Middle-aged women in England's pubs are dying. And Peculiar Crimes Unit detective Arthur Bryant even walks by a pub and sees the latest victim only minutes before she dies. Unfortunately, the pub that he describes and is convinced he saw was torn down 80 years ago.

As Arthur deals with his spotty memory and the conviction that he really did see the Victoria pub that night, the rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit team tries to figure out the killer's pattern, delving into connections between the murdered women.

These Peculiar Crimes Unit Mysteries very much fit the mold of character books. While the mystery is enticing -- and I couldn't stand not knowing how the Victoria vanished -- these books are about the brilliant characters of the unit. The addition to the unit of another person who wants to see it disbanded, or at least force the members to follow standard policing procedures, adds to the tension. Mr. Fowler has created characters who enchant through the truthfulness of their faults, bad attitudes and underlying concern for each other and catching killers.