This review may contain spoilers
Welcome back to my blog, everyone. I'm sorry for not reviewing anything in the last 17 months or so, but I have had several major changes in my life and, unfortunately, I couldn't find the time or opportunity really to get back to it...until now! I hope that I will be able to be a lot more regular with my reviews these days, especially while the world is still in lockdown.
So, to restart my blog, we have a return of some very old friends...
Bryant & May - Oranges and Lemons
One Sunday morning, the outspoken Speaker of the House of Commons steps out of his front door only to be crushed under a mountain of citrus fruit. Bizarre accident or something more sinister? The government needs to know because here's a man whose knowledge of parliament’s biggest secret could put the future of the government at stake?
It should be the perfect case for Bryant & May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit, but unfortunately one detective is in hospital, the other is missing and the staff have all been dismissed. It seems the PCU is no more. But events escalate: a series of brutal crimes seemingly linked to an old English folk-song threatens the very foundation of London society and suddenly the PCU is offered a reprieve and are back in (temporary) business!
And if the two elderly detectives, ‘old men in a woke world’, do manage to set aside their differences and discover why some of London’s most influential figures are under life-threatening attack, they might not just save the unit but also prevent the entire city from descending into chaos . . .(blurb from the book!)
This was a typical Bryant & May book. Firstly, they are recovering from the events in the previous book in the series, when May had been shot and Bryant seemed to lose trust in him. However, events brought back the whole PCU which had been closed down by the Home Office. The plot was quite easy to follow, as with all of this series, but it was clear to me that the main suspect probably wasn't the killer from the very beginning. Fowler lead me on a merry chase across London to it's churches featured in the Oranges and Lemons nursery rhyme and they atmosphere of each area was distinctly different, yet still true to real life.
The two new characters introduced were mysterious and clearly both had something to surprise. Both of their surprises were unexpected, however, and that made for an extra puzzle throughout the book.
Over all, this book is excellent. I would have liked more suspects to be involved, but that didn't distract me from an enjoyable read.
Star rating: 4.5/5
This book will be published on 23rd July 2020
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