Seventy-Seven Clocks: Bryant and May, Book 3

The book arrived swiftly and in perfect condition. Bryant and May stories are remarkably consistent and a delight for anyone with a taste for arcane details of London's past and perceptive observations on its present. The plotting is entertainingly improbable and the writing elegant, with touches of description that often offer concise and penetrating insights that poetry would not be ashamed of.

I can't understand why I had never come across this author before. He's brilliant, the speed at which I am reading I hope there are plenty more to come. There I was wondering what to do with my retirement (joke)

Love this book great read

A good story but enjoyment was spoilt as i had read it before, many years ago with a different name. It is is not the rewrite that i object to but the dishonesty of how the book was presented.I bought this book encouraged by the words on the outer cover "A New Bryant and May Novel, nothing in the blurb indicated it was a rewriting of the orginal novel Darkest Day,I had to start reading, getting Deja Vu, I had to look on the inside cover notes ,and read the afterword to realise that it was a rewrite which claimed "some elements" had been used. Hardly just "some"Pretty much all of it i would say.Christopher Fowler says on his website, rather smugly, that no one would make the mistake of buying both books... Wrong, I paid full price for the hardback for a christmas gift. I am not in the habit of reading most of a book before I purchase it, he could have made it clearer on the cover or even on the blurb.And yes it is a good story, Bryant and May at their best, but what I wish is that they could have just been a bit more honest with their once loyal readers. Try and show us some respect.

Seventy-Seven Clocks by Christopher Fowler is a detective mystery featuring his regular pairing of policemen Arthur Bryant and John May. Without giving too much of the plot away, at its heart are seventy-seven clocks deployed in an extravagant burst of megalomania which is redolent of James Bond villains at their very best. Credibility is certainly stretched by the conceit which powers the book's crime wave but it is a mystery book of the tradition that does not rely on magic or superstition to explain away apparently impossible situations. It is, however, a mystery in the Sherlock Holmes rather than Ellery Queen sense in that there is no trail of subtle clues which the observant reader can follow to unpick the mystery ahead of the storyline's crimefighters. Instead, dramatic new information is regularly added to a plot that can only be worked out as it unfurls.The book is a rewrite of an earlier version in which supernatural elements featured. One reason for Christopher Fowley to rewrite the book was that "as any mystery reader knows, resorting to the impossible is not playing fair". Traces of supernatural horror in the style of Edgar Allan Poe remain a plenty in the book, giving it an added tension, particularly in the excellent audio version.The story is deeply rooted in the London of the 1970s, with many topical and geographic references. The coincidence of much of the book happening near where I grew up in London gave it an extra appeal, though also highlighted one or two cases where the London setting is not quite accurate. Anyone who had pondered running down Hampstead Tube Station's 320 steps, for example, will surely doubt whether policemen would eagerly rush down them - and catch someone who had started in a lift at the same time as them no less.Those small quibbles aside, it is enjoyable to read a detective mystery so firmly rooted in Britain rather than yet another one located somewhere in America, however well executed the American plot may be.Fowler, unusually for many mystery writers, portrays police politics, the workings of the media and even wider politics with a deft and plausible touch. Journalists and politicians are not saints in the book, but neither are they the 2D cartoon caricatures that too many authors lazily deploy. The references to Margaret Thatcher near the book's end may appear to strike a rather implausibly coy note, but actually do reflect what many people thought at the time.The book has a wide and rich cast of characters, often quickly enlivened with vivid turns of phrase, such as Arthur Bryant's physical appearance being firmly sketched with the economical reference to him looking "like a jumble sale on a stick". The characters combine in a fast-paced plot that has action, tension and character development a plenty. It starts with a curious murder in the Savoy Hotel which Scotland Yard's Peculiar Crimes Unit is called on to solve. It's an extremely enjoyable read.Listening to the audio version I did very nearly suddenly exclaim out loud, in the middle of a crowded train carriage, "Where the hell did that tiger come from?". It is probably a good thing I did not. I advise you too to avoid such an incident.

Having read and enjoyed the first two Bryant & May books I have to say that this was a bit of a let-down. It's based upon an earlier story, which I haven't read, incidentally but it really does read as if Bryant and May have been shoe-horned into another parallel novel and neither are the better for it. The story is full of contrivances which are there to make the story somehow feasible, but rather than appearing as plot twists and developments they occur as something forced in to get the end result. At some points in the novel this becomes irritating, as does the constant intrusion of 'Sam', whose involvement reinforces the idea of two stories being melded together somewhat uncomfortably.The overall idea of the family and its' history and the watchmaker's guild were appealing but frankly the execution fell considerably short of the satisfaction gained from "The Water Room".If this were the first I'd read of the series, I don't think I'd look a lot further. There's an endearing appeal in the two main characters but the story telling here doesn't do them justice.

Yet another great book from Fowler. Fantastic characterisations, bizarre murders and intriguing links to a long hidden Victorian London.Byrant and May make a very original and likeable double act, and I hope they appear in many more books.The only note of caution is that the book is a remake of 'Darkest Day'. However, I feel that this improves on the original.Best to start with 'Full Dark House' and read this series in order.

Having thoroughly enjoyed the two earlier Bryant and May novels I was waiting with baited breath for the third to appear. Imagine my disappointment to find that this novel is just a reworking of an earlier Christopher Fowler novel called Darkest Day.There is no warning of this although the author does admit to it in the afterword.Lets hope that his next offering will be original and not a re hash of either Rune or Soho Black both of which featured Bryant and May in earlier forms.