This is a tight, gritty police procedural with a twist. And the twist is that the central character, PC Peter Grant, is an apprentice wizard in a special unit of the Metropolitan Police Force set up to deal with the odd and unexplained events in the capital city. This is the sequel to Rivers of London, and the author, Ben Aaronovitch, puts more meat on the bones of the characters we met in the first book. PC Grant is coming to terms with the magical and supernatural world around him - fitting in exercises to learn how to make fire balls inbetween investigating the death of a jazz musician, who, when you get close to the body, seems to be emitting a version of the jazz standard, Body and Soul. More deaths follow and it soon becomes obvious that there is dark magic at work ... and another wizard on the loose with nefarious intentions. Into the mix comes the attractive girlfriend of one of the victims - she seems to get over her loss incredibly quickly, and sets her cap at Peter who is powerless to resist her charms. She has a penchance for both jazz and French patisserie. But when Peter takes her to a gig at which his musician father is playing, his mother attacks his new girlfriend telling her to keep away from her husband ... he realises all is not what it seems. How could his mother accuse her of trying to steal her husband 20 years ago ... and yet her rival doesn't seem to have aged a single day! This is a great book - full of action and humour, as well as magic. It's a fantasy for those who aren't sure that fantasy is for them. Take the leap and go for it - you will not be disappointed. I can particularly recommend the audio edition I read, narrated by the fantastically dry Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.
My STAR rating: FIVE.
Length: 384 print pages
Price I paid: 7.99 (sterling)
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.
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