London is under siege. A banking scandal has filled the city with violent protests, and as the anger in the streets detonates, a young homeless man burns to death after being caught in the crossfire between rioters and the police.
But all is not as it seems; an opportunistic killer is using the chaos to exact revenge, but his intended victims are so mysteriously chosen that the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in to find a way of stopping him.
Using their network of eccentric contacts, elderly detectives Arthur Bryant and John May hunt down a murderer who adopts incendiary methods of execution. But they soon find their investigation taking an apocalyptic turn as the case comes to involve the history of mob rule, corruption, rebellion, punishment and the legend of Guy Fawkes.
At the same time, several members of the PCU team reach dramatic turning points in their lives - but the most personal tragedy is yet to come, for as the race to bring down a cunning killer reaches its climax, Arthur Bryant faces his own devastating day of reckoning.
'I always said we'd go out with a hell of a bang,' warns Bryant.

Contemporary crime fiction's answer to Holmes and Watson or Mulder and Scully - Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit embark on their most pyrotechnic case yet, and the denouement is devastating...

About the Author
Christopher Fowler was the multiple award-winning author of almost fifty novels and short story collections, including the celebrated Bryant & May mysteries. His other novels include Roofworld, Spanky, The Sand Men and Hot Water. He has also written two acclaimed memoirs, Paperboy (winner of the Green Carnation Prize) and Film Freak, plus The Book of Forgotten Authors and Peculiar London, Bryant and May's singular and eccentric guide to the city. In 2015 Chris was awarded the Crime Writers Association's coveted 'Dagger in the Library' for his body of work. He lived in London and Barcelona. Diagnosed with cancer just as the UK went into lockdown in 2020, Chris died on 2nd March 2023.

Reviews
Fabulously unorthodox...Fowler, an unashamed anorak, takes delight in stuffing his books with esoteric facts; together with a cast of splendidly eccentric characters ranging from white witches to unfrocked and potty academics, corkscrew plots, wit, verve and some apposite social commentary, they make for unbeatable fun. -- Laura Wilson * GUARDIAN *
Witty, engaging mix of crime drama and comedy that's also an esoteric history of London. * Sun *


Awards
Winner of CrimeFest Last Laugh Award 2016.



Book Information
ISBN 9780857502353
Author Christopher Fowler
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group)
Publisher Transworld Publishers Ltd
Weight(grams) 283g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 127mm * 25mm