Elementary, Dear Reader

Even though I watch more movies than I read books (It's inevitable. Movies only take an hour and a half of my time while books usually take about 10 accumlative hours.) I have to say that I love reading more. It was my first love, and I would spend many a nights up late reading in bed when my mom thought I was sleeping.

I have written about books that have been adapted for film and how I think that sometimes it can work out, though the book version is always better. Today, I'm trying something a tad different. There is this book series that I would just love to see turned into a movie. Strange for me, I know, but I think it would work out and be a hit.

The series is called the Pecular Crimes Unit. A brief little description of the seires taken from author Christopher Fuller's site:

"Bryant & May are a pair of elderly, argumentative detectives who work in London’s Peculiar Crimes Unit... The Peculiar Crimes Unit is a police division founded during the Second World War to investigate cases that could cause public unrest... These men and women were all in their late teens and early twenties, and were encouraged to think in radical new directions... So, many years down the line, my books find Bryant and May past their retirement age, heading a team of equally unusual misfits who are just as likely to commit crimes as solve them. They’re all based above a London tube station, and led by the technophobic, irascible Bryant and smooth-talking modernist John May."

The first book I read from this series was Full Dark House that actually shows Bryant and May's first case together in the PCU, so I didn't get to see the detectives solving crimes way past retirement, although there were snippets of present time throughout the book. I recently finished The Water House which does focus on a current case, and as much as I loved FDH, I was intrigued in a different manner while reading House.

You don't usually see books, shows or movies with main characters that are past the age of 50, at the most. This is obviously due to the fact that most of the target audience is college aged viewers. ('Tis the truth. We no doubt consume the most when it comes to mass media.) We want to read, watch, etc. about characters our age because we can easily relate, but I think that the PCU could become very popular as a movie series.


(picture via christopherfuller.co.uk)

The crimes are definitely peculiar. I have become really good at solving mysteries since I watch more CSI than can possibly be healthy. However, I was kept on the edge of my seat until the very end of House when the killer was revealed and I had no clue up until then who it could have been. The characters are wonderful, especially Bryant. He's an anti-social crumudgeon who is set in his ways, which are very eccentric. He loves consulting with witches and other outcasts on cases and has been wearing the same patched coat since 1945.

So, dear Hollywood: I know you're running out of ideas. Take this. I'm sure Mr. Fuller would love to assit you in bringing the PCU to life. Crime is a big seller in any form of media, and you toss in some fantastic British accents, and you'll be rolling in the dough in no time.