Seventy-Seven Clocks

Apr 21, 2025 10:13 AM

Author:Christopher Fowler

'The newspapers referred to it as the case of the seventy-seven clocks. There was quite a fuss at the time. We got into terrible trouble. Dear fellow, it was one of our most truly peculiar cases. I remember as if it was yesterday.' In fact, Arthur Bryant remembers very little about yesterday, but he does remember the oddest investigation of his career...

It was late in 1973. As strikes and blackouts ravaged the country during Edward Heath's 'Winter of Discontent', sundry members of a wealthy, aristocratic family were being disposed of in a variety of grotesque ways - by reptile, by bomb, by haircut. As the hours of daylight diminish towards Christmas, Bryant & May, the irascible detectives of London's controversial Peculiar Crimes Unit, know that time is the key - and time is running out for both the family and the police. Their investigations lead them into a hidden world of class conflict, craftsmanship and the secret loyalties of big business. But what have seventy seven ticking clocks to do with it?

Now the full story can at last be revealed, in this most eerie of adventures that features Arthur Bryant at his rudest, John May at his most exasperated and a gallery of colourful, bizarre characters who could only make their home in a city like London...

Reviews

Witty, sinuous and darkly comedic storytelling from a Machiavellian jokester

—— Maxim Jacubowski , GUARDIAN

Witty, charming, and informed about London, but - this is important - the storylines are vivid, tough and have a hard edge

—— Marcel Berlins , THE TIMES

Watch out Mma Ramotswe, there's a new number one lady detective on the scene - the glorious Sarah Tanner - in a book that's as thick with Victorian atmosphere as a London Particular

—— Gilda O'Neill

One of the best-written detective series in the genre's history . . . At any time we can return to Kingsmarkham to explore the darker side of humanity with Wexford as our reassuring and humane guide

—— Washington Post

Ruth Rendell is marvellous at psychological tension... She knits all the threads together with a casual flourish that shows veteran expertise

—— Sunday Times

One of the best-written detective series in the genre's history... At any time we can return to Kingsmarkham to explore the darker side of humanity with Wexford as our reassuring and humane guide

—— Washington Post

A brooding study of how one thoughtless action can have catastrophic consequences

—— Metro Scotland

Fossum never forgets that her primary duty is to entertain, and she keeps her cut-to-the-bone mystery moving briskly

—— Barry Forshaw , Sunday Tribune

Norwegian writer Karin Fossum has been turning out a steady and impressive body of work since long before Steig Larsson first put pen to paper...This is a first-rate psychological thriller, one of Fossum's best books to date.

—— The Review

A complex novel of mystery and suspense narrated by three fascinating characters...I thoroughly recommend this title

—— Landers Bookshop , Independent on Sunday

Well worth the ride

—— Sunday Telegraph

Pears is in a class of his own; no one else could possibly succeed in making the world of big finance so hugely entertaining.

—— www.thetruthaboutbooks.com

this thoughtful, thoroughly satisfying novel... clever storytelling to reach imaginative heights

—— Waterstone's Books Quarterly

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