Bryant & May - Oranges and Lemons

Nov 11, 2025 2:23 PM

Author:Christopher Fowler

'The most consistently brilliant, entertaining and educational voice in contemporary British crime fiction, the utterly fabulous Christopher Fowler.' Cathi Unsworth, CRIMESQUAD

It's a Sunday morning, and the outspoken Speaker of the House of Commons has just been crushed under a mountain of citrus fruit . . .

Bizarre accident or something more sinister? The government needs to know because here's a man who knows a thing or two that could compromise its future.

Bryant and May and the Peculiar Crimes Unit should be on the case, however it seems the PCU is no more with one detective is in hospital, the other gone AWOL with the rest of the team having been dismissed.

But events escalate, and soon a series of brutal yet undeniably clever killings linked to an old English nursery rhyme threaten society's very foundations and out-of-the-blue the PCU is (temporarily) back in business.

And if the two detectives - 'old men in a woke world' - can set aside their differences and discover why some of London's most influential figures are being threatened, they might not only save the unit but also prevent the city from descending into chaos . . .

Reviews

Fantastic . . . my favourite series ever!

—— Shari Lapena, author of SOMEONE WE KNOW

Fresh, fast-paced, and confident - with a mass of cork-screwing twists

—— Sarah Vaughan, author of ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL

I was totally gripped and terrified!

—— Araminta Hall, author of OUR KIND OF CRUELTY

Deighton's fiction has stood the test of time. His habitually acerbic narrative voice still has much to say to contemporary readers ... Now a fresh generation have the chance to sample Deighton's wares as Penguin republishes many of his books.

—— Vanessa Thorpe , The Observer

Mr Deighton is really something special.

—— Sunday Times

For sheer readability he has no peer.

—— Evening Standard

Fleming made spy fiction globally popular, but it took Deighton in the Sixties to make it hip.

—— The Telegraph

With this, his second bestseller in as many years, Len Deighton really hit his stride. Multiple deceits defy a full plot summary. Suffice to say that with a succession of startling revelations linked by sharp dialogue, the book effortlessly acquires classic status.

—— Barry Turner , Daily Mail

Len Deighton's spy novels are so good they make me sad the Cold War is over.

—— Malcolm Gladwell

Jørn Lier Horst writes some of the best Scandinavian crime fiction available. His books are superbly plotted and addictive, the characters wonderfully realised

—— Yrsa Sigurdardóttir

Jørn Lier Horst is one of the most brilliantly understated crime novelists writing today

—— Sunday Times

Horst, a former Norwegian police detective, is often compared to Sweden's Henning Mankell for his moody, sweeping crime dramas

—— New York Times

Jørn Lier Horst raises the suspense level to horror proportions

—— Lotta Olsson , Dagens Nyheter, 'Best Crime Novels of 2020'

Expect dark themes and plot twists a plenty

—— Red

Dramatic, mysterious and compelling

—— Vogue

Kept me guessing to the end

—— Sun

With secrets and intrigue, this is a compulsive read

—— Sun on Sunday

Moriarty rocks the drama genre

—— Courier-Mail

Nicola Moriarty belongs to a family tree laded with writers. She more than holds her own

—— The Australian

Nicola's got great pace and snappy dialogue, and I especially like her male characters

—— Liane Moriarty , Sydney Morning Herald

Brilliant! Could not put it down. It's utterly gripping and beautifully written.

—— KATIE FFORDE

Smart and compassionate, full of poetry and rage and shy hopes and shredded dreams and missing girls and family secrets.

—— TAMMY COHEN, author of Stop At Nothing

This is a striking first novel, a chilling insight into an oppressive world, where bad thoughts and bad deeds ripple just below the surface, out of sight.

—— Alison Flood, OBSERVER

Chilling and compulsive... a dazzling debut.

—— KATE HAMER, author of The Girl in the Red Coat

Simmering resentments and long-held prejudices boil over in this beautifully realised evocation of small-town America. I I loved it.

—— Kate Riordan, author of The Heatwave

An elegant, mesmerizing debut-Anna Bailey explores festering secrets with a with a sharp, yet tender gaze. This book reads like a whisper in the dark.

—— DANYA KUKAFKA, author of Girl in Snow

Cleverly written , Anna Bailey's debut shines a light on the darker and more oppressive side of small-town society.

—— Independent

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