# Christopher Fowler > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Christopher_Fowler > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Christopher_Fowler.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Fowler > Source revision: 1292185324 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|English writer (1953–2023)}} {{Other people}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}} {{Use British English|date=June 2013}} {{Infobox writer | image = | imagesize = 150px | alt = | name = Christopher Fowler | pseudonym = L. K. Fox | caption = | birth_name = Christopher Robert Fowler | birth_date = {{birth date|1953|03|26|df=yes}} | birth_place = [London](/source/London), England | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|03|02|1953|3|26|df=yes}} | death_place = London, England | occupation = Novelist | period = 1984–2022 | alma mater = | genre = Thriller, crime fiction | subject = | movement = | notableworks = Bryant & May Mysteries | website = {{URL|http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk}} }} '''Christopher Robert Fowler''' (26 March 1953 – 2 March 2023) was an English writer. While working in the British film industry he authored fifty novels and short story collections, including the Bryant & May mysteries, which record the adventures of two [Golden Age](/source/Golden_Age_of_Detective_Fiction) detectives in modern-day London. He also wrote a psychological thriller, ''[Little Boy Found](/source/Little_Boy_Found_(novel))'', under the pseudonym L.K. Fox.{{Cite web |title=Christopher Fowler (Estate) |url=https://www.watsonlittle.com/client/christopher-fowler-estate/#:~:text=He%20wrote%20a%20psychological%20thriller,Fox%20in%202017. |access-date=2024-09-09 |website=Watson Little |language=en-US}} His other works include screenplays, video games, graphic novels, audio and stage plays. Fowler's awards include the 2015 CWA [Dagger in the Library](/source/Dagger_in_the_Library) (for his entire body of work), The Last Laugh Award (twice) and the [British Fantasy Award](/source/British_Fantasy_Award) (multiple times), the [Edge Hill Prize](/source/Edge_Hill_Prize) and the inaugural Green Carnation Award. He was inducted into the [Detection Club](/source/Detection_Club) in 2021. ==Early life== Fowler was born in [Greenwich](/source/Greenwich), London, the son of a legal secretary and a glassblower and manufacturer of scientific instruments.{{cite web|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/authors/1005086/christopher-fowler.html|title=Penguin Books|date=20 February 2025 }} He was educated at Colfe’s grammar school in Lee before enrolling to study art at Goldsmiths College in 1972.{{Cite news |last=Holland |first=Steve |date=2023-03-20 |title=Christopher Fowler obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/20/christopher-fowler-obituary |access-date=2024-05-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} ==Career== Before becoming a novelist, Fowler was a copywriter and film marketer. At the age of 26, he founded the film promotion company, The Creative Partnership, with producer Jim Sturgeon, producing trailers, posters and commercials for radio and TV.{{Cite news |last=Feay |first=Suzi |date=2021-07-10 |title=Bryant & May author Christopher Fowler: 'Writing the end was really emotional' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/10/bryant-may-author-christopher-fowler-writing-the-end-was-really-emotional |access-date=2024-05-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} He wrote the tag-line for the 1979 sci-fi/horror movie ''[Alien](/source/Alien_(film))'', "In space, no one can hear you scream". ===Bryant & May mysteries=== Fowler was best known as the author of the Bryant & May mysteries, in which the two detectives, Arthur Bryant and John May, are members of the fictional Peculiar Crimes Unit, based on a unit his father worked in during World War II.{{Cite web |title=The History Of Bryant & May {{!}} Christopher Fowler website |url=https://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/about/the-history-of-bryant-and-may |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=www.christopherfowler.co.uk}} The Bryant & May series is set primarily in London, with stories taking place in various years between World War II and the present.{{cite web |author1=Suzi Feay |title=Bryant & May author Christopher Fowler: 'Writing the end was really emotional' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/10/bryant-may-author-christopher-fowler-writing-the-end-was-really-emotional |website=The Guardian |access-date=8 January 2023 |date=10 July 2021}} While there is a progressive narrative, the cases each stand alone as separate stories. The exceptions are ''Full Dark House'', an origin story which focuses on May's reminiscence of the team's first case together during the [Blitz](/source/The_Blitz); ''Seventy-Seven Clocks'', framed as Bryant's retelling of a case from 1973; and ''On the Loose'' and ''Off the Rails'', which continue characters and events across two books. ''Hall of Mirrors'' is set in 1969; at one point, the characters discuss the events of that summer: the Woodstock music festival, the Moon landing, and the Manson murders. There are two volumes of "missing cases" (short stories), ''London's Glory'' and ''England's Finest''. Fowler weaves many factual layers of London's history and society throughout the series. Most of the locations are recognisable London landmarks such as [St Paul's Cathedral](/source/St_Paul's_Cathedral), the [Tate Gallery](/source/Tate_Gallery) and various theatres. A major feature of ''The Water Room'' is the network of tunnels and underground rivers underneath the city. In ''Off the Rails'' they explore the [London Underground](/source/London_Underground) network.{{Cite web |last=SFFWorld |date=2012-09-23 |title=The Water Room by Christopher Fowler – SFFWorld |url=https://www.sffworld.com/2012/09/bookreview884/ |access-date=2024-05-10 |language=en-US}} There are many references to other literary works throughout the series. ''Seventy-Seven Clocks'' contains references to [Gilbert and Sullivan](/source/Gilbert_and_Sullivan) throughout the narrative, while ''The Victoria Vanishes'' has deliberate similarities with ''[The Moving Toyshop](/source/The_Moving_Toyshop)'' by [Edmund Crispin](/source/Edmund_Crispin).{{Cite news |last=Maslin |first=Janet |date=2014-11-26 |title=So Is It a Murder, if the Corpse Is Undead? |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/27/books/bryant-may-and-the-bleeding-heart-by-christopher-fowler.html |access-date=2024-05-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} Although the books appear to have bizarre, uncanny elements, they are not in any way supernatural or fantastical.{{Cite news |last=Dirda |first=Michael |date=2023-05-19 |title=Michael Dirda reviews Christopher Fowler's 'The Memory of Blood' |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/michael-dirda-reviews-christopher-fowlers-the-memory-of-blood/2012/04/25/gIQA1BMmhT_story.html |access-date=2024-05-10 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}} The unit in which they are set is based on real post-war London units. The series is also available in [audiobook](/source/audiobook) format, narrated by Tim Goodman. Characters from this series also appear in Fowler's ''Roofworld'', ''Rune'', ''Darkest Day'', and ''Soho Black'', although these books are not considered part of the series. ===Other novels and short stories=== Fowler's book ''Rune'' is an update to a modern setting of the [M. R. James](/source/M._R._James) story "[Casting the Runes](/source/Casting_the_Runes)". It also features Bryant, May and several characters from that series. His story "The Master Builder" was filmed as ''[Through the Eyes of a Killer](/source/Through_the_Eyes_of_a_Killer)'',{{IMDb title|id=0105583|title=Through the Eyes of a Killer}} starring [Richard Dean Anderson](/source/Richard_Dean_Anderson), [Marg Helgenberger](/source/Marg_Helgenberger) and [Tippi Hedren](/source/Tippi_Hedren). His tenth short story collection, ''Old Devil Moon'', won the Edge Hill Audience Prize 2008. His short story "Left Hand Drive" was made into a film that won Best British Short. His stories "On Edge" and "The Most Boring Woman in the World" were both filmed. His novella ''Breathe'' won the [British Fantasy Society Award](/source/British_Fantasy_Award) for best novella in 2005.{{cite web|url=http://www.britishfantasysociety.org.uk/info/bfsawards.htm |title=The British Fantasy Awards |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205020742/http://www.britishfantasysociety.org.uk/info/bfsawards.htm |archivedate=5 December 2006}} Put into different temporal settings, some elements of his original 2008 story "Arkangel" from ''[Exotic Gothic](/source/Exotic_Gothic) 2''{{cite book|last=Fowler|first=Christopher|title="Arkangel." Exotic Gothic 2|year=2008|publisher=Ash-Tree Press|location=Ed. [Danel Olson](/source/Danel_Olson). Ashcroft, British Columbia|isbn=978-1-55310-109-3|page=119}} reappear in his 2012 frame-novel ''Hell Train'' (a book called "must read now!” by ''SciFiNow''{{cite journal|last=Morton|first=Sophi|title=HELL TRAIN: The ride of your life... or death|journal=SciFiNow|year=2012|issue=62|pages=86}}), including the Polish town of Chelmsk, the physical descriptions of its white gold-rivetted damnation train Arkangel and the town's yokels.{{cite book|last=Fowler|first=Christopher|title=Hell Train|year=2012|publisher=Solaris Books/Rebellion Publishing|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=978-1-907992-44-5 |chapter=Chapter 3: Arrival}} His memoir of a lonely 1960s childhood, ''Paperboy'', won the inaugural Green Carnation prize, which celebrates fiction and memoirs written by gay men.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/dec/01/paperboy-prize-gay-men-books|title=Paperboy wins inaugural prize for gay men's books|first=Benedicte|last=Page|date=1 December 2010|newspaper=The Guardian}} A sequel, ''Film Freak'', charted his travels through the British film industry. His collection ''Red Gloves'' consisted of 25 new stories marking a quarter-century in print, two graphic novels and a Hammer horror radio play. He also wrote a [Sherlock Holmes](/source/Sherlock_Holmes) audio drama for [BBC 7](/source/BBC_7) entitled ''The Lady Downstairs'' and the ''War of the Worlds'' videogame with Sir Patrick Stewart, for Paramount. He was at work on a new thriller, ''Summer Dies'', and a complete collection of his short stories from 1985 to when he died. The third and final installment of his memoir on writing, ''Word Monkey'', was published posthumously.{{Cite news |last=Chapman |first=Pete |date=2023-09-05 |title='Healthy or downright weird?': how I helped publish my husband Christopher Fowler's posthumous book |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/sep/05/author-christopher-fowler-word-monkey |access-date=2024-07-05 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} Further works include: * ''Nyctophobia'' (2014) Solaris Books {{ISBN|978-1781082102}}, a haunted house novel set in bright daylight about a woman who is terrified of the dark * ''The Casebook of Bryant & May'', a graphic novel illustrated by Keith Page * ''Menz Insana'', a graphic novel illustrated by [John Bolton](/source/John_Bolton_(illustrator)) ===Forgotten Authors series=== Fowler wrote a periodic column for ''[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)'' titled ''Invisible Ink''. In this series, he looked at a wide range of writers whose works, once popular, have now fallen out of the public eye. His book version, ''The Book of Forgotten Authors'', is published by Quercus.{{cite web |title=The Book of Forgotten Authors |url=https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781786484895 |website=Quercus |accessdate=14 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714135505/https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/books/detail.page?isbn=9781786484895 |archive-date=14 July 2018 |url-status=dead }} ==Personal life and death== Fowler lived in Barcelona and [King's Cross, London](/source/King's_Cross%2C_London). His husband, Peter Chapman, was a TV executive.{{cite news |last1=Feay |first1=Suzi |title=Bryant & May author Christopher Fowler: 'Writing the end was really emotional' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/10/bryant-may-author-christopher-fowler-writing-the-end-was-really-emotional |access-date=3 March 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=10 July 2021}} Fowler was diagnosed with cancer in March 2020, which he announced on his blog the following April. He died in London on 2 March 2023, at the age of 69.{{cite news |last1=Barnett |first1=David |title=Bryant & May novelist Christopher Fowler has died aged 69 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/03/bryant-may-novelist-christopher-fowler-has-died-aged-69 |access-date=3 March 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=3 March 2023}}{{cite news|url = https://locusmag.com/2023/03/christopher-fowler-1953-2023/|title = Christopher Fowler (1953-2023)|magazine = [Locus](/source/Locus_(magazine))|date = 3 March 2023|accessdate = 4 March 2023}} [Joanne Harris](/source/Joanne_Harris) wrote about him for ''[The Bookseller](/source/The_Bookseller)'', speaking of his support for upcoming writers and his "peerless talent": "He has been the most enduring influence of my career, both as a writer and as a friend."{{Cite web |title='He wrote because he loved it' |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/comment/he-wrote-because-he-loved-it |access-date=2024-05-10 |website=The Bookseller |language=En}} ==Novels and collections== {| class="wikitable" |- !Title || B&M? || Year || ISBN |- |''How to Impersonate Famous People'' || || 1984 || {{ISBN|0-7043-3463-1}} |- |''The Ultimate Party Book'' || || 1985 || {{ISBN|0-04-793087-X}} |- |''City Jitters'' || || 1986 || {{ISBN|0-7221-3704-4}} |- |''More City Jitters'' || ||1988 ||{{ISBN|0-4402-0146-2}} |- |''Roofworld'' || || 1988 || {{ISBN|0-7126-2421-X}} |- |''The Bureau of Lost Souls'' (US: ''More City Jitters'') || || 1989 || {{ISBN|0-7126-2459-7}} |- |''Rune'' || || 1990 || {{ISBN|0-7126-3466-5}} |- |''Red Bride'' || || 1992 || {{ISBN|0-356-20805-2}} |- |''Sharper Knives'' || || 1992 || {{ISBN|0-7515-0152-2}} |- |''Darkest Day'' || || 1993 || {{ISBN|0-316-90534-8}} |- |''Spanky'' || || 1994 || {{ISBN|0-7515-0959-0}} |- |''Flesh Wounds'' || || 1995 || {{ISBN|0-7515-1431-4}} |- |''Psychoville'' || || 1995 || {{ISBN|0-7515-1664-3}} |- |''Menz Insana'' (graphic novel) || || 1997 || {{ISBN|1-56389-300-2}} |- |''Disturbia'' || || 1997 || {{ISBN|0-7515-1910-3}} |- |''Soho Black'' || || 1998 || {{ISBN|0-7515-2559-6}} |- |''Personal Demons'' || || 1998 || {{ISBN|1-85242-597-0}} |- |''Uncut'' || || 1999 || {{ISBN|0-7515-2644-4}} |- |''Calabash'' || || 2000 || {{ISBN|0-7515-3040-9}} |- |''The Devil in Me'' || || 2004 || {{ISBN|1-85242-768-X}} |- |''Demonized'' (short stories)|| || 2004 || {{ISBN|1-85242-848-1}} |- |''Full Dark House'' || B&M 1 || 2004 || {{ISBN|0-553-81552-0}} |- |''Breathe'' || || 2004 || {{ISBN|1-903889-67-7}} |- |''The Water Room'' || B&M 2 || 2004 || {{ISBN|0-385-60554-4}} |- |''Seventy-Seven Clocks'' || B&M 3 || 2005 || {{ISBN|0-385-60885-3}} |- |''Ten Second Staircase'' || B&M 4 || 2006 || {{ISBN|0-385-60886-1}} |- |''Old Devil Moon'' || || 2007 || {{ISBN|978-1-85242-925-6}} |- |''White Corridor'' || B&M 5 || 2007 || {{ISBN|978-0-385-61067-4}} |- |''The Victoria Vanishes'' || B&M 6 || 2008 || {{ISBN|978-0-385-61068-1}} |- |''Paperboy'' (autobiography) || || 2009 || {{ISBN|978-0-385-61557-0}} |- |''Bryant & May on the Loose''{{cite web|url=http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/blog/?p=74|title=Bryant & May: Death Or Glory|website=The author's blog, 24 August 2008}} || B&M 7 || 2009 || {{ISBN|978-0-385-61465-8}} |- |''Bryant & May Off the Rails''{{cite web|url=http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/blog/?p=1018|title=Bryant & May Return in Two-Book Deal|website=The author's blog, 18 March 2009}} || B&M 8 || 2010 || {{ISBN|978-0-553-80720-2}} |- |''Bryant & May and the Memory of Blood'' || B&M 9 || 2011 || {{ISBN|978-0-85752-049-4}} |- |''Hell Train'' || || 2012 || {{ISBN|978-1-907992-44-5}} |- |''Bryant & May: The Invisible Code'' || B&M 10 || 2012 || {{ISBN|978-0857520500}} |- |''Film Freak'' (autobiography) || || 2013 || {{ISBN|978-0857521606}} |- |''The Casebook of Bryant & May'' ([graphic novel](/source/graphic_novel)) || ''B&M'' || 2013 || {{ISBN|978-1848634565}} |- |''Plastic'' || || 2013 || {{ISBN|978-1781081242}} |- |''Bryant & May: The Bleeding Heart'' |B&M 11 |2014 |{{ISBN|978-0345547651}} |- |''Bryant & May and the Secret Santa'' (single short story) |B&M 11.5 |2015 |{{ISBN|978-1101968970}} |- |''Bryant & May and the Burning Man'' |B&M 12 |2015 |{{ISBN|978-0345547682}} |- |''The Sand Men'' || || 2015 || {{ISBN|978-1781083741}} |- |''Bryant & May: London's Glory'' (short stories) |B&M 13 |2016 |{{ISBN|978-0857523457}} |- |''Bryant & May: Strange Tide'' |B&M 14 |2016 |{{ISBN|978-1101887035}} |- |''Little Boy Found (as LK Fox)'' | |2017 |{{ASIN| B06XJ5G9CH}} |- |''Bryant & May: Wild Chamber'' |B&M 15 |2017 |{{ISBN|978-0857523433}} |- |''Bryant & May: Hall of Mirrors'' |B&M 16 |2018 |{{ISBN|978-0857523440}} |- |''Bryant & May: The Lonely Hour'' |B&M 17 |2019 |{{ISBN|978-08575-2568-0}} |- |''Bryant & May: England's Finest'' (short stories) |B&M 18 |2019 |{{ISBN|978-08575-2569-7}} |- |''Bryant & May: Oranges and Lemons'' |B&M 19 |2020 |{{ISBN|978-08575-2570-3}} |- |''Bryant & May: London Bridge Is Falling Down'' |B&M 20 |2021 |{{ISBN|978-0-593-35621-0}} |- |''Hot water'' | |2022 |{{ISBN|978-1-78909-984-3}} |- |''Bryant & May’s Peculiar London'' |''B&M'' |2022 |{{ISBN|978-0-85752-784-4}} |- |''Word Monkey'' | |2023 |{{ISBN|978-0-8575-2962-6}} |- |''The Foot on the Crown'' | |2025 |{{ISBN|978-1-7876-3744-3}} |} ==See also== *[List of horror fiction writers](/source/List_of_horror_fiction_writers) ==References== {{reflist|30em}} ==External links== *[http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/ Christopher Fowler's website] *[https://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/sherlock/ BBC Sherlock Holmes site] Short story by Christopher Fowler — ''The Lady Downstairs'' *[https://web.archive.org/web/20130830064641/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-plastic-by-christopher-fowler Story behind ''Plastic'' - Online essay written by Fowler] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20140328000359/http://upcoming4.me/news/book-news/story-behind-the-bleeding-heart-by-christopher-fowler The story behind ''The Bleeding Heart'' - Online essay written by Fowler] *{{ISFDB name|id=Christopher_Fowler|name=Christopher Fowler}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Christopher}} Category:1953 births Category:2023 deaths Category:20th-century English novelists Category:21st-century English novelists Category:Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Category:English crime fiction writers Category:Deaths from cancer in England Category:English LGBTQ novelists Category:English expatriates in Spain Category:English horror writers Category:English male novelists Category:English thriller writers Category:LGBTQ people from London Category:People from Greenwich Category:Writers from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Category:Members of the Detection Club --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Christopher Fowler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Fowler) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Fowler?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.