In Whispers Under Ground, the third book in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch, our hero, PC Peter Grant is once again caught up in the middle of a new mystery, set, primarily, in the dark and murky landscape of the London Underground and the sewerage system. Mmmm! It's a few days before Christmas, there's snow in the air and a body is found at Baker Street station. Horrible, but not unusual you would think except no one can work out how the dead man got there without being picked up by the myriad of CCTV monitors, and how come the murder weapon seems to be a bit of pottery? Anything out of the ordinary and the Met's Economic and Specialist Crime Unit 9, aka 'The Folly' is called in ... and so enter PC Grant - apprentice wizard. He detects the tell tales traces of the use of magic, and sets off to find the culprit. Peter is accompanied on his investigation by WPC Leslie May who was severely affected by magic in the first book, and now wears a mask to cover her horrific facial injuries. They are friends as well as colleagues and there are touching moments between them as they both try to come to terms with the past. A third wheel comes on the scene in the form of FBI Agent Reynolds, who is called in because the victim is the son of a US Senator. She is not exactly a believer in the supernatural, but she does pack a mean gun and isn't afraid to use it ... which comes in handy! There are twists and turns and a huge dollop of humour. I think this is the best of the series so far - the characters are great and Peter, as narrator, brings wit and cynicism in equal measure. Brought to life by the fantastic narration of Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, I can thoroughly recommend the audio book edition. This is a sharp, crisp thriller that should please those inclined to crime novels as well as fantasy.
My STAR rating: FIVE.
Length: 400 print pages.
Price I paid: £7.99.
Formats available: print; unabridged audio download; ebook.
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