Bryant and May are back!! I've only recent found these two, but I fell in love with the style of writing, the whit of the characters and the different feel to these books within the crime genre. Whilst it's probably a weird thing to say, but I look for that spark of humour within crime books and that's definitely here.
London's Glory is a collection of short stories than examines a lot of the past and previously mentioned cases in Bryant & May's long career, so I wanted to examine author Christopher Fowler's career through the senses - just like we did with Allan Boughs recently for UKMG Extravaganza - because I loved what Allan did, and its such a great perspective to look through...so without further ado:
That’s a nice idea, Stephen. Research takes place while I’m writing something else, and part of it is subconscious, so there’s a sensory journey involved.
Sight: Like my detectives I walk around London and read constantly (I’m on my 5th Kindle, having manage to break four), plus I feed my book habit by blowing the weekly budget on London books. I’m always taking shots of London oddities and incorporating them into the novels. Bryant & May like to meet on Waterloo Bridge at the end of the day. It’s the best place to see the most of London, but they also like summer mornings on Primrose Hill where you can see the city spread before you. In the next book Bryant & May visit the Shard, but the view from up there is so high that it makes London look like Tokyo or anywhere else, a sprawl of lights and buildings without any specific sights standing out. Bryant’s eyesight is shocking; he wears many pairs of trifocals.
Sound: I can’t work without music, but lyrics interfere with my thoughts so I mostly listen to soundtrack albums that help me to create mood. Today it’s the scores for ‘The Martian’ and ‘Crimson Peak’. The Peculiar Crimes Unit is based just off the Euston Road, one of the noisiest areas in London – sirens and road works are our bane, but I only notice them when they’re not there. Pub music, church rehearsals, someone whistling a familiar song – all London sounds. The city has an engine that starts every morning just before 6:am. Listen and you can hear it, a low hum of energy.
Smell: London has specific smells of its own. I live near King’s Cross Station where the play ‘The Railway Children’ is currently running, and at night the air smells of coal smoke from the old train they’re using, and wood smoke from the canal barges around me; they’re throwback Victorian smells. London rain has a specific smell too; wet brick and damp weeds. It’s disappearing as more and more glass boxes appear. Bryant has his pipe and rolling tobacco so I imagine he can’t smell much at all!
Taste: May is a gourmet, while Bryant’s tastes are based on my old business partner’s. He would have the same lunch every day – plain sliced beef on white bread. Bryant goes to London’s cafes for an FEB (Fried slice, bubble & squeak, beans, eggs, bacon, mushrooms, sausage, cup of Rosie Lee). May would prefer somewhere smart. I have to stay out of the fridge while I’m thinking. If I’m physically typing I don’t notice being hungry, but the moment I stop...
Touch: Warm city stone at the end of a summer’s day, rain on your face, the cold embrace of morning mist from the river…the detectives walk arm in arm like old people and children in the dark. Their job makes them tactile. Me, I like the feeling of the wooden balustrade along the Thames’s South Bank and the force-touch of my Macbook, which requires a very light touch and drives many of my writer friends crazy.
Bryant & May London's Glory is available now, deffo check it out and don't forget to check out the rest of the Blog tour, all the details below.
Bryant & May London's Glory is available now, deffo check it out and don't forget to check out the rest of the Blog tour, all the details below.
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