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    Ten-Second Staircase
    Ten-Second Staircase
    Ten-Second Staircase
    Audiobook13 hours

    Ten-Second Staircase

    Written by Christopher Fowler

    Narrated by Tim Goodman

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An artist is found dead in a gallery with locked doors and windows. A television presenter is struck by lightning while indoors. Two seemingly impossible crimes that only Arthur Bryant and John May of the Met's Peculiar Crimes Unit might be able to solve. But Bryant has lost his nerve and May is fighting to keep the unit from closure. Worse still, an unsolved mystery from the past has returned to haunt them...
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherW. F. Howes Ltd
    Release dateMay 1, 2008
    ISBN9781407426518
    Ten-Second Staircase
    Author

    Christopher Fowler

    Christopher Fowler is the award-winning author of more than forty novels and short-story collections, including the Bryant & May mysteries and he is the recipient of the 2015 Dagger In The Library.

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    Reviews for Ten-Second Staircase

    4/5

    167 ratings11 reviews

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    • 5/5
      As usual brilliant writing, plot and superb narrative. Love it
    • 5/5
      I enjoyed the series and would recommend it.
    • 4/5
      I'm confused, and not by the book itself. The title claims that it is the fourth in the series, but the end-paper in the book itself lists two other titles before it. Drat. I kept seeing references that felt like they pointed to other stories.That said, this is Bryant an May with their usual deadpan silliness wrapped in tons of history and trivia and absurd behavior, and yet a decent puzzle with rather spectacular murders. I guessed early on what was happening, but the journey was a pleasant one, and in at least one place I laughed out loud.
    • 4/5
      Finally getting a bit more personal and fleshing out Bryant & May (and the support staff of the PCU) as people, not just as characters/roles.
    • 4/5
      'The debunking of phantoms and bogeymen is what you do best,' said Land. 'You had a clear remit; to stop the general public from panicking, to protect the vulnerable, to remove danger from the streets. Admit it, you lost sight of your duties.''We had to look at the bigger picture. Our job is to help keep the city in equilibrium between myth and reality.''I don't hold with all that spiritual holy-water-sprinkling demon-summoning nonsense, Bryant. You're a policeman, you can't afford to hold eccentric views.'It is May's agoraphobic granddaughter April's first day working in the unit, and she soon shows her worth in research and making connections, but a Home Official is gunning for the Peculiar Crime Unit and they are challenged to solve the closed case of the Leicester Square Vampire by the end of the week or face closure. As they are also working on the case of a man dressed as a Highwayman who kills fading minor celebrities in elaborate ways, Bryant and May have to split their resource between the two cases. Bryant sees both criminals as embodiments of London myths, linked via the psychogeography of the city to older crimes and monster such as Springheel Jack, the Radcliffe Highway murders and even the Knights Templar, but I found the Highwayman's identity and motivation frankly unbelievable, although maybe it would take callow youth to think that a woman's decision to go through with a pregnancy meant that her pro-choice campaigning must be hypocritical.
    • 3/5
      This is more like it. Again the mystery is current with roots in the past. The solution is somewhat ingenious, though I figured it out long before the police did and wonder why they were so dim. The antics of Arthur Bryant are getting a bit repetitive, which is a risk with series mysteries. Of course, the repetitiveness is more noticeable reading the series so close together, but thankfully it's nothing like the egregious Kinsey Millhone's cutting her hair with fingernail scissors which she did in every book from A to K when I quit reading that series. I sometimes wonder if she went to a hairdresser in L, N, or Z (has she come to Z yet?)
    • 4/5
      One of the best entries in the Peculiar Crimes Unit series (#4) - all the most entertaining attributes of curmudgeonly Arthur Bryant and sensitive John May are on display with crackling dialogue and a true stumper of a case with possible connections to an old unsolved case that has haunted Bryant and May for years. The support characters in the PCU are well-drawn and interesting and Fowler weaves in just enough London history to give depth and meaning to the crimes and to Bryant and May's commitment to their careers, even when their superiors are determined to shut them down. The audiobook narrator does an excellent job capturing Bryant's archaic rudeness and May's tolerant exasperation.
    • 5/5
      This was a great "read". I have been listening to it for the last 6 weeks or so, so it has taken me quite a while to get through it but I've never thought of abandoning it.Christopher Fowler delights in giving the reader/listener intellectual puzzles to solve. He has set TEN-SECOND STAIRCASE against a background of London's history. For example what do Robin Hood, Dick Turpin, and Jack the Ripper have in common? After reading TEN-SECOND STAIRCASE you'll know.Arthur Bryant is getting on, undoubtedly, like John May, coming to end of his career. He accepts an invitation to address boys at the local St. Crispin's College. He is meant to encourage them to be law-abiding and to be careful about what he says. He has a history of provoking people. He really doesn't understand why his audience, in essence privileged and moneyed adolescents, becomes angry and he has to be escorted from the school by teachers. So, in a sense, one of the themes of TEN-SECOND STAIRCASE is about the collision of values of the older generation with those of current adolescents.Arthur Bryant in particular is an oddity with an antiquarian knowledge of a most peculiar kind. His pronouncements contribute to a level of humour in the Bryant & May series that is unusual in crime fiction of the generally serious kind. It part of what makes this book a delightful read.
    • 4/5
      Although this is not the first book in the Peculiar Crimes Unit series, it's the one I started with. Getting into the series was made easier by an introduction to the history and purpose of the unit in the very beginning of this book. I did feel as though I were missing a few references to events past, but I don't think any of the previous books' plots were spoiled by this one. The mystery kicks off with a bizzarre start and builds up well, but you probably could have guessed at the ending about halfway through the book and gotten it right, which is a shame because I was hoping for a much stronger resolution than the one Fowler provides. In any case, the strength of this novel really lies in the characters of the PCU. Bryant and May (especially Bryant) really steal the show, but even the secondary players were interesting. All in all: solid and entertaining, if somewhat loopy, plot, memorable characters, disappointing finish. I would buy this one as a paperback, not hardcover.
    • 4/5
      Fourth in this rather bizarre mystery series, Ten Second Staircase finds our somewhat rather unorthodox detectives Bryant and May facing the possible end of the Peculiar Crimes Unit (now with a new member -- May's agoraphobic granddaughter April) just when they become involved in a series of improbable and impossible crimes -- you know, the ones just up their alley. This time, they are faced with a villain they call The Highwayman, because an eyewitness to the murder of an artist saw a man dressed in cape, tricorn hat and black boots sitting on a stallion -- fresh out of the poem by Alfred Noyes. After the highwayman is seen at several other improbable murders, the PCU has to use all of the resources at hand to catch the killer, which its members hope will keep the unit afloat. While this is a rather fun mystery which keeps the reader guessing until the end, it's also a bit of a commentary on the nature of crime, criminals and the current state of police forces everywhere. The writing is, as usual, quite good, the quirky characterizations are excellent, and the plot is improbable (but yet compelling) enough to keep readers trying to guess the outcome. Definitely a book for mystery readers who enjoy a bit of zaniness and improbability along with a well-plotted central mystery. If you're a hard-core mystery reader, this may seem a bit silly, but it is most definitely worth the time it takes to read. But do not start with this one if you're considering this series...the books should definitely be read in order because of the character development and because of events which are referred to that occurred in the PCU's past. Overall -- a fun read and an awesome series.
    • 4/5
      The 'Peculiar Crimes Unit' investigate a series of 'impossible crimes' committed by 'The Highwayman', a killer that wears the full regalia of the aforesaid historical character and who seems to be able to appear and disappear at will. In a number of murders that seemingly just could not have happened, Bryant and May try to make sense of the crimes and to find the murderer.Clever, yes,perhaps a little too clever for it's own good.