrets . . .

When the body of a young woman is found chained to a post at low tide, no one can understand how she came to be there – and Arthur Bryant and John May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit find themselves confronting an impossible crime committed in a very public place.

It’s an investigation that seems to extend from the coast of Libya to the nightclubs of North London, and proves as sinuous and sinister as the river itself. That’s only part of the problem: Bryant’s rapidly deteriorating state of health means he must be confined to home, while May makes a fatal error of judgement that knocks him out of action and places everyone at risk.


With the PCU staff as baffled by their own detectives as by the case itself, the only people who can help now are the battery of eccentrics Bryant keeps listed in his diary. But will their arcane knowledge save the day or make matters even worse?

Soon there’s a clear suspect in everyone’s sights – the only thing that’s missing is any scrap of evidence. And to find that, the whole team must get involved in some serious messing about on the river . . .

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0857523422
• ISBN 13: 9780857523426
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 416