Bryant & May: Strange Tide by Christopher Fowler, a Mysterious Review.

Review: A body has been found chained to a post in the River Thames and seemed to be left there to drown in the rising tide. Arthur Bryant and John May along with their team in the Peculiar Crimes Unit are called in to investigate this situation, in Strange Tide, the thirteenth book in this series by Christopher Fowler.

Only one set of footprints led to the river — that of the victim. So, it was difficult to decide whether it was a suicide or murder. She had a deceitful boyfriend and a strange, possibly illegal job. Bryant is having memory, blackout and hallucination problems, possibly caused by the onset of a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease. His doctor isn’t sure. Because of these problems, however, Bryant is able to reach back in history to help solve this case and there is a lot of history in London and the river Thames to fall back on. He is supposedly confined to his home, but helped by May; he slips in and out to the office on occasion. Bryant, no matter what his condition, is not about to sit around when more bodies begin to wash up to the shore.

To complicate matters more for the team, May makes a crucial error in the investigation and is taken off the case. Bryant and May are the heart and soul of the PCU making their team pretty much at a loss when not under their direction. If anything really drastic happened to Bryant and May the unit would literally fall apart.

Separately, a subplot involves a Syrian immigrant trying to strike it rich by any means possible, legal or not, in his new home after a harrowing journey to get there.

The mystery in Strange Tide is a multi-layered puzzle — just the kind that Bryant and May can really sink their teeth into. Full of witty humor, this complex though well-structured and briskly paced story of two “old codgers” investigating an “impossible” crime is incredibly appealing. Recommended.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Bryant & May: Strange Tide.

Acknowledgment: Random House provided a copy of Bryant & May: Strange Tide for this review.

Bryant & May: Strange Tide

A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler