Bryant & May & The Burning Man by Christopher Fowler

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. This did not effect my opinions of the book, or the review itself.

Major financial scandal is the cause of massive riots spreading throughout the city of London. In the midst of this, people are being murdered in ways that combine both fire and ancient forms of punishment from London's history.

Arthur Bryant, John May, and the rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit must work to figure out who exactly is behind what could be a terrifying far-reaching conspiracy, and stop the murderer before he brings London down in flames.

This was my first experience with the Peculiar Crimes Unit series, and it did what any good entry in a series should. It made me want to read the rest of the books in the series, and soon. The characters were well-drawn and very engaging, and the mystery had a lot of suspense, with a powerful twist ending I honestly did not see coming.

I also really enjoyed the bits of London history slipped in, particularly the section on Jack the Ripper (being a true crime buff myself). The author has a wonderfully wry sense of humor that had me laughing out loud at certain lines.

I would definitely recommend this book. I don't think you need to have the rest of the series to enjoy it, but it will make you want to read the rest of the series.