Vijf vrouwen en één man vormen samen een leesclub, waarin ze de romans van Jane Austen bespreken. Hun eigen levens zijn minstens zo boeiend. De één wordt na tweeëndertig jaar huwelijk door haar man verlaten. De ander verlaat haar vriendin, omdat die haar gebruikt als inspiratiebron voor haar middelmatige schrijfsels. De enige vrouw die gelukkig getrouwd is droomt voortdurend van seks met andere mannen. En wat moet die ene man bij het groepje? In deze moderne zedenschets, vol humor, ironie en menselijke onvolkomenheden brengt Fowler lief en leed van zes even gewone als uitzonderlijke mensen meesterlijk voor het voetlicht.

Jocelyn (+/- 52), alleenstaande fokster van jachthonden, start in de VS een leesclub om de 6 romans van de Engelse schijfster Jane Austen (1775-1817) te bespreken. Ze vraagt beste vriendin Sylvia (+/- 52), na 32 jaar door haar man verlaten, Sylvia's lesbische dochter Allegra (30), net weg bij haar schrijvende vriendin, Bernadette (66), die vaak getrouwd was, alleenstaande man Grigg (+/- 42) en getrouwde lerares Frans Prudie (28). Elk lid organiseert thuis een maandelijkse bijeenkomst waarin een roman van Austen centraal staat, maar waarin ook het leven van dat lid de revue passeert. In een slotbijeenkomst in november wordt uitgewisseld wat ieder sinds augustus heeft meegemaakt. De debuutroman van de Amerikaanse schrijfster, 'Sister Noon', was finalist voor de Pen/Faulkner Award. Deze vierde roman was een bestseller in de VS. Het is een bijzonder originele roman, waarin het werk van Austen intrigerend verweven is met het leven van de 6 deelnemers en dat leven ook weerspiegelt. Zonder meer boeiend, en voor wie van Austens romans houdt zelfs om van te smullen. Omslagfoto in kleur van deel van een vrouw in historische kledij. Normale druk.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Traditional mystery buffs with a taste for the offbeat will relish British author Fowler's wonderful second contemporary whodunit featuring the Peculiar Crimes Unit and its elderly odd couple, Arthur Bryant and John May (after 2004's Full Dark House). A former colleague asks the eccentric Bryant, whose lack of polish coupled with a razor-sharp mind will remind many of Carter Dickson's Sir Henry Merrivale, to investigate his sister's death. Incredibly, the victim was found dead in her basement, apparently drowned, despite the absence of any moisture on her body or her surroundings. Bryant rapidly loops in his more down-to-earth partner, May, who has also been looking into a mystery with a personal connection—the unusual nocturnal ramblings of a disgraced academic who has begun probing London's underground rivers. More strange deaths follow before the unmasking of the surprising murderer. The author's black humor evokes Peter Lovesey's Peter Diamond series, and his successful revival of the impossible crime genre is reminiscent of John Sladek's superb Thackeray Phin novels, Invisible Green and Black Aura. Best known for his horror fiction (Rune, etc.), Fowler should win a whole new set of readers with these fair-play puzzlers.
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From Booklist

Britain's Fowler seems to be one of those multitalented types who can write anything and do it well. He has written edgy thrillers, wildly imaginative fantasies, and memorable short fiction; now, with the Bryant and May series (of which this is the second installment), he has come up with a clever twist on the traditional police procedural. Arthur Bryant and John May, "both far beyond the statutory retirement age," are members of London's Peculiar Crimes Unit; they've been partners for more than 50 years. You don't see many senior citizens in mystery fiction who aren't amateur sleuths, but these guys are pros, and they're about as far away from your typical kindly old meddler as you can imagine. This time they're trying to find out how an elderly woman managed to drown in her dry basement, and the plot itself proves perfectly satisfying. But the real thrill here is the delightful duo in the starring roles, two fresh and unusual characters who manage to breathe new life into an established genre in which it's getting harder and harder to find anything genuinely fresh. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

British Fantasy Society (nominee)

A hotel offers a taboo service for its troubled clients, a vampire library attacks its readers, and a young man discovers the cutlery of the Marquis de Sade. Incarceration, incantations, romance, revenge and the end of the world occur in this collection of gothic tales.

From using crackpot psychics to cutting-edge forensics, Arthur Bryant and John May are famous for their maddeningly unorthodox approach to solving crimes that the ordinary police cannot. Now Christopher Fowler, “a new master of the classical detective story,”* brings back crime detection's oddest-and oldest-couple to solve the ultimate locked room mystery.

It's an “impossible” crime-a member of the Peculiar Crimes Unit killed inside a locked autopsy room populated only by the dead and to which only four PCU members had a key. And to make matters worse, the Unit has been shut down for a forced “vacation” and Bryant and May are stuck in a van miles away in the Dartmoor countryside during a freak snowstorm on their way to a convention of psychics.

Now, with Sergeant Janice Longbright in charge at headquarters, Bryant and May must crack the case by cell phone while trying to stop a second murder without freezing to death. For among the line of snowed-in vehicles, a killer is on the prowl, a beautiful woman is on the run from a man who seeks either redemption or another victim, and an innocent child is caught in the middle.

Weaving together two electrifying cases, White Corridor is an unforgettable triumph-by turns hilarious and harrowing-as two of detective fiction's most marvelous characters confront one of human nature's darkest mysteries: the ability to deceive, deny, and destroy.

So begins the adventures of Miss Chicken, a young free-range, from raw innocence to golden brown ecstasy, in this spoof-in-a-cookbook that simmers in the afterglow of E.L. James’s sensational trilogyLike Anastasia Steele, Miss Chicken finds herself at the mercy of a dominating man, in this case, a wealthy, sexy, and very hungry chef.

And before long, from unbearably slow drizzling to trussing, Miss Chicken discovers the sheer thrill of becoming the main course. A parody in three acts—“The Novice Bird” (easy recipes for roasters), “Falling to Pieces” (parts perfect for weeknight meals), and “Advanced Techniques” (the climax of cooking)— is a cookbook of fifty irresistible, repertoire-boosting chicken dishes that will leave you hungry for more.

With memorable tips and revealing photographs, will have you dominating dinner.