Clique em uma foto para ir ao Google Livros
Carregando... Seventy-Seven Clocks: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery (original: 2005; edição: 2008)de Christopher Fowler (Autor)
Informações da ObraSeventy-Seven Clocks de Christopher Fowler (2005)
Books Read in 2019 (3,134) Books Read in 2023 (4,310) Carregando...
Registre-se no LibraryThing tpara descobrir se gostará deste livro. Ainda não há conversas na Discussão sobre este livro. I like the bryant and may books. This one seemed to have a few too many victims for my taste, though I enjoyed the exotic methods of dispatching them ( ) Ingenious if far-fetched murder mystery, and the quirky detectives are as engaging as ever, but I didn't find this as compelling as volume two in the series. Part of the problem was the Sam Gates character who is shown doing her own private detective work, but whom I don't find particularly sympathetic. Seventy-Seven Clocks is the third book in the Bryant and May mystery series. We start with a biographer interviewing Arthur Bryant, which the poor man is finding a very frustrating job. The biographer mentions the water room, which is the title of the second book in the series. Bryant said they had one like it in 1973. It takes a few pages of Bryant talking about things from 1973 before we actually get to the case. The murders are varied and quite messy/unusual. What they have in common is the victims. Aside from the family lawyer, all of them are members of the Whitstable family, a lower upper-class bunch who aren't as rich as they once were. They aren't being as open as one would expect when it's possible that the entire family could be targets. Why? Jenny Gates, a 17-year-old receptionist at the Hotel Savoy, is our non-PCU main character. She's rebelling against her parents, who admire people such as the Whitstables. She witnesses the first death. It has a profound effect on her. She starts trying to solve the crime on her own when the PCU detectives don't take her seriously, including keeping evidence and swiping evidence. Will this endanger her life? Of course it will! Arthur Bryant first appears as someone in the National Gallery when a stranger in Edwardian clothing vandalizes a painting. (The painting is real, the vandalism is not). The vandal is almost captured when he dies in a very messy fashion. Two close relatives of the vandal also die - one of them in Bryant's presence. Has open season been declared on the family? NOTES: Prologue: We find out what happened to Arthur Bryant's translation notes for his hieroglyphic code. Mentions: 'Rashomon', Sir Alec Douglas Hume, Brussels, President Nixon, Watergate, Spiro Agnew, Gerald Ford, Elton John, 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,' 'Funeral For A Friend,' Princess Diana, 'Candle In the Wind," Picasso, Cod War, Iceland, Bahamas, Prince Charles, Shaftesbury Theatre, 'Hair,' 'Let The Sun Shine In,' the IRA (Irish Republican Army), Arab terrorists, Rome, Mr. Byrite, and the Queen Mother. Chapter 1: We meet Jenny Gates and her crippling nyctophobia (fear of the dark). Her co-worker, Nicholas, is a master act in how not to succeed at seduction. Chapter 2: It's 6 December 1973. Maximillian Jacob has the honor of becoming the first murder victim. We're also introduced to supporting character Joseph Herrick, an American of African descent. Mentions: 'The Black and White Minstrel Show' (UK TV show 1958 - 1978) Chapter 3: A man in Edwardian dress vandalizes a painting, 'The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius' by John William Waterhouse, in the National Gallery. Arthur Bryant was in the gallery. Mentions: da Vinci's 'Madonna', painter John Ruskin, Adelaide, South Australia Chapter 4: It's 7 December 1973. Jerry has a nightmare. May invites Bryant to join him at the PCU's new HQ. Mentions: 'Daily Telegraph', Area Major Investigation Pool (AMIP), Stan Laurel, National Poisons Reference Centre, cottonmouth, Chapter 5: Bryant consults art historian Peregrine Summerfield. John Smith and Sons help in tracing the vandal. Mentions: Tupperware, Pre-Raphaelites, Rossetti, Holman Hunt, Millais, 'Hylas and the Nymphs' by Waterhouse, Brett, Inchbold, Hunt's 'The Light of the World,' St. Paul's, Manchester Art Gallery, 'Circe Invidiosa,' Adelaide, 'Diogenes,' Sydney, Chapter 6: We learn more about Jerry and her mother. Given that Jerry's therapist, Dr. Wayland, snitches to her mother, it's no wonder Jerry lies to him. Jerry's relationship with her mother became cold when something happened when she was 14. Jerry meets Joseph Herrick from San Diego again. Kaneto Miyagawa, boss of the Tasaka Corporation, hired Joseph. Japanese businessmen are reviving the Savoy Theatre. Mentions: Dior, Maida Vale, Vietnam, Communism, Chapter 7: Bryant has in interesting conversation with the vandal. We meet Leslie Faraday. Bryant has failed the driving test 37 times. There's a chase that leads to a train and ends in another unusual murder. Mentions: J. R. R. Tolkien, Led Zeppelin, IBM, Dickens, the Beatles, the Museum of Mankind, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary, The London Electricity, the National Grid, Edward Heath, the London County Council, St. James' Park. Chapter 8: Bryant has a Tibetan engraved human skull with turquoise in the eye sockets. Mentions: Princess Anne's wedding. Chapter 9: Jerry searches Max Jacob's hotel room. She finds a Bible with underlined passages. Peter Whitstable is drunk during his interview. Mentions: William Hogarth and Johnnie Walker whiskey Chapter 10: It's another murder. Mentions: Calcutta Chapter 11: We meet William and Peter's younger sister, Bella Whitstable. Mentions: Staffordshire figurines, Crimean War, Robert Louis Stevenson, Montgomery, Eighth Army, Italy, Normandy Invasion, Balmoral, Sandringham, Tedema House, artist Alma-Tadema Chapter 12: We learn more about Jerry Gates' family. It's now 14 December. 'The Daily Mail' has a story about a sacred flame symbol during World War II. The Whitstable family is in the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths guild. Mentions: Chelsea, Warwickshire, Cap Farrat, Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Princess Ida', Ken Russell, English National Opera, Royal Opera House, Lady Blanche, King Hildebrand, James Wade 1954 production [of 'Princess Ida'], Florian, Lewis Carroll, Gladstone, William Morris, D'Oyly Carte, Oscar Wilde, Queen Victoria, 'Sullivan's String of Pearls,' Tennyson, and Neville Chamberlain. Chapter 13: The attempted murder in the last chapter succeeded after all. Mentions: Sherlock Holmes, 'Red-headed League,' 'Sign of the Four,' Hendon Police College, Agatha Christie. Chapter 14: Jerry's visit to the Savoy Theatre takes an ugly turn. Chapter 15: May visits the law firm of Jacob and Marks, founded by the great-grandfather of Leo Marks and the grandfather of the late Max Jacob (whose widow is Anne). The Whitstables are actually members of the Watchmakers' Guild, a subdivision of the Goldsmiths' Guild. A photo of Peter, Will, and Bella as children tells us the difference in their ages. Bryant finds a study for Waterhouse's 'The Favorites of the Emperor Honorites'. Mentions: Kabuki, Battersea Park (Bryant's apartment overlooks it), Dickens' Bleak House, Masons, Oxford, children's games Lotto, Escalado, Flounders, Tell Me, and Magic Robot (from Bryant's childhood); Chapter 16: We meet Alison Hatfield, intelligent and competent public-relations officer for the Worshipful Company of Watchmakers. We also meet the jerk of a secretary, Mr. Tomlins. Jerry tells Joseph about when she was 14. Jerry makes a discovery in room 216 of the Savoy Hotel. Chapter 17: Peregrine Summerfield assures Bryant the painting is a genuine Waterhouse. Mentions: 2 of John William Waterhouse's 3 versions of 'The Lady of Shalott', James Abbott McNeill Whistle's lawsuit against John Ruskin for what Ruskin said about Whistler's 'The Falling Rocket' Chapter 18: Bryant and May meet the Whitstables en masse. Mentions: Francis Bacon, Rabelais (as in Rabelaisian) Chapter 19: Another Whitstable is in trouble. Mentions: Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', Paul McCartney and Wings 'Band On The Run', Mrs. Jellyby, and 'Greensleeves,' Chapter 20: At this time, Bryant's landlady had a mongrel cat named Hiawatha who is afraid of him. His room is described. Mentions: Vietnamese peasants, Gregorian chants, 'The Gondoliers,' Pink Floyd, Winston Churchhill, Dracula, Camus, Nietzsche, Anna May Wong, Laurel and Hardy, Offenbach's 'Orpheus in the Underground,' William Walton, tontine Chapter 21: PC Charlie Bimsley is introduced. He's not yet part of the PCU. Jerry finds out about CROWET, the Committee for the Restoration of West End Theatres. Chapter 22: May learns about James Makepeace Whitstable, 19th century ancestor of the Whitstables. Mentions: Diana, Apollo Chapter 23: It's 21 December 1973. We meet Peggy Harmstable, a Whitstable who changed her name when she got married. Mentions: the Krays, the East India Company, Black Hole of Calcutta, Holyoake, Sicketrt, Chapman, Crowe Chapter 24: Mina Whitstable, mother of the first three victims, is in no mental condition to be interviewed. The current Whitstables trace back to James and Rosamunde Whitstable in the middle of the 19th century. Chapter 25: Bryant consults Maggie Armitage. Mentions: 'News of the World', Aleister Crowley, Necronomicon, Robert E. Lee, American Civil War, Seven Oaks Massacre, Austro-Prussian war of 1866, Seven Years War of 1756, Seven Hills of Rome, Oedipus, Seven Bamboo Grove, seven Holy Founders, the Seven Gods of Luck, Seven Wonders of the World, Seven Golden Cities of Cibola, the Seven Wise Masters, Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, the Seven Steward of Heaven: Arathron, Bethor, Phaleg, Hagith, Ophiel, Phul, Och. Chapter 26: Mrs. Harmsworth visits the family vault. Jerry gets in a chase. Mentions: Highgate Cemetery, Chapter 27: Mentions: 'Ruddigore' and Burne-Jone's painting of Perseus Chapter 29: Mentions: Michelangelo's 'Child with the Infant Saint John,' Ellen Terry, Bernard Shaw Chapter 31: Jerry shows Joseph two letters she found that refer to what happened when she was 14. Chapter 32: Most of the surviving Whitstables are moved to William's house for protection. Chapter 33: John May thinks of his wife, Jane, and his daughter's disastrous marriage. Alison has found something. Mentions: Typhoid Mary, the Billingsgate Fish Market in Lower Thames Street, Chapter 34: Pippa Whitstable sneaks out to meet Nigel. Mentions: the RAC Club, Aspreys, kukri knife Chapter 35: It's Christmas. Bryant consults Maggie. Mentions: Yggdrasil, Saint Nicholas, Odin, Sleipnir, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer Chapter 36: Alma is at her sister's in Tooting. Bryant & May discuss James M. Whitstable's contract. Chapter 37: It's Boxing Day. Alison runs to St. Paul's, where an officious warden misunderstands her peril. Chapter 38: Charles lives in his great-grandfather James Makepeace Whitstable's house. Mentions: British Associated Tabacco, Coca-Cola, 'The Mikado', Ivor Novello Chapter 39: Charles administers the Whitstable alliance. Chapter 40: Bryant figured something out regarding the Whitstable Alliance. Mentions: Rotten Row, Empire Variety Theatre, Gilbert & Sullivan's 'Patience', Sarajevo, 28/6/1914 [Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which started World War I]; London, 3/9/1939 [UK declared war on Nazi Germany after the German invasion of Poland on 1 Sep, so World War II]; Dallas, 22/11/1963 [Assassination of President John F. Kennedy]; 'God Save the Queen,' Chapter 41: That's a big cat! Mentions: Ian Fleming novels and Health and Efficiency. Chapter 43: Bryant reads about the founding of the Whitstable Alliance. Mentions: Gog and Magog restaurant, Chapter 44: Some actual pages from the founding are included. Leo Marks' father is attacked. Chapter 46: Jenny finally knows what happened when she was 14. Chapter 47 Mentions: Chandler's Wobble, Timex watch, Chapter 48 Mentions: the Alamo, Joan Crawford, [Edward Fairfax] Rochester's first wife, Frankenstein's castle, and Edgar Allen Poe. Chapter 49 Mentions: A Christmas Carol [the book], Cecil Gee, Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Dickens Chapter 51 Mention: the Gestapo. Chapter 52: Bryant and May dealt with the Deptford Demon four years ago. Chapter 55: It's now the end of January. The Shepherd's Market diamond robbery was Bryant & May's second case. They talk about the last of the gentleman crooks in that case, Sidney Dobson, the deaf explosives expert who had a 'nasty three-legged cat called Wilfred'. Here Bryant's late fiancée's name is given as Nathalie. Mentions: Britannia, Margaret Thatcher This mystery is almost 500 pages long and I confess to not guessing what was going on. The Whitstable family are an arrogant lot. Almost all of the members who are assassinated died because they insisted on doing what they wanted to do, most of them even when it was plain the family was in danger. I felt the sorriest for one wife and son who died because the husband refused to listen to sense. That HE survived made it even worse. Two little girls in the extended family are going to need a ton of therapy, but at least they lived. Because they are fictional characters, I don't feel that guilty about thinking more of those upper-class twits could have been pruned. Sadly, a conversation between Raymond Land and Arthur Bryant in book five, White Corridor, implies that this case wasn't really this sensational and we're getting the Bryant memoirs version. sem resenhas | adicionar uma resenha
Pertence à sérieEstá contido em
Fiction.
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
HTML:The odd couple of detection—the brilliant but cranky detectives of London’s Peculiar Crimes Unit—return in a tense, atmospheric new thriller that keeps you guessing until the final page. This time Bryant and May are up against a series of bizarre murders that defy human understanding—and a killer no human hand may be able to stop. A mysterious stranger in outlandish Edwardian garb defaces a painting in the National Gallery. Then a guest at the exclusive Savoy Hotel is fatally bitten by what appears to be a marshland snake. An outbreak of increasingly bizarre crimes has hit London—and, fittingly, come to the attention of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. Art vandalism, an exploding suspect, pornography, rat poison, Gilbert and Sullivan musicals, secret societies…and not a single suspect in sight. The killer they’re chasing has a dark history, a habit of staying hidden, and time itself on his side. Detectives John May and Arthur Bryant may have finally met their match, and this time they’re really working against the clock…. Não foram encontradas descrições de bibliotecas. |
Current DiscussionsNenhum(a)Capas populares
Google Books — Carregando... GênerosClassificação decimal de Dewey (CDD)823.914Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1945-1999Classificação da Biblioteca do Congresso dos E.U.A. (LCC)AvaliaçãoMédia:
É você?Torne-se um autor do LibraryThing. |