Rivers of London

Title: Rivers of London
Author: Ben Aaronovitch
Published: 2011 by Gollancz
Genre: Urban fantasy
Pages: 390


The SO and I took a trip to London and Cardiff last week, and I'd kind of been saving this one for the trip. Seemed suitable. And Rivers of London was just the ticket for some fun, light and very London-y holiday reading. The series -there's more! Yay!- has been described as Harry Potter joining the London police force. It's also like the Dresden Files in London.So, you know, what's not to like?

Peter Grant is a probationary constable at the beginning of the book, heading for a dull desk job. Then he happens to chat with a ghost at a strange murder scene, and attract the attention of the last wizard in England, the Inspector Nightingale. Bye bye dull desk job, hello really creepy murders! If those weren't enough, the nominal rivers are feuding, and Peter is saddled with building a bridge between them. Pun attempted.

I'm happy I bought the first two books of the series at once, because I definitely want to read more of Peter's adventures. Rivers of London is fun and entertaining, and so detailed with London -and police procedures, too- that you can pretty much follow the action on a map.


   Sometimes I wonder whether, if I'd been the one that went for coffee and not Lesley May, my life would have been much less interesting and certainly much less dangerous. Could it have been anyone, or was it destiny? When I'm considering this I find it helpful to quote the wisdom of my father, who once told me, 'Who knows why the fuck anything happens?'

This was about where I realised I liked the book. On page 3.