The Water Room by Christopher Fowler

The Water Room  
Christopher Fowler
4/5 stars

The Water Room is the second in the Bryant and May series.  I found the first, Full Dark House, to only be worthy of 3 stars, but liked the characters enough to try the second novel.  It was much more polished and with a better plot, and I did enjoy it.

Bryant and May are senior citizen detectives that work in the Peculiar Crimes Unit--the department that is given any bizarre cases that the Met doesn't wish to tackle.  They've been partners in the PCU for 50 years and have the rapport of a golden anniversary married couple.

The plot begins when an elderly woman is found dead, sitting in a chair, fully clothed and dry, yet she appears to have died by drowning.  Her brother asks Bryant to help out, and he willingly involves the PCU.  As they investigate her death, other strange things seem to be happening on the same street, culminating in another murder.  Bryant and May scramble to solve the case before an impossible deadline set by their supervisor.

The characters of Bryant and May are both well developed with distinctive, and engaging  personalities.  The mystery was interesting, and the solution believable.  Bryant's tangents into more eccentric possible solutions is a great addition to the main story line.

The Water Room is a solid, entertaining read, and I look forward to reading more in the series.