The Victoria Vanishes - Tapa dura

One night, Arthur Bryant witnesses a drunk middle-aged lady coming out of a pub in a London backstreet. The next morning, she is found dead at the exact spot where their paths crossed. Even more disturbing, there's a twist: the pub has vanished and the street itself has changed. Bryant is convinced that he saw them as they looked over a century before, but the elderly detective has already lost the funeral urn of an old friend. Could he be losing his mind as well? Then it becomes clear that a number of women have met their ends in London pubs. It seems a silent, secret killer is at work, striking in full view...and yet nobody has a clue how, or why - or where he’ll attack next. The likeliest suspect seems to be a mental patient with a reason for killing. But knowing who the killer is and catching him are two very different propositions. As their new team at the Peculiar Crimes Unit goes in search of a madman, the octogenarian detectives ready themselves for the pub crawl of a lifetime, and come face to face with their own mortality...

The London pub was once a haven, a place where anyone could sit with a drink and ruminate on the ways of the world. Not, it seems, any more . . . While walking London’s backstreets one evening, Arthur Bryant sees a middle-aged lady, slightly the worse for wear, coming out of a pub. The next morning, her lifeless body is found at the point where their paths crossed. In itself disturbing enough, but there’s a twist: the pub has vanished. Bryant is convinced that he saw the street as it had been a century earlier; however, having recently lost an urn containing the remains of an old friend, could the elderly detective be losing his mind as well? It soon becomes clear that the lives of a number of women have been cut short in London pubs. A silent, secret killer is at work, striking in full view, and yet nobody has a clue how, why, or where he’ll attack next. The main suspect seems to be a recently released mental patient. But knowing who the killer is and catching him are two very different things. As their new Peculiar Crimes Unit team go in search of a madman, octogenarian detectives Bryant and May find themselves on the pub crawl of a lifetime – and come face to face with their own mortality.