Blogging Bert

I'm way behind on the Bryant & May series, and accidentally missed out this book and the next in my reading sequence.  No matter.  Christopher Fowler says the books can be read in any order (apart from this one and the next).  He describes his protagonists as "Golden Age Detectives in a modern world".  Personally I think his creations are pretty unique, the nearest for me being Fred Vargas' Adamsberg.  The plot is as madcap as ever, and as usual its contrived chaos drives me to despair half-way through before pieces start dropping in place and logic conquers.  That's the joy of them.  This one delves into the history of Kings Cross and is really fascinating on that level alone.  Fowler remains childlike in his fascination with the history, folklore and myths of London - indeed his mind is not too dissimilar from Ali Smith's in its boundless creativity.  And as with Smith, Fowler's passions - his love of London and concerns for its future - lie just below the surface.