review by Aimee
This is the third book in the PC Grant series, starting with Rivers of London. This series has such a great mix of magic and reality. Peter Grant is a police officer in London, and, after seeing a ghost, was assigned to the Met’s Economic and Specialist Crime Unit 9, aka ‘The Folly’. This unit consists solely of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, Police Constable Peter Grant, and their strange housekeeper, Molly. This book sees the addition of PC Lesley May, who, due to events of the previous book, is missing a large portion of her face.
I’ve spent a few days in London this past week (despite the long delays because of the Waterloo Upgrade) which means I’ve travelled the underground a fair amount. I’ve always loved travelling around London and get a little bit excited when I get to go on the underground, but its even more special when I pass through stations that I’m reading about. It really adds to the connection with this book, and makes the story that tiny bit more special.
This book aims to solve the murder of an American at a tube station, which, naturally, means more tube activity for the police force. What I love about these books is the amount of care Ben Aaronovitch puts into the small details. Did you know that when the tube system was first built way back in the era of steam trains, some houses had to be knocked down in order to ventilate the lines, and avoid suffocating the passengers. However, snobby as some Londoners were, they didn’t want to be looking at tube tracks, so facades of house fronts were built, which was just a wall intended to blend in, and behind it, a gaping hole for the tubes. The more you know…
I adore the PC Grant series because it feels like taking a peek into our metropolitan police force, and satisfies my need for fantasy at the same time. I was worried about reading this one because I loved the previous two, and I was concerned that this third instalment would not live up to the standards of the first. I shouldn’t have worried. I had everything I wanted; a juicy crime to be solved, paranormal activity under the streets of London, and a setting I only live half an hour away from. My imagination is going wild!
Publisher: Gollancz
Date Published: 4 October 2012
RRP: £7.99
ISBN: 9780575097667
Synopsis: Taken from Amazon
Peter Grant is learning magic fast. And it’s just as well – he’s already had run-ins with the deadly supernatural children of the Thames and a terrifying killer in Soho. Progression in the Police Force is less easy. Especially when you work in a department of two. A department that doesn’t even officially exist. A department that if you did describe it to most people would get you laughed at. And then there’s his love life. The last person he fell for ended up seriously dead. It wasn’t his fault, but still.
Now something horrible is happening in the labyrinth of tunnels that make up the tube system that honeycombs the ancient foundations of London. And delays on the Northern line is the very least of it. Time to call in the Met’s Economic and Specialist Crime Unit 9, aka ‘The Folly’. Time to call in PC Peter Grant, Britain’s Last Wizard.
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