An audio book.
While mixed-race probation policeman Peter Grant is guarding a headless corpse in Covent Garden, a man dead for a century approaches him with a witness tentimony. His job appraisal pushes him towards a paperwork role, which doesn't please him. He gets in contact with a branch of the police involved with wizardry (which has support from the police boss) and starts working with them. He moves to their HQ, The Folly, and trains to be a wizard (using Newton's research) while working on the case.
Meanwhile, Mother Thames (a Nigerian) and Father Thames are in dispute. Their kids are involved. Finally it's revealed that the spirit of Mr Punch is destablizing crowds. The puppet plots are being enacted by real people who are possessed. Peter follows Mr Punch back through time, overshoots
Peter's humour and insights liven the text - e.g. "Like many northerners he moved to London as a cheap alternative to therapy". The mix of genres is handled well enough - when wizards are explaining things to non-wizards, Harry Potter is mentioned a few times. The acronym-dropping and explanations remind us that we're reading a crime novel. There are tour-guide descriptions/histories of places to add realism.
My main objections are to do with pacing. The conversations in particular last too long, and the action (e.g. the rioting at Covent Garden) is interrupted by tour-guiding. And the emotional realism/believability lapses sometimes - e.g. When he's with his parents he doesn't think back enough about recent events
Other reviews
- Nora Linn
- Joshua S Hill (While not as adept and intricate as Griffin, Aaronovitch does make London almost as tangible to the reader as Griffin does)
- goodreads
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