New

For January’s LBB13 @squatbetty invited me to set the prompt, and I went for “Something new!” to help bring in the New Year. 

For my contribution, I’ve gone for starting a NEW series, and have also thrown in the only only NEW (i.e. no previous owner) book that I’ve purchased this month.

I think I picked up the first three volumes of Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May series about ten years ago as a (new!) book club multipack. Full Dawn presents the origin story of Bryant and May and the activities of the Metropolitan Police’s Peculiar Crimes Unit. This first story is set (mainly) during the blitz, but revolves around a series of gruesome murders among the cast and crew of a theatre production. This is set within a framing story in the present day, with an 80yo May investigating the death of his partner in an explosion, a death seemingly tied to his reinvestigation of their first case. 

I’d previously come across Fowler through his stories in Interzone which I subscribed to in the 80s. His background in horror and fantastic fiction comes through in the way that the arcane and supernatural is woven into the plot. That’s a combination that works for me. It’s a good mystery, and fresh enough not to be written off as a pastiche. Seeing as I have the second and third in the series I will get through those before deciding whether to commit fully to a series running to around twenty volumes. As the person that worked through 70+  Biggles books and 40+ Hardy Boy volumes by the time I was ten, and who is currently working his way through at least twenty long series (e.g. Maigret, 25 down, 50 to go!), I am certainly aware of the commitment that’s needed to go deep into an extensive series : -) 

The John Hegley volume is slim, but has an ISBN so I’m counting it as a book. I picked it up from him at a performance I attended a couple of weeks ago, and he was kind enough to sign it and to colour in the celery (extra!). The collection relates to a time that he was poet in residence at Keats House, and largely features his own humorous poetic responses to incidents and observations offered in Keats’ letters.  It’s good fun, and makes me want to read Keats, which is probably the idea. 

Do check out other contributions to LBB13 and there’s still plenty of time to join in yourselves :-)