First in a series of novels about a pair of detectives - Bryant and May, who (in this one anyway) are investigating a series of murders in a theatre during the blitz in London. Bryan and May are not entirely dissimilar to Holmes and Watson in their characters.

This was recommended by Kim at the library.

I've left it a couple of months before writing the review so my memory is a bit hazy but what I remember is that the book seemed pretty long - I don't know how many hours it was but it was a lot. The story is split into two sections, because the outer frame is set in the current time(?), where the detectives' office has been bombed and Bryant killed. May is trying to work out what happened, and comes across notes that Bryant made during their very first case together in the 1940's. So the narrative jumps between the present, where May is trying to work out why their office has been bombed, and WW2, when May has just started to work with Bryant in a department set up to investigate seemingly unsolveable cases.

I did enjoy it, although I think I'd have preferred it to be a bit shorter. I have no idea when the other books are set - I guess in between the 40's and the present? but may well try another one.

Completed : 17-Feb-2015