Midnight Riot (Rivers of London)

The first quarter started a little slow, but once the plot coalesced, things got interesting. British Harry Dresden, crossed with grown up Harry Potter. Good stories with just the rot amount of humor. Well done.

Many time the follow up to a first novel - especially one involving a significant amount of world building - falls short and you are disappointed. Not so with this excellent novel: the story line is complex, the characters develop nicely, and the world building continues. Peter Grant, Nightingale, Leslie, and all the others become a bit more real with each chapter. The plot is consistent, develops the world, and leaves enough open for the next book. A book I am looking forward to reading soon!

This is the second book in Aaronovitch's series. You'll want to read the Rivers of London first -- this follows on pretty much directly. So, assuming you have: how does this compare?

Aaronovitch maintains the entertaining balance between the mundane side of modern police work and the weirdness of the supernatural that worked so well in Rivers. He also begins expanding the scope of his setting, raising the possibility that there may be other wizards out there besides Nightingale and now Grant. The direction of the story has shifted too: while Grant is still very much the apprentice, he is pushed to the forefront more due to Nightingale's injury.

All that said: this is a detective story, and detective stories live or die by their mystery. Unlike Rivers, which was twisty and unpredictable all the way through, the basics of the central case in Soho were pretty much obvious from the get-go and it was frustrating to watch the reasonably intelligent Grant utterly fail to see what was in front of him. It was still a good read, but it could have been great.

I love both this novel and its earlier one ("Midnight Riot" and/or "Rivers of London"). Our hero is a bit of a doofus, but with a good heart, and a willingness to accept all of the weird denizens of London on their own terms... well, mostly, because he IS a cop.

I am very much looking forward to #3!

This book is a gripping read, the evocation of London, the mixture of police procedural, magic and jazz, together with thoughts about race and history makes an unusual and fascinating package. I am hooked.

I enjoyed this story as the characters are likable and the plot is interesting. However, there is far too much going on about the architecture and history of places and parts of London. I as a Kiwi who has never been there have no idea where these places are have no emotional connection with them. I do believe that if you were from the UK you may find this to be of interest though but for me, I am usually skimming through all that to get to the juicy plot where the action is.

This was a great read. Entertaining and thrilling in the right mix. Attention to detail, both real and imagined mean that the book is a pleasure to read for fans of both the crime genre as well as those of us who enjoy fantasy.

I read Midnight Riot after reading a review in a sci-fi pub. I liked it well, so I quickly bought Moon Over Soho. I liked a lot of it, but I really did not need all the sex. If you enjoy wading through someone else's sexual adventures in between supernatural escapades, well, good on you. You might like this one then. I, personally, don't need to read this author anymore.

Having lived in England for a time and in fact been married to a Brit, I thought I'd be fine for this book: car park, bonnet, lift, biscuits, gutted. Got it. I also quite enjoy the British sense of humor, which is a large part of the charm of the Peter Grant books.

Having said that, for the most part, I really liked books one and two of this series. The hero, Peter Grant, is funny, self-deprecating and just a little arrogant. His observations and quips earn him more than one "you're a cheeky bugger" comments.

Two areas were problematic for me: all the London-area geography, and British slang/acronyms. For the latter, I stumbled over words like navvies, blagger, chavs and yobs. Scarpered, knackered and boldored could be figured out by context, but IPS, YFKM, and IRV could not. If you have knowledge of UK suit makers and how they refer to a suit that's custom made in London, you'll do well. Knowing the difference between Victorian, Edwardian, and mock-Tudor architecture is helpful (I have none). You'll need to know what "scouse" means and why a person from Yorkshire might be unpleasant to a London policeman. A keen interest in the names and locations of the various tributaries of the Thames is also helpful.

Geographically, well, I didn't ever live in London, so the descriptions of streets, directions, neighborhoods, businesses and lesser landmarks was lost on me. And there were lots of them. Similarly, football and rugby teams' names and nicknames drew a blank.

What was strangely missing were descriptions of the people in the stories. I have no clear idea what Peter Grant himself looks like, save that he's "mixed race." What's his father look like? I get that his mother is from Sierra Leone, but what does she look like? The author will describe clothing, shoes and sometimes hairstyles, but not much else (the occasional "short" or "about my age" is thrown in).

It is these deficiencies that make it difficult to connect with Peter and the other characters. I know more about Mr. Nightingale's suit, Jag and silver-topped cane than I do about his face and build. I know a lot less about Molly than I'd like to, if I were living in the same house with her. (Who/what is she?)

Peter is a little less kind than I'd like, personally. For instance, I wish he felt more strongly about the bad things he's seen and that have happened to those around him. A little survivor's guilt and a little less wise-assery would help him be more likable, more relatable.

As other reviewers have noted, there are numerous grammatical and structural issues, which didn't really bother me as much as they normally would. I found the writing consistent with the voice of the young hero. *shrug.*

Having said all that, I probably will continue with the series. Even though the words and locations are sometimes incomprehensible - and my kindle has no available definitions, either - I still enjoyed the stories enough to soldier on. Probably.

I'm afraid this one wore me down towards the end. It started really, really well - considering I'm more of a sci-fi and Neil Gaiman fan this really got my attention. Magic and an attempt to scientifically examine it.

However, it turned into more of a whodunit, of which that genre just doesn't interest me.

I had just finished Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot after hearing NPR book guru Nancy Pearl extoll its virtues, and I really enjoyed it. Midnight Riot was fast-paced, dry, well-written, witty and creative, so I decided to follow it up with another Aaronovitch work. Moon Over Soho came across like "hurry-up-and-capitalize-on-Midnight-Riot's-success." Characters were introduced quickly but not thoroughly fleshed out and the frequent typos, misuse of words and grammatical goofs gave the work a slapdash feeling. It seemed as though the editor had been left out of the process.

Aaronovitch is a talented and knowledgeable writer, but this is a juvenile tale and I'm a cranky old guy with a shelf full of better books waiting to be read--including the latest Bryant & May novel by Christopher Fowler.

Peter continues to be fun, though some of his intuitive leaps feel a little forced at times. Good buildup of what I assume will be the series plot for a while, but the details of the ending left me scratching my head a little.

In general I like mystery novels I don't think this one grabbed me despite some very clever ideas. The nemesis was poorly drawn and rather an absurd premise. Peoples faces being distorted to mimic the image of Punch. Punch being presented as a quasi-demonic force of nature. Pu-leese... On the plus side, I liked the river gods culture and the way he commented about modern London buildings and also subcultures.

Having lived in England for a time and in fact been married to a Brit, I thought I'd be fine for this book: car park, bonnet, lift, biscuits, gutted. Got it. I also quite enjoy the British sense of humor, which is a large part of the charm of the Peter Grant books.

Having said that, for the most part, I really liked books one and two of this series. The hero, Peter Grant, is funny, self-deprecating and just a little arrogant. His observations and quips earn him more than one "you're a cheeky bugger" comments.

Two areas were problematic for me: all the London-area geography, and British slang/acronyms. For the latter, I stumbled over words like navvies, blagger, chavs and yobs. Scarpered, knackered and boldored could be figured out by context, but IPS, YFKM, and IRV could not. If you have knowledge of UK suit makers and how they refer to a suit that's custom made in London, you'll do well. Knowing the difference between Victorian, Edwardian, and mock-Tudor architecture is helpful (I have none). You'll need to know what "scouse" means and why a person from Yorkshire might be unpleasant to a London policeman. A keen interest in the names and locations of the various tributaries of the Thames is also helpful.

Geographically, well, I didn't ever live in London, so the descriptions of streets, directions, neighborhoods, businesses and lesser landmarks was lost on me. And there were lots of them. Similarly, football and rugby teams' names and nicknames drew a blank.

What was strangely missing were descriptions of the people in the stories. I have no clear idea what Peter Grant himself looks like, save that he's "mixed race." What's his father look like? I get that his mother is from Sierra Leone, but what does she look like? The author will describe clothing, shoes and sometimes hairstyles, but not much else (the occasional "short" or "about my age" is thrown in).

It is these deficiencies that make it difficult to connect with Peter and the other characters. I know more about Mr. Nightingale's suit, Jag and silver-topped cane than I do about his face and build. I know a lot less about Molly than I'd like to, if I were living in the same house with her. (Who/what is she?)

Peter is a little less kind than I'd like, personally. For instance, I wish he felt more strongly about the bad things he's seen and that have happened to those around him. A little survivor's guilt and a little less wise-assery would help him be more likable, more relatable.

As other reviewers have noted, there are numerous grammatical and structural issues, which didn't really bother me as much as they normally would. I found the writing consistent with the voice of the young hero. *shrug.*

Having said all that, I probably will continue with the series. Even though the words and locations are sometimes incomprehensible - and my kindle has no available definitions, either - I still enjoyed the stories enough to soldier on. Probably.

I'm afraid this one wore me down towards the end. It started really, really well - considering I'm more of a sci-fi and Neil Gaiman fan this really got my attention. Magic and an attempt to scientifically examine it.

However, it turned into more of a whodunit, of which that genre just doesn't interest me.

I had just finished Ben Aaronovitch's Midnight Riot after hearing NPR book guru Nancy Pearl extoll its virtues, and I really enjoyed it. Midnight Riot was fast-paced, dry, well-written, witty and creative, so I decided to follow it up with another Aaronovitch work. Moon Over Soho came across like "hurry-up-and-capitalize-on-Midnight-Riot's-success." Characters were introduced quickly but not thoroughly fleshed out and the frequent typos, misuse of words and grammatical goofs gave the work a slapdash feeling. It seemed as though the editor had been left out of the process.

Aaronovitch is a talented and knowledgeable writer, but this is a juvenile tale and I'm a cranky old guy with a shelf full of better books waiting to be read--including the latest Bryant & May novel by Christopher Fowler.

Peter continues to be fun, though some of his intuitive leaps feel a little forced at times. Good buildup of what I assume will be the series plot for a while, but the details of the ending left me scratching my head a little.

In general I like mystery novels I don't think this one grabbed me despite some very clever ideas. The nemesis was poorly drawn and rather an absurd premise. Peoples faces being distorted to mimic the image of Punch. Punch being presented as a quasi-demonic force of nature. Pu-leese... On the plus side, I liked the river gods culture and the way he commented about modern London buildings and also subcultures.

I enjoyed this book but found sometimes it was more about the locations and history of London than the characters themselves so I found myself always wanting more from them and wanted to know more about them, I guess tho that is part of its charm and I'm hoping in the next book the characters will come more to life.

This is a British edition of a book written by a British writer. The many unique bits of British Police jargon will leave you scratching your head from the chapter onward. Sure this makes Londoners feel right in the midst of the action, but it only confuses me. It is not an exaggeration to say that at times the language is a greater mystery than the storyline. Still, it is interesting, as well as baffling. The characters are well drawn and the plot draws you along at a fair pace, so that before you know it young Provisional Constable Grant, and apprentice wizard, has it all figured out.

This book is meant to be a read for a bit of fun and relaxation. The second go around with the policeman apprenticed to the last of London's magicians was like day old bread; eatable but a bit stale. I like Mr. Aaronovitch's writing style and his use of words, but the subject matter a little to frothy to sustain a series.

I enjoyed Midnight Riot, but I didn’t love it as much as many of the reviewers did. It’s sort of “Dresden Files meets X-files” as a police procedural in London. As urban fantasy goes, it is a little unusual. Part of that is the London setting, which certainly makes it interesting to an American reader - or at least, it did for me. Much of the story is an introduction to British police procedures as well as an exploration of the city of London.

The story has a great deal of humor, as told by Peter in his almost unflappable way. His awakening into the world of magic was a fun read. I appreciated the writer giving Peter a generous amount of curiosity and a scientific approach to trying to understand magic - much to the consternation of his mentor Nightingale.

The crimes are gruesomely bizarre, reminiscent of episodes of Fringe or X-files. If you have a vivid imagination, some of it will give you the heebie-jeebies. The B story is an introduction to some of the supernatural elements of London, most notably incarnations of the rivers of London. Father and Mother Thames have a dispute over territory!

I have to give the writer props for making Peter a mixed race character with a fascinating family dynamic (though not fleshed out so far). Hopefully that will be explored in later volumes of the series.

The magic and other supernatural world-building seem rather capricious and random, as did the main mystery. Some things would likely come clear If I read the entire series. As it is, I found Peter’s inner voice and the writer’s descriptions more engaging than the story or the magic world. It was a fun read, but not enough to make me continue the series. I would recommend it to any urban fantasy reader, especially if you like police procedurals and are interested in the London perspective. I enjoyed the book, and I think it’s worth reading Midnight Riot to find out if this is the series for you.

One of those weird books or rather books series that comes along and it makes you think about how the Gods of the past deal with the present.

Don’t get me wrong, the book is more about police work and especially the odd cases. Yet to everyone’s surprise it turns out that Scotland Yard has a division that deals with the supernatural, the ghosts, the vampires and especially the Gods and their territorial disputes.

Read the books in order, as it really helps with character development and background stories.

Triggers: violence, supernatural violence, pranks by Gods and sadly, a slew of bodies dead from mysterious causes.

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he will face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

I quite enjoyed this once I figured out that it and River of London are the same book. Why do publishers change titles other than to confuse readers? Anyhow, once I figured the title out, such that I realized it was the first of the series and picked it up, I enjoyed it. I loved Peter's sarcastic voice, the cast and the introduction to all of the magic creatures of London. Not to mention the descriptions of the city and it's rivers.

As an American I can imagine that Peter's casual references to race could be uncomfortable. But I have to say, after living in England for several years, the ability to acknowledge it without the instant assumption that it is meant to be racist was refreshing. I never sensed Aaronovitch was being racist simply because he acknowledge someone to be of Nigerian decent or Arabian or Traveler. Peter himself was supposed to be of mixed race, his mother from Sierra Leon and his father white English. It's not that it was always delicate or tactfully handled, it's just that it was matter of fact and benign; the character's insider perspective. Seeing a main character of color was nice in and of itself.

I laughed a lot in the course of this book and I was especially impressed with Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's narration of the audio version I eventually got my hands on. The obvious swallowing and the fact that some sections ended abruptly was annoying, but beyond that I thought it was an amazing rendition. In fact, despite having the next book in paperback already, I think I'll get the audio instead.

I really love this series. Aaronovitch continues to build upon the momentum and characters introduced in the first book of the series (Rivers of London/Midnight Riot). Unlike too many fantasy novels, he does not make magic a panacea - there are plenty of real world consequences in this slightly magical London, and characters can be hurt (devastatingly so) without easy remedies. Leslie is still dealing with the aftermath of her encounter with a vengeful spirit in the first book and those ramifications are both physical and psychological. Nightingale is still recovering from a gunshot wound, and nothing can rush that recovery or his lingering vulnerability. Peter Grant, in turn, has to deal with Leslie's disfigurement and Nightingale's diminishment, as well as his own increasing vantage point on magic and its drawbacks (from dark magicians to magical creatures tortured or run amok). Grant has to come to grips with the ramifications of magic and the ethics of those involved. All of these details give the book more depth and allow the mystery (jazz vampires and a rampant woman of mystery with vagina dentata) and police procedure play out as stakes grow. The book is left in a cliff hanger with what appears to be a potential nemesis. I look forward to the next entry.

A friend recommended Midnight Riot, by Ben Aaronovitch, to me as a good replacement for my Dresden Files addiction.  And I have to say, it did a pretty good job. 

The story follows Constable Peter Grant, as he starts his first real assignment within the police force, though it wasn’t his first choice of assignments.  He ends of the apprentice to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale…a wizard.

Grant quickly realizes that magic, and all the creatures associated with it, are real.  He also sees dead people.

The book does meander a bit.  I found myself getting a bit lost at times, but it came together to produce a pretty good story.  I liked the characters and the setting; it’s based in London.  It does remind me of a British version of Dresden, but not overly comparative.  This has a life of its own, with a different look and feel to the use of magic. 

A good detective mystery, with a bit of magic thrown in for fun.  I’d recommend this to fantasy fans, mystery lovers and Dresden aficionados everywhere.

4 of 5 Stars

Ben Aaronovitch's "Midnight Riot (PC Peter Grant Book 1)" is the first book in his "PC Peter Grant" (or "Rivers of London") series. In general, it's very good (I'm rating it a 4 stars out of 5) with a nice description of London as its setting, interesting characters, and a tongue-in-cheek style of writing. As for its down-sides, the biggest is that the bad guy's plan doesn't make any sense. From our point of view, the protagonist's actions in figuring out what's going on are interesting. But, WHY the antagonist is doing what he's doing, why he's doing it now, and why he picks the people he does, are unexplained and make no sense. The next biggest issue is that the magic system is entirely unbalanced. The bad guys can do horrible things with ease and at no cost, and, for the most part, with no defense possible. And, finally, the tone of the book swings wildly. For the most part, it's sort of light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek (which is odd for what amounts to a paranormal murder mystery). But, there are parts of the book which are very dark and nasty (usually related to the unbalanced magic system). Still, the book is well-written and interesting to read. I'll be picking up the next in the series.

The novels in Ben Aaronovitch's "PC Peter Grant" (or "Rivers of London") series are:

1. Midnight Riot (PC Peter Grant Book 1)
2. Moon Over Soho (PC Peter Grant Book 2)
3. Whispers Under Ground (PC Peter Grant Book 3)
4. Broken Homes (PC Peter Grant Book 4)
5. Foxglove Summer (PC Peter Grant Book 5)
6. The Hanging Tree (Rivers of London)

I really had high hopes for this book. Magic, London, ghosts, mysteries, I thought this book was going to be incredible. The fact that it was a series got me more excited that it won't end too soon. I'm very glad though that I exercised self-control and only bought the first book to start.

It's not that it wasn't good. It was! It just wasn't exciting enough for me I suppose. I wasn't keen on finding out what happens next, it didn't make me want to read on. When a strange murder takes place in London, PC Peter Grant, a probationary constable finds himself attempting to question a witness that was...well, dead. Upon realizing he was speaking to a ghost, Grant doesn't freak out and run, but continues questioning this man. His colleague and friend PC Leslie May, doesn't quite take him seriously when he tells her what happened and accuses him of not having the right attentive skills for detail to be a good cop. However, when Chief Inspector Nightingale hears about Grant's "abilities", he takes him as a wizard trainee and Grant suddenly escapes a desk job and becomes a Detective working under Nightingale.

Thus begins hours of training sessions where Grant studies and learns different spells, as well as the continuous investigations to try and find out who is committing all these murders across London with the strange face-shifting.

Throughout we meet different characters, wizards, witches, vampires, godesses, etc, but it always seemed to fall a little short for me. I appreciated the twist at the end, I don't think I saw that one coming, although maybe if I was focusing a little more I would have. All in all, a very solid read, it just doesn't make me want to read the next book, or find out what happens next. The mystery was interesting to a certain extent, but it felt like it lost its wind towards the end.

Obviously the series has a huge fan base, so I doubt my review is going to make much of a difference. I just had a different experience than most readers.

While the first novel, Rivers of London, was an interesting read (just shy of 4 stars), Moon over Soho falls short in so many areas.

RoL introduced interesting characters (unfortunately, undeveloped in the next book), a good story with parallel story arcs that add flavor and diversity, and an interesting magic concept. The main character is a London cop, slightly misfit and out-of-place, struggling to adapt to the strangeness of modern day magic vs criminal science.

Moon over Soho, however, gives us flat characters (all the good ones from RoL are underdeveloped or left out - Molly, Lesley, Nightingale, the Thames goddesses ...), lack of elaboration of the interesting bits (the magic world of London, for instance) and a very boring mystery: main character chases killer by going from murder point A to murder point B to point C .. and sniffing for vestigia, ie the magic that rubs off on things, with little else. In between, the reader gets a detailed google maps description of the full itinerary: cross Bond street, turn Piccadilly corner, pass the Ox Tail pub, stop at the intersection with Thames Junction (names made up, of course!)... and on and on and on. It gets mind-numbingly boring after the fourth trip and nth street name.

And although Aaranovitch can write well, Moon over Soho loses RoL's straightforward freshness, and gets excessively convoluted. And tries a little too hard to be funny at times.

A missed opportunity in my opinion.

PD: and then there's the utterly juvenile testosterone level that the author has. Every girl has a tight sweater, swinging buttocks or a sexy casual attitude --- the first sex scene was probably written by Aaranovitch's 15 y.o. nephew after reading Hustler's letters to the editor. Oh, cool, the bobbie can have sex for over an hour, come 3 times with no refractory period, and have the girl gasp “wow, you can go on forever” as the moon glistens on her sweaty body… you get the picture.

It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. I found it entertaining enough, but I won’t be picking up the sequel.

Midnight Riot’s is a police procedural sort of urban fantasy, the sort I’ve been keeping an eye out for after reading London Falling earlier this year. The tag line is a familiar one: rookie cop faces bad job prospects until a mysterious murder reveals that magic is real and he has the sight. From there, Peter Grant, our narrator, is introduced to the police department in charge of all things magical. The department’s almost dead, and its only employee is Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who promptly takes Peter Grant on as an apprentice. Together with Nightingale and fellow police officer Leslie, Peter investigates the wave of unusual murders hitting London.

As I said earlier, it wasn’t all bad. There were some funny lines, and the set up of the murders were interesting. I also liked some of the detecting bits. The hero’s also mixed race, which is a change from the run of the mill urban fantasy detective. However, I had issues with the plot and pacing and some of the narration regarding women.

The mystery aspect didn’t pick up until half way through. Yes, there were murders happening, but the reaction seemed to be “Gee, look! Another dead guy with a rearranged face!” I’m not sure what sort of investigating they could have been doing at that point, but I think there needed to be something more.

I also kept assuming that the different plot threads – the mysterious murders and the feud between Father Thames and Mother Thames would come together somehow, which they didn’t. The book would have been a lot better if it integrated the two plots or just focused on the mystery instead. As it was, I think the mystery was underdeveloped.

The female characters themselves may be competent (this one’s still up for grabs), but the narration regarding the two main ones (Leslie and Beverly) was tiring. The attention kept being brought back to how sexually attractive they were, and I really didn’t need to read about how Peter had had a sexual dream or erection or whatever. There was a bit in the last chapter that was really squicky and not at all related to the plot or characters.

I’m not highly recommending this one. If you want to check it out, I’d suggest getting it from the library first.

Originally posted on <a href=http://theillustratedpage.wordpress.com/2014/08/16/review-of-midnight-riot-rivers-of-london-by-ben-aaronovitch/#more-274>The Illustrated Page.</a>

I ran across "Rivers of London" in a London bookshop within spitting distance of a river. I haven't looked back. I have read all 3 in the series, and they've preserved my sanity throughout the summer.

Other can summarize the premise in greater detail, but briefly: Peter Grant is a constable in London's Met who gets hooked up with the only Chief Inspector on the force who still deals with--and practices--magic. Everyone else on the force views them with deep suspicion, but the adventures ensue as they are called in to help investigate any time something seems especially wierd about murders or mayhem in metropolitan London.

In the wrong hands, this premise could lead to a dreary over-worked version of "Harry Potter Becomes a Policeman." But it doesn't. The author is a FABULOUS writer. Its an extremely tongue-in-cheek and funny commentary on London Life, modern trends and the tribulations of being a junior cop with a strange specialty that immediately makes you an outcast. It has a fantasy element interwoven in it that helps drive the plot, but honestly, even without the fantasy aspect, Peter Grant would be very very entertaining. As the first person narrator, he is self-effacing and under no delusions about his own blindspots, weaknesses, and tendencies. Many of these (and his inability to transcend them) helps drive a lot of the plot as well.

I highly recommend the series of the 3 that have been published so far. Some knowledge of London is probably a plus, but definitely not a prerequisite to enjoy.

What a fun read! A London police officer stumbles on a magical world where ghosts, gods, and magic exist when he takes a statement from a ghost who witnessed a murder in Covent Garden. Contemporary London, magic, mythology, history – this book contains all of my favorite things! These elements seamlessly blend together rather than feeling shoehorned in. The main character reminds me a little bit of Cromoran Strike from Robert Galbraith’s novels, but with more optimism and curiosity about the world. Despite the magical elements it is essentially a murder mystery. There are the requisite twists and turns as the investigation runs its course, none of which I saw coming, and a satisfying ending. I was thrilled to discover that there are at least six books in the series thus far. I cannot wait to read the next one!

Second in the PC Peter Grant urban fantasy detective series and revolving around Peter, a police constable who has become an apprentice in magic. It really should be a "6".

My Take
I can't help but love the PC Peter Grant series. Aaronovitch has the slyest sense of humor, and you can't help laughing your way through.
"…the planning department of the London County Council, whose unofficial motto was Finishing What the Luftwaffe Started…"
Peter is a typical guy who wants to shag the bird, has family issues, and is struggling with police bureaucracy. The bird is usually a river goddess or some other supernatural. His family consists of a heroin-addicted, jazz-playing father and his Fula mother with her widely extended Sierra Leonean family. The police issues are the typical ones found in any mystery novel, but with that twist of magic about which no one wants to know.
"It had the surprising heft of a 78, much heavier than an LP; anyone weaned exclusively on CDs probably wouldn't have been able to lift it."
Peter talks about his dad a lot. The drugs and alcohol. The heroin. The number of times his dad almost made it. His mother is the one who makes me laugh. She's a typical mom with an obsession for relatives, no matter how remote. Then there's the home cooking that reflects her origins. It makes for a nice twist on the usual protagonist background.
"I mean, I have my problems with the New Thing and the rest of the atonal modernists but I wouldn't kill someone for playing it — at least not if I wasn't trapped in the same room."
Aaronovitch cracks me up with all the "official speak" that Peter translates in his head. It's all the snark you've thought in your head when your boss is pontificating away.
"…and the clever people at CERN are smashing particles together in the hope that Doctor Who will turn up and tell them to stop."
We find out what Ettersberg was and get more background on Molly. Eeep.
"For a terrifying moment I thought he was going to hug me, but fortunately we both remembered we were English just in time. Still, it was a close call."

The Story
Being his "dad's vinyl-wallah is how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it's why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognized the tune it was playing."
Nightingale discovers how isolated he'd become as he and Peter dive in, and it starts when "something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn't the first.

It will be old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn't trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus' ex-lover, professional jazz kitten, and as inviting as a Rubens portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure, and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard 'Lord' Grant — my father — who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That's the thing about policing: most of the time you're doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you're doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you're doing it for revenge.

The Characters
Detective Constable Peter Grant is learning magic under the eagle eye of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale. They are officially in the ESC9, the Economic and Specialist Crime Unit 9, a.k.a., the Folly, the magic house (where the boys live in Russell Square) that most coppers don't talk about in polite company. Their primary duty is the investigation of unsanctioned wizards and other magical practitioners. Toby is the dog they acquired in Midnight Riot . Inspector Murville was Nightingale's first "governor". Molly is the Folly's housekeeper, cook, and rodent exterminator. She terrifies Peter with all those teeth and her preference for raw meat.
"Peter doesn't hold any of that against her or 'let her get between me and the exit'."
Harold Postmartin, DPhil, FRS, is the curator of special collections at the Bodleian Library in Oxford — and the magical archivist. Frank Caffrey is their fire brigade contact, a reservist in the parachute regiment, and the magical SWAT team.

Lord Grant's Irregulars will include…
…Jimmy Lochrane (teaches seventeenth century French history) as the drummer, Derek "Max" Harwood plays bass (he's an integrated systems specialist for the London Underground), and Danny Hossack (a classically trained music teacher) was on the piano in their band.

Peckwater Estate is where Peter grew up. His father, Richard "Lord" Grant, who lost his lip back in the 1990s, is a jazz legend. Now he's learning to play keyboard. Abigail is a young girl interested in magic; her father, Adam Kamara, is some sort of cousin.

London Metropolitan PD
Leslie May, Peter's cop friend, is recuperating at Chez May under the eye of her dad, Henry. Dr. Abdul Haqq Walid is a world-renowned gastroenterologist, cryptopathologist, and practicing Scot. Detective Sergeant (DS) Stephanopoulis is one scary copper on the Murder Team. Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Zachary Thompson is Stephanopoulis' beard. Sahra Guleed is a Somali Muslim ninja.

Commercial Robberies Unit of the Serious and Organized Crime Group is also known as the Flying Squad or the Sweeney. DPS is the Directorate of Professional Standards and scares all the coppers. OPS was the Obscene Publications Squad, the single most corrupt unit, that had run a protection racket for porno shops and strip clubs.

Detective Constable (DC) David Trollope is with the Norfolk constabulary .DCI Seawoll is being investigated for his part in the Covent Garden riots. PC Phillip Purdy is a "uniform carrier" copper with whom Peter had worked. The retired DCI Jerry "Greasy" Johnson, whose beat was Soho, might have been a source for Dunlop. Seems Greasy had some unsavory delights.

Father Thames is…
…the ancient god of the River Thames, or at least that part above Teddington Lock. The gorgeous Ash Thames is one of Colne's sons and the hostage sent to Mama Thames in Midnight Riot . Oxley Thames is one of Father's sons and one of his chief counselors, media guru, and hatchet man; he'd also been a medieval monk.

Mama Thames appeared…
…in 1957 and is the goddess who rules below Teddington Lock. Her children are all named after rivers whether those rivers still exist or not. Beverly Brook was the hostage exchanged at the end of Midnight Riot . "Lady" Cecelia Tyburn Thames (leave off the lady at your peril) is a snooty bitch who went to Oxford and loves playing politics. She's married and they have a son, Stephen George McAllister Thames. Brent is very young. Effra's kids went to Peter's school. Olympia, a.k.a., Counter's Creek, has a twin sister, Chelsea, and they're patrolling the Thames where Peter must jump in with Ash.

The jazz connection is…
…a combination of victims and predators which began in March 1941 at the Café de Paris in Soho when Ken "Snakehips" Johnson and his band were playing. Cyrus Wilkinson, an accountant, was on alto saxophone playing "Body and Soul". Simone Fitzwilliam is Cyrus' jazz-loving girlfriend. She has two friends she considers sisters: Margaret "Peggy" Brown and Cherie Mensier. Melinda Abbot was Cyrus' fiancée. Or as the boys says, "just the one at home". If only she had come to gigs.

The Mysterioso, a smoky bar designed to recreate the old jazz bars, is run by the Management, Don Blackwood and Stanley Gibbs. The Potemkin has a late license. The Groucho Club is a Postmodernist club.

Mickey the Bone, a.k.a., Michael Adjayi, is a one-in-million trombone player in Don Cherry's band. Martha is one of three of Michael's sisters. Cherie was Mickey's girlfriend. Henry "the Lips" Bellrush, a cornet player, left behind Anita Bellrush. He used to do an act with Peggy. Colin Sandbrow would have been the next victim if Ash hadn't intervened.

Madam Valerie runs a patisserie which Simone absolutely adores. Tista Ghosh is the Jazz Section's welfare officer. Gabriella Rossi opened A Glimpse of Stocking in 1986. Miss Patternost was the girls' music mistress at Cosgrove Hall; Sadie Weintraub was her friend in Hollywood.

The Little Crocodiles were…
…a boys-only club at Magdalen put together by Geoffrey Wheatcroft who taught theology, officially, at Magdalen College. Jason "Gripper" Dunlop was a freelance journalist who met a woman with a vagina dentata. He'd been at Magdalen along with Jeffers. Tiger-Boy is a chimera working for the Faceless One, a magician probably taught by Wheatcroft.

Larry "Larry the Lark" Piercingham had been with the Somers Town gang. Michael "the Mick" McCullough was likely the governor of the mob. >Alexander Smith puts on burlesque shows at the Purple Pussycat. Seems burlesque is all about glamor and sensuality. No-neck, a.k.a., Tony, is the bodyguard Alex inherited.

Peter christens the vagina-chomping assaulter the Pale Lady.

Vestigium is an imprint magic leaves on physical objects. Sensis illic is what Peter calls background vestigium . Signare is the unique signature left behind by a magic practitioner. Lacuna is a hot spot of residual magic. Forma is how you think the magic into action. Tactus disvitae is antilife. Think vampire. Black magic is magic used to cause breach of the peace. The Virtuous Men are an American magic group out of the University of Pennsylvania. Ettersberg was the last magical battle in World War II. Hypothaumaturgical degradation is what kills you if you do too much magic.

The sons of Mūsā ibn Shākir are famous for Kitab al-Hiyal, The Book of Ingenious Devices, published back in the 800s.

The Cover and Title
I do love the covers in this series. This one is subdued lilacs with a fuchsia ribbon twirling off the letters in the title. Some swirl up to frame the author's name while another swoops into the black woodcut of an aerial view of London town. A thicker ribbon of fuchsia winds through the neighborhoods, the River Thames, an underlying theme for the series.

I'm not sure about the title. My best guess is that it's that dark light of magic, the Moon Over Soho, that shines forth on the truth and the past of the jazz scene in London.

Yep, it is an urban fantasy and yep we have seen many of it's like both in the UK and in the US. But this is well written and is great fun with a tongue firmly in cheek while not playing it for laughs. The author has done an excellent job with his knowledge of London and merging in a young copper joining a rather mysterious unit in the London Metropolitan Police. Much to be enjoyed here as a copper finds himself an apprentice wizard in the Met at a time where the balance between the normal world and his new world slips out of kilter. And there is a serious dispute between Old Father Thames and Mother Thames and all the rivers are getting involved....Lots in here about London itself which should appeal to those who want more then just a pacey urban fantasy, this is a thoughtful and intelligent piece of work wrapped in a gentle glow of good humour.
It's a joy and I am really looking forward to the next one. The author demonstrates a wit I have not seen in a long time (and often reminded me of the sadly departed Douglas Adams) and I think we have some great things to come.

Peter Grant has come to the end of his two years as a probationary constable with the Metropolitan Police Service, and is about to get his permanent assignment. He desperately hopes to avoid the Case Progression Unit, i.e., the unit that does the paper work so real cops don't have to. His chances aren't looking good.

Then on what would likely be one of his last shifts as a constable on the street, he guards the scene of a seemingly inexplicable murder, he meets an unexpected and potentially valuable witness: a ghost.

This brings him to the attention of Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who heads up a unit Peter had no idea existed. Specifically, Nightingale heads of the unit that deals with magic, ghosts, the undead, and the genii loci of the surrounding area. Nightingale decides that Peter's ability to see ghosts and sense magical residue makes him a promising apprentice wizard--the first new apprentice in decades.

After some hesitation, Peter decides to seize this chance to escape assignment to the Case Progression Unit. It's not long before he's chasing the malevolent spirit of a dead frustrated actor, attempting to negotiate a peace between a god and goddess of the Thames who are on the brink of war with each other, and learning how the Metropolitan Police Service in the early 21st century deals with a nest of vampires.

And of course, there's the little matter of his lessons in magic, and discovering the tricky aspects of doing magic in the presence of modern technology you'd like to continue using afterwards.

Peter Grant is a thoroughly likable character, who loves his city and who is proud of his police service without being either sloppy or macho about it. He and the London he lives in also reflect the complexity and diversity of the 21st century city, not the 19th century city.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

When probationary Police Constable Peter Grant is left to guard a murder scene nobody expects him to find a witness to the crime, especially not a one who also happens to be a ghost. Peter quickly gets recruited to a super secret police unit that was set up to deal with supernatural problems, his new boss is a wizard and Peter now has a lot of new training to do. Suddenly Peter finds himself caught up in a side to London that he'd never seen before, one where ghosts are probably the least unusual creatures he has to deal with and it isn't only humans who can commit murder.

Rivers of London is a fantastic start to the Peter Grant series and I can now completely understand why my friends have been recommending Ben Aaronovitch to me for such a long time. He is incredibly skilled at bringing London to life on the page and if you're even slightly familiar with places like Covent Garden you'll be able to picture exactly where Peter is throughout the story. Alongside the London we know and love the author has created a darker hidden world of magic and supernatural creatures and I think we've only just begun to scratch the surface of what's really out there.

The police procedural side to the story is very realistic and that just adds more depth to the story and makes the weird and wonderful parts feel so much more likely, you'll almost find yourself wondering if the author has stumbled across a world that the rest of us don't know about and is actually writing these books from experience. There is plenty of humour to lighten up the tone and I laughed a lot while reading the story. Peter is a great character, I love the way he's not the best at his job and is completely out of depth when he finds out that he is a wizard. He's much more interested in finishing work for the day and heading down the pub for a pint where he'll also try and chat up his friend and fellow PC Leslie than he is in trying to further his career path. I can't wait to see what Peter gets up to next & I'm looking forward to continuing this series.

If you've ever wondered what a very, very British version of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series would be like, look no further than this excellent novel by Ben Aaronovitch. It turns out that newly-minted police constable Peter Grant has some hitherto undiscovered Talent which ends up redirecting him from a soulsucking paperwork job into a little-discussed division of the London police establishment that investigates cases which defy conventional policework.

Newly-ensconced in a world of wizards, ghosts, water spirits, vampires, and revenants (among others), Peter starts learning magic himself and attempts to find a supernatural serial killer with a decidedly English M.O.

Did I say this was very British? 'Cause it is. Did you know that over there they call morgues "mortuaries"? I do now. There's also lots of other wonderful little Britishisms, some pop culture references (at least one nod to Blackadder), and a pretty good story to boot.

It's a modern urban fantasy with lots of graphic violence and very little sex.

Highly recommended

Constable Peter Grant is back and this time he suspects sorcery in Soho. Jazz musicians in the area are dying; brains scans show they have been magically drained. When the girlfriend of one of the victim’s ends up in bed with Peter, complications are ensured. DCI Nightingale is still recovering so it is up to Peter Grant to handle this one alone.

One of the things I loved about the first book in this series, Rivers of London, was the fact that Peter Grant was a new police officer and new to wizardry. Moon over Soho is a natural progression from that; except that Peter Grant has improved in leaps and bounds. There are still mistakes being made but he is starting to come into his own element, it is like watching him grow as a character.

I’m not sure why the humour has been scaled back in this series but the urban fantasy style seems to be well established and I’m excited to read book three. The series is starting to give Harry Dresden from The Dresden Files a run for his money. While not as dark, the London setting and humour in all its nuance makes for a fantastic read. Ben Aaronovitch’s series may in some parts feel very similar to other urban fantasy novels; I’m impressed with the way he stands apart from the others.

I want to say it is the real English flavour that makes this series enjoyable; I love that style of crime and comedy. This could be because more urban fantasy novels are set in an American or fantastical setting. The uniqueness of the style makes this feel fresh, and then you get all those tropes from urban English novels thrown in as well, like slang.

When it comes to plot, the novel is pretty standard in relation to urban fantasy. I think the characters, the setting and humour is what makes this novel and series interesting. I was in a reading slump when I worked my way through this book. I tried it as a way to break the slump; I was able to read and enjoy the novel but never got out of my slump.

Unfortunately I’m still in a slump, but reading this novel was fun and entertaining. I’m almost tempted in reading book three just to work my way out of the slump. I will talk more about slumps later but reading books like this might do the trick in breaking my reading problems. Peter Grant is a fun character and the series is really enjoyable, I can’t wait to read more.

A friend recommended this to me, and then I ordered it from my local library (are we allowed to admit that on the store?)
I enjoyed the beginning and loved the end, but found that the middle lagged a bit for me, where I had to force myself to keep at it. However the basic premise is so strong, that it is still a four star book. I like both alternative realities and history and this has both in spades. I also liked the character of Peter Grant and the mysterious Nightingale. And I really loved all the history of London and the rivers which felt very accurate (I have to confess I have no idea if it was based in truth or not, but the detail and the grit felt real and right to me, and frankly that's what counts)

London constable Peter Grant, who is also an apprentice wizard, is trying to keep a low profile after "Midnight Riot," the first entry in this witty, fast-paced urban fantasy series. He'd been forced to 'immobilize' a couple of his supervisors who were rioting, looting, and burning down the tourist attractions around the Covent Garden opera house, the larger of the two inspectors succumbing only after Peter shot him full of elephant tranquilizer. As Peter puts it rather bitterly in the third book in this series ("Whispers Underground"), "You burn down one Central London tourist attraction, and they never let you forget it."

However Peter's superior, master magician Thomas Nightingale has been disabled with a bullet wound to the chest, so Peter is the only apprentice wizard/constable on call when a deceased jazz musician needs to be checked for signs of magical foul play.

Since Peter is also the police liaison with London's various river gods and goddesses, readers are also assured of an occasional soggy interlude when he isn't tracking down the serial jazz killer.

The mood of this book turns serious and scary as a new villain, a black magician called 'The Faceless One' gradually inserts himself into the plot. After several near-fatal encounters with The Faceless One's minions, Peter finally encounters the black magician himself in an extended climax at book's end where the identity of the jazz killer is also revealed.

If you are on the look-out for a new take on a genre that is weighted down with too many variations on occult sex and not enough thought put into the plot and what Terry Pratchett calls the 'detectoring,' try Aaronovitch. He delivers on all fronts.

I love LOVE the details on the cover! I couldn't resist picking up my copy of Rivers Of London and as I started reading the story made an excellent first impression. Why? First of all, the writing style is engaging, strangely funny at points and solid in general. This made it easy to connect to the story and fully emerge myself in this urban fantasy slash detective story. The second thing that stands out is exactly this mix of genres. Paranormal elements, Gods, ghosts and other monsters are mixed with a good old murder mystery in such a way that just hit the mark for me. Part of this success is the main character Peter Grant, since he is discovering this strange new angle of the city of London along with us. Did the story drag at points and became a tad too slow? Probably. Did my initial enthusiasm fade away a little towards the end? Maybe. But while not perfect, I still had a great time with Rivers Of London despite a few minor flaws and problems. Between the main character and the mix of genres, I was pleasantly surprised by this first book of a series I will definitely be continuing some time soon.

I bought this book on a whim when I was in London at Foyles Book shop. Being a wide eyed tourist, I was interested in grabbing any book with London in the title. And while I knew this wasn’t a historical book or the like, the little description on the back had me thinking it was a modern day like New Scotland Yard murder mystery, so I snatched it up without thought and it sat on my book shelf for six months. Until now...

This book is so not what I was expecting.

At the beginning there is a review of the book (that I had failed to see when I bought it) that said “what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the fuzz...” AND THATS SUCH A GOOD DESCRIPTION. I wasn’t expecting ghosts, vampires, magic, secret societies, etc when I bought this book. And the way the author blends the magical world with the modern world had me riveted, wondering what would happen next. Not once did I predict what the next step was or who the “bad guy” was like I do with a lot of other books. It was unique and different than anything I have read in a long time. I actually liked the main characters. The description of places took me back there in a heartbeat. Having been to London four times, it was so easy to picture the people, places, events described which made it totally immersive for me. I will definitely be looking up the sequels. I hope they’re just as good.

Peter Grant has finally made it into London's metropolitan police force with ambitions of going far. He and fellow neophyte Leslie May are called in to help when a headless body is found in front of St. Paul's, and Peter's just minding his own business while Leslie goes to get them something hot to drink when a ghost calling himself Nicholas Moneypenny tells him he witnessed the murder. Still digesting this information—since Peter's never been much of a believer in ghosts—he finds himself assigned to a mundane pencil-pushing police project while Leslie goes to the Murder Squad. But that's all changed when he's recruited by Inspector Thomas Nightingale, London's last practicing wizard, who takes odd cases too strange for the Met and who heard about Peter's ghostly encounter. Peter, it seems, has a talent for sensing vestigia (magical leftovers) and soon he finds himself ensconced at Nightingale's home with an odd housekeeper, learning magic.

While this all sounds delightfully daffy, it's actually the opening act to a super urban fantasy series. Peter, the biracial child of an African mother who has supported them as a housecleaner and an estranged jazz musician father, is a good-natured, earnest guy who is immediately likeable. We follow his progress learning magic as more bizarre murders take place around London, with people's faces being bizarrely affected by whatever madness has infected the city. He also makes the acquaintance of the gods and goddesses of London's river system, including Mother Thames, who keeps watch over the city while Father Thames guards its source in the country, and ends up with a dog who can trail ghosts. Endlessly inventive and with a twist that would make Arthur Bryant of Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May mysteries sit up and take notice. If you're looking for a novel urban fantasy series, this may be your cup of tea.

In the second Peter Grant mystery/fantasy, Peter and his mentor Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, are called to view the corpse of a part time jazz musician. Using his previously unknown esoteric talent, Peter can hear a jazz tune coming from the deceased, which tells him that the death was somehow caused by magic related to jazz music. Peter's familiar with jazz after growing up as the son of Richard "Lord" Grant, a well-known jazz musician who's recently begun to play again (on a different instrument) and get off the drugs that ruined his life. When similar deaths in London's Soho district occur, Peter is further perplexed, but gains an unexpected bonus: a sexy jazz fan named Simone who is crazy about him. Tossed into the mix: a shadowy magician who is running his own version of THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU.

I didn't think this story was as strong as the first, but we learn much more about Peter's early life as well as making the acquaintance of his parents. We also learn of the progress of the truce between the rivers (where Peter almost makes a fatal mistake that would have affected his friend Beverley Brook) and Peter's co-worker Leslie's recovery from the nearly deadly magical machinations worked upon her in the previous book. Peter is someone you'd love to know, a good friend, a wizard slowly growing in power, and a police officer learning his profession, and the story moves briskly—sometimes at a racing pace!—as more bodies appear in Soho and police work and wizardry tangle in a delightful combination.

If you like your urban fantasy with a good dollop of humor and a likeable lead, this is the series for you!

(Pssst! Does anyone keep hoping Bryant and May will show up?)

I enjoyed Midnight Riot, but I didn’t love it as much as many of the reviewers did. It’s sort of “Dresden Files meets X-files” as a police procedural in London. As urban fantasy goes, it is a little unusual. Part of that is the London setting, which certainly makes it interesting to an American reader - or at least, it did for me. Much of the story is an introduction to British police procedures as well as an exploration of the city of London.

The story has a great deal of humor, as told by Peter in his almost unflappable way. His awakening into the world of magic was a fun read. I appreciated the writer giving Peter a generous amount of curiosity and a scientific approach to trying to understand magic - much to the consternation of his mentor Nightingale.

The crimes are gruesomely bizarre, reminiscent of episodes of Fringe or X-files. If you have a vivid imagination, some of it will give you the heebie-jeebies. The B story is an introduction to some of the supernatural elements of London, most notably incarnations of the rivers of London. Father and Mother Thames have a dispute over territory!

I have to give the writer props for making Peter a mixed race character with a fascinating family dynamic (though not fleshed out so far). Hopefully that will be explored in later volumes of the series.

The magic and other supernatural world-building seem rather capricious and random, as did the main mystery. Some things would likely come clear If I read the entire series. As it is, I found Peter’s inner voice and the writer’s descriptions more engaging than the story or the magic world. It was a fun read, but not enough to make me continue the series. I would recommend it to any urban fantasy reader, especially if you like police procedurals and are interested in the London perspective. I enjoyed the book, and I think it’s worth reading Midnight Riot to find out if this is the series for you.

One of those weird books or rather books series that comes along and it makes you think about how the Gods of the past deal with the present.

Don’t get me wrong, the book is more about police work and especially the odd cases. Yet to everyone’s surprise it turns out that Scotland Yard has a division that deals with the supernatural, the ghosts, the vampires and especially the Gods and their territorial disputes.

Read the books in order, as it really helps with character development and background stories.

Triggers: violence, supernatural violence, pranks by Gods and sadly, a slew of bodies dead from mysterious causes.

Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he will face is a paper cut. But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost. Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny. Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.

I quite enjoyed this once I figured out that it and River of London are the same book. Why do publishers change titles other than to confuse readers? Anyhow, once I figured the title out, such that I realized it was the first of the series and picked it up, I enjoyed it. I loved Peter's sarcastic voice, the cast and the introduction to all of the magic creatures of London. Not to mention the descriptions of the city and it's rivers.

As an American I can imagine that Peter's casual references to race could be uncomfortable. But I have to say, after living in England for several years, the ability to acknowledge it without the instant assumption that it is meant to be racist was refreshing. I never sensed Aaronovitch was being racist simply because he acknowledge someone to be of Nigerian decent or Arabian or Traveler. Peter himself was supposed to be of mixed race, his mother from Sierra Leon and his father white English. It's not that it was always delicate or tactfully handled, it's just that it was matter of fact and benign; the character's insider perspective. Seeing a main character of color was nice in and of itself.

I laughed a lot in the course of this book and I was especially impressed with Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's narration of the audio version I eventually got my hands on. The obvious swallowing and the fact that some sections ended abruptly was annoying, but beyond that I thought it was an amazing rendition. In fact, despite having the next book in paperback already, I think I'll get the audio instead.

I really love this series. Aaronovitch continues to build upon the momentum and characters introduced in the first book of the series (Rivers of London/Midnight Riot). Unlike too many fantasy novels, he does not make magic a panacea - there are plenty of real world consequences in this slightly magical London, and characters can be hurt (devastatingly so) without easy remedies. Leslie is still dealing with the aftermath of her encounter with a vengeful spirit in the first book and those ramifications are both physical and psychological. Nightingale is still recovering from a gunshot wound, and nothing can rush that recovery or his lingering vulnerability. Peter Grant, in turn, has to deal with Leslie's disfigurement and Nightingale's diminishment, as well as his own increasing vantage point on magic and its drawbacks (from dark magicians to magical creatures tortured or run amok). Grant has to come to grips with the ramifications of magic and the ethics of those involved. All of these details give the book more depth and allow the mystery (jazz vampires and a rampant woman of mystery with vagina dentata) and police procedure play out as stakes grow. The book is left in a cliff hanger with what appears to be a potential nemesis. I look forward to the next entry.

A friend recommended Midnight Riot, by Ben Aaronovitch, to me as a good replacement for my Dresden Files addiction.  And I have to say, it did a pretty good job. 

The story follows Constable Peter Grant, as he starts his first real assignment within the police force, though it wasn’t his first choice of assignments.  He ends of the apprentice to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale…a wizard.

Grant quickly realizes that magic, and all the creatures associated with it, are real.  He also sees dead people.

The book does meander a bit.  I found myself getting a bit lost at times, but it came together to produce a pretty good story.  I liked the characters and the setting; it’s based in London.  It does remind me of a British version of Dresden, but not overly comparative.  This has a life of its own, with a different look and feel to the use of magic. 

A good detective mystery, with a bit of magic thrown in for fun.  I’d recommend this to fantasy fans, mystery lovers and Dresden aficionados everywhere.

4 of 5 Stars

Ben Aaronovitch's "Midnight Riot (PC Peter Grant Book 1)" is the first book in his "PC Peter Grant" (or "Rivers of London") series. In general, it's very good (I'm rating it a 4 stars out of 5) with a nice description of London as its setting, interesting characters, and a tongue-in-cheek style of writing. As for its down-sides, the biggest is that the bad guy's plan doesn't make any sense. From our point of view, the protagonist's actions in figuring out what's going on are interesting. But, WHY the antagonist is doing what he's doing, why he's doing it now, and why he picks the people he does, are unexplained and make no sense. The next biggest issue is that the magic system is entirely unbalanced. The bad guys can do horrible things with ease and at no cost, and, for the most part, with no defense possible. And, finally, the tone of the book swings wildly. For the most part, it's sort of light-hearted and tongue-in-cheek (which is odd for what amounts to a paranormal murder mystery). But, there are parts of the book which are very dark and nasty (usually related to the unbalanced magic system). Still, the book is well-written and interesting to read. I'll be picking up the next in the series.

The novels in Ben Aaronovitch's "PC Peter Grant" (or "Rivers of London") series are:

1. Midnight Riot (PC Peter Grant Book 1)
2. Moon Over Soho (PC Peter Grant Book 2)
3. Whispers Under Ground (PC Peter Grant Book 3)
4. Broken Homes (PC Peter Grant Book 4)
5. Foxglove Summer (PC Peter Grant Book 5)
6. The Hanging Tree (Rivers of London)

I really had high hopes for this book. Magic, London, ghosts, mysteries, I thought this book was going to be incredible. The fact that it was a series got me more excited that it won't end too soon. I'm very glad though that I exercised self-control and only bought the first book to start.

It's not that it wasn't good. It was! It just wasn't exciting enough for me I suppose. I wasn't keen on finding out what happens next, it didn't make me want to read on. When a strange murder takes place in London, PC Peter Grant, a probationary constable finds himself attempting to question a witness that was...well, dead. Upon realizing he was speaking to a ghost, Grant doesn't freak out and run, but continues questioning this man. His colleague and friend PC Leslie May, doesn't quite take him seriously when he tells her what happened and accuses him of not having the right attentive skills for detail to be a good cop. However, when Chief Inspector Nightingale hears about Grant's "abilities", he takes him as a wizard trainee and Grant suddenly escapes a desk job and becomes a Detective working under Nightingale.

Thus begins hours of training sessions where Grant studies and learns different spells, as well as the continuous investigations to try and find out who is committing all these murders across London with the strange face-shifting.

Throughout we meet different characters, wizards, witches, vampires, godesses, etc, but it always seemed to fall a little short for me. I appreciated the twist at the end, I don't think I saw that one coming, although maybe if I was focusing a little more I would have. All in all, a very solid read, it just doesn't make me want to read the next book, or find out what happens next. The mystery was interesting to a certain extent, but it felt like it lost its wind towards the end.

Obviously the series has a huge fan base, so I doubt my review is going to make much of a difference. I just had a different experience than most readers.

While the first novel, Rivers of London, was an interesting read (just shy of 4 stars), Moon over Soho falls short in so many areas.

RoL introduced interesting characters (unfortunately, undeveloped in the next book), a good story with parallel story arcs that add flavor and diversity, and an interesting magic concept. The main character is a London cop, slightly misfit and out-of-place, struggling to adapt to the strangeness of modern day magic vs criminal science.

Moon over Soho, however, gives us flat characters (all the good ones from RoL are underdeveloped or left out - Molly, Lesley, Nightingale, the Thames goddesses ...), lack of elaboration of the interesting bits (the magic world of London, for instance) and a very boring mystery: main character chases killer by going from murder point A to murder point B to point C .. and sniffing for vestigia, ie the magic that rubs off on things, with little else. In between, the reader gets a detailed google maps description of the full itinerary: cross Bond street, turn Piccadilly corner, pass the Ox Tail pub, stop at the intersection with Thames Junction (names made up, of course!)... and on and on and on. It gets mind-numbingly boring after the fourth trip and nth street name.

And although Aaranovitch can write well, Moon over Soho loses RoL's straightforward freshness, and gets excessively convoluted. And tries a little too hard to be funny at times.

A missed opportunity in my opinion.

PD: and then there's the utterly juvenile testosterone level that the author has. Every girl has a tight sweater, swinging buttocks or a sexy casual attitude --- the first sex scene was probably written by Aaranovitch's 15 y.o. nephew after reading Hustler's letters to the editor. Oh, cool, the bobbie can have sex for over an hour, come 3 times with no refractory period, and have the girl gasp “wow, you can go on forever” as the moon glistens on her sweaty body… you get the picture.

It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t great either. I found it entertaining enough, but I won’t be picking up the sequel.

Midnight Riot’s is a police procedural sort of urban fantasy, the sort I’ve been keeping an eye out for after reading London Falling earlier this year. The tag line is a familiar one: rookie cop faces bad job prospects until a mysterious murder reveals that magic is real and he has the sight. From there, Peter Grant, our narrator, is introduced to the police department in charge of all things magical. The department’s almost dead, and its only employee is Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who promptly takes Peter Grant on as an apprentice. Together with Nightingale and fellow police officer Leslie, Peter investigates the wave of unusual murders hitting London.

As I said earlier, it wasn’t all bad. There were some funny lines, and the set up of the murders were interesting. I also liked some of the detecting bits. The hero’s also mixed race, which is a change from the run of the mill urban fantasy detective. However, I had issues with the plot and pacing and some of the narration regarding women.

The mystery aspect didn’t pick up until half way through. Yes, there were murders happening, but the reaction seemed to be “Gee, look! Another dead guy with a rearranged face!” I’m not sure what sort of investigating they could have been doing at that point, but I think there needed to be something more.

I also kept assuming that the different plot threads – the mysterious murders and the feud between Father Thames and Mother Thames would come together somehow, which they didn’t. The book would have been a lot better if it integrated the two plots or just focused on the mystery instead. As it was, I think the mystery was underdeveloped.

The female characters themselves may be competent (this one’s still up for grabs), but the narration regarding the two main ones (Leslie and Beverly) was tiring. The attention kept being brought back to how sexually attractive they were, and I really didn’t need to read about how Peter had had a sexual dream or erection or whatever. There was a bit in the last chapter that was really squicky and not at all related to the plot or characters.

I’m not highly recommending this one. If you want to check it out, I’d suggest getting it from the library first.

Originally posted on <a href=http://theillustratedpage.wordpress.com/2014/08/16/review-of-midnight-riot-rivers-of-london-by-ben-aaronovitch/#more-274>The Illustrated Page.</a>

I ran across "Rivers of London" in a London bookshop within spitting distance of a river. I haven't looked back. I have read all 3 in the series, and they've preserved my sanity throughout the summer.

Other can summarize the premise in greater detail, but briefly: Peter Grant is a constable in London's Met who gets hooked up with the only Chief Inspector on the force who still deals with--and practices--magic. Everyone else on the force views them with deep suspicion, but the adventures ensue as they are called in to help investigate any time something seems especially wierd about murders or mayhem in metropolitan London.

In the wrong hands, this premise could lead to a dreary over-worked version of "Harry Potter Becomes a Policeman." But it doesn't. The author is a FABULOUS writer. Its an extremely tongue-in-cheek and funny commentary on London Life, modern trends and the tribulations of being a junior cop with a strange specialty that immediately makes you an outcast. It has a fantasy element interwoven in it that helps drive the plot, but honestly, even without the fantasy aspect, Peter Grant would be very very entertaining. As the first person narrator, he is self-effacing and under no delusions about his own blindspots, weaknesses, and tendencies. Many of these (and his inability to transcend them) helps drive a lot of the plot as well.

I highly recommend the series of the 3 that have been published so far. Some knowledge of London is probably a plus, but definitely not a prerequisite to enjoy.

What a fun read! A London police officer stumbles on a magical world where ghosts, gods, and magic exist when he takes a statement from a ghost who witnessed a murder in Covent Garden. Contemporary London, magic, mythology, history – this book contains all of my favorite things! These elements seamlessly blend together rather than feeling shoehorned in. The main character reminds me a little bit of Cromoran Strike from Robert Galbraith’s novels, but with more optimism and curiosity about the world. Despite the magical elements it is essentially a murder mystery. There are the requisite twists and turns as the investigation runs its course, none of which I saw coming, and a satisfying ending. I was thrilled to discover that there are at least six books in the series thus far. I cannot wait to read the next one!

Can't decide which I love the most, the author's writing, which is smart and witty, or the narrator, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, who does such a Wonderful job of narrating this story. Great voice and sets the tone really well, as well as the many character voices. I find myself laughing out loud at some of the one-liners that slip into the story.

Peter Grant is a British Constable who is suddenly thrust into a world where magic and other odd things are proven true. Loving the relationships he has with his fellow Constable, who he crushes on; and with his new mentor, who begins to train him in those magical and other odd things.

Bought this on Audiobook, but already plan to get it in paperback as well. This series is looking to be a keeper!

Second in the PC Peter Grant urban fantasy detective series and revolving around Peter, a police constable who has become an apprentice in magic. It really should be a "6".

My Take
I can't help but love the PC Peter Grant series. Aaronovitch has the slyest sense of humor, and you can't help laughing your way through.
"…the planning department of the London County Council, whose unofficial motto was Finishing What the Luftwaffe Started…"
Peter is a typical guy who wants to shag the bird, has family issues, and is struggling with police bureaucracy. The bird is usually a river goddess or some other supernatural. His family consists of a heroin-addicted, jazz-playing father and his Fula mother with her widely extended Sierra Leonean family. The police issues are the typical ones found in any mystery novel, but with that twist of magic about which no one wants to know.
"It had the surprising heft of a 78, much heavier than an LP; anyone weaned exclusively on CDs probably wouldn't have been able to lift it."
Peter talks about his dad a lot. The drugs and alcohol. The heroin. The number of times his dad almost made it. His mother is the one who makes me laugh. She's a typical mom with an obsession for relatives, no matter how remote. Then there's the home cooking that reflects her origins. It makes for a nice twist on the usual protagonist background.
"I mean, I have my problems with the New Thing and the rest of the atonal modernists but I wouldn't kill someone for playing it — at least not if I wasn't trapped in the same room."
Aaronovitch cracks me up with all the "official speak" that Peter translates in his head. It's all the snark you've thought in your head when your boss is pontificating away.
"…and the clever people at CERN are smashing particles together in the hope that Doctor Who will turn up and tell them to stop."
We find out what Ettersberg was and get more background on Molly. Eeep.
"For a terrifying moment I thought he was going to hug me, but fortunately we both remembered we were English just in time. Still, it was a close call."

The Story
Being his "dad's vinyl-wallah is how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it's why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognized the tune it was playing."
Nightingale discovers how isolated he'd become as he and Peter dive in, and it starts when "something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn't the first.

It will be old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn't trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus' ex-lover, professional jazz kitten, and as inviting as a Rubens portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure, and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard 'Lord' Grant — my father — who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That's the thing about policing: most of the time you're doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you're doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you're doing it for revenge.

The Characters
Detective Constable Peter Grant is learning magic under the eagle eye of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale. They are officially in the ESC9, the Economic and Specialist Crime Unit 9, a.k.a., the Folly, the magic house (where the boys live in Russell Square) that most coppers don't talk about in polite company. Their primary duty is the investigation of unsanctioned wizards and other magical practitioners. Toby is the dog they acquired in Midnight Riot . Inspector Murville was Nightingale's first "governor". Molly is the Folly's housekeeper, cook, and rodent exterminator. She terrifies Peter with all those teeth and her preference for raw meat.
"Peter doesn't hold any of that against her or 'let her get between me and the exit'."
Harold Postmartin, DPhil, FRS, is the curator of special collections at the Bodleian Library in Oxford — and the magical archivist. Frank Caffrey is their fire brigade contact, a reservist in the parachute regiment, and the magical SWAT team.

Lord Grant's Irregulars will include…
…Jimmy Lochrane (teaches seventeenth century French history) as the drummer, Derek "Max" Harwood plays bass (he's an integrated systems specialist for the London Underground), and Danny Hossack (a classically trained music teacher) was on the piano in their band.

Peckwater Estate is where Peter grew up. His father, Richard "Lord" Grant, who lost his lip back in the 1990s, is a jazz legend. Now he's learning to play keyboard. Abigail is a young girl interested in magic; her father, Adam Kamara, is some sort of cousin.

London Metropolitan PD
Leslie May, Peter's cop friend, is recuperating at Chez May under the eye of her dad, Henry. Dr. Abdul Haqq Walid is a world-renowned gastroenterologist, cryptopathologist, and practicing Scot. Detective Sergeant (DS) Stephanopoulis is one scary copper on the Murder Team. Detective Chief Inspector (DCI) Zachary Thompson is Stephanopoulis' beard. Sahra Guleed is a Somali Muslim ninja.

Commercial Robberies Unit of the Serious and Organized Crime Group is also known as the Flying Squad or the Sweeney. DPS is the Directorate of Professional Standards and scares all the coppers. OPS was the Obscene Publications Squad, the single most corrupt unit, that had run a protection racket for porno shops and strip clubs.

Detective Constable (DC) David Trollope is with the Norfolk constabulary .DCI Seawoll is being investigated for his part in the Covent Garden riots. PC Phillip Purdy is a "uniform carrier" copper with whom Peter had worked. The retired DCI Jerry "Greasy" Johnson, whose beat was Soho, might have been a source for Dunlop. Seems Greasy had some unsavory delights.

Father Thames is…
…the ancient god of the River Thames, or at least that part above Teddington Lock. The gorgeous Ash Thames is one of Colne's sons and the hostage sent to Mama Thames in Midnight Riot . Oxley Thames is one of Father's sons and one of his chief counselors, media guru, and hatchet man; he'd also been a medieval monk.

Mama Thames appeared…
…in 1957 and is the goddess who rules below Teddington Lock. Her children are all named after rivers whether those rivers still exist or not. Beverly Brook was the hostage exchanged at the end of Midnight Riot . "Lady" Cecelia Tyburn Thames (leave off the lady at your peril) is a snooty bitch who went to Oxford and loves playing politics. She's married and they have a son, Stephen George McAllister Thames. Brent is very young. Effra's kids went to Peter's school. Olympia, a.k.a., Counter's Creek, has a twin sister, Chelsea, and they're patrolling the Thames where Peter must jump in with Ash.

The jazz connection is…
…a combination of victims and predators which began in March 1941 at the Café de Paris in Soho when Ken "Snakehips" Johnson and his band were playing. Cyrus Wilkinson, an accountant, was on alto saxophone playing "Body and Soul". Simone Fitzwilliam is Cyrus' jazz-loving girlfriend. She has two friends she considers sisters: Margaret "Peggy" Brown and Cherie Mensier. Melinda Abbot was Cyrus' fiancée. Or as the boys says, "just the one at home". If only she had come to gigs.

The Mysterioso, a smoky bar designed to recreate the old jazz bars, is run by the Management, Don Blackwood and Stanley Gibbs. The Potemkin has a late license. The Groucho Club is a Postmodernist club.

Mickey the Bone, a.k.a., Michael Adjayi, is a one-in-million trombone player in Don Cherry's band. Martha is one of three of Michael's sisters. Cherie was Mickey's girlfriend. Henry "the Lips" Bellrush, a cornet player, left behind Anita Bellrush. He used to do an act with Peggy. Colin Sandbrow would have been the next victim if Ash hadn't intervened.

Madam Valerie runs a patisserie which Simone absolutely adores. Tista Ghosh is the Jazz Section's welfare officer. Gabriella Rossi opened A Glimpse of Stocking in 1986. Miss Patternost was the girls' music mistress at Cosgrove Hall; Sadie Weintraub was her friend in Hollywood.

The Little Crocodiles were…
…a boys-only club at Magdalen put together by Geoffrey Wheatcroft who taught theology, officially, at Magdalen College. Jason "Gripper" Dunlop was a freelance journalist who met a woman with a vagina dentata. He'd been at Magdalen along with Jeffers. Tiger-Boy is a chimera working for the Faceless One, a magician probably taught by Wheatcroft.

Larry "Larry the Lark" Piercingham had been with the Somers Town gang. Michael "the Mick" McCullough was likely the governor of the mob. >Alexander Smith puts on burlesque shows at the Purple Pussycat. Seems burlesque is all about glamor and sensuality. No-neck, a.k.a., Tony, is the bodyguard Alex inherited.

Peter christens the vagina-chomping assaulter the Pale Lady.

Vestigium is an imprint magic leaves on physical objects. Sensis illic is what Peter calls background vestigium . Signare is the unique signature left behind by a magic practitioner. Lacuna is a hot spot of residual magic. Forma is how you think the magic into action. Tactus disvitae is antilife. Think vampire. Black magic is magic used to cause breach of the peace. The Virtuous Men are an American magic group out of the University of Pennsylvania. Ettersberg was the last magical battle in World War II. Hypothaumaturgical degradation is what kills you if you do too much magic.

The sons of Mūsā ibn Shākir are famous for Kitab al-Hiyal, The Book of Ingenious Devices, published back in the 800s.

The Cover and Title
I do love the covers in this series. This one is subdued lilacs with a fuchsia ribbon twirling off the letters in the title. Some swirl up to frame the author's name while another swoops into the black woodcut of an aerial view of London town. A thicker ribbon of fuchsia winds through the neighborhoods, the River Thames, an underlying theme for the series.

I'm not sure about the title. My best guess is that it's that dark light of magic, the Moon Over Soho, that shines forth on the truth and the past of the jazz scene in London.

Yep, it is an urban fantasy and yep we have seen many of it's like both in the UK and in the US. But this is well written and is great fun with a tongue firmly in cheek while not playing it for laughs. The author has done an excellent job with his knowledge of London and merging in a young copper joining a rather mysterious unit in the London Metropolitan Police. Much to be enjoyed here as a copper finds himself an apprentice wizard in the Met at a time where the balance between the normal world and his new world slips out of kilter. And there is a serious dispute between Old Father Thames and Mother Thames and all the rivers are getting involved....Lots in here about London itself which should appeal to those who want more then just a pacey urban fantasy, this is a thoughtful and intelligent piece of work wrapped in a gentle glow of good humour.
It's a joy and I am really looking forward to the next one. The author demonstrates a wit I have not seen in a long time (and often reminded me of the sadly departed Douglas Adams) and I think we have some great things to come.

Peter Grant has come to the end of his two years as a probationary constable with the Metropolitan Police Service, and is about to get his permanent assignment. He desperately hopes to avoid the Case Progression Unit, i.e., the unit that does the paper work so real cops don't have to. His chances aren't looking good.

Then on what would likely be one of his last shifts as a constable on the street, he guards the scene of a seemingly inexplicable murder, he meets an unexpected and potentially valuable witness: a ghost.

This brings him to the attention of Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who heads up a unit Peter had no idea existed. Specifically, Nightingale heads of the unit that deals with magic, ghosts, the undead, and the genii loci of the surrounding area. Nightingale decides that Peter's ability to see ghosts and sense magical residue makes him a promising apprentice wizard--the first new apprentice in decades.

After some hesitation, Peter decides to seize this chance to escape assignment to the Case Progression Unit. It's not long before he's chasing the malevolent spirit of a dead frustrated actor, attempting to negotiate a peace between a god and goddess of the Thames who are on the brink of war with each other, and learning how the Metropolitan Police Service in the early 21st century deals with a nest of vampires.

And of course, there's the little matter of his lessons in magic, and discovering the tricky aspects of doing magic in the presence of modern technology you'd like to continue using afterwards.

Peter Grant is a thoroughly likable character, who loves his city and who is proud of his police service without being either sloppy or macho about it. He and the London he lives in also reflect the complexity and diversity of the 21st century city, not the 19th century city.

Recommended.

I bought this book.

Where is the imagination? This is a fantasy novel based in the world of magic. But the story line has been gone over so many times its pathetic.

We have the young protagonist who realizes he can do magic & a world no one else knows about exists all around us.
We have the wise teacher. A curt mage doling out pearls of wisdom. He's stand offish and a bit of a curmudgeon.
There is the beautiful woman the protagonist is in love with.
Lastly, we have the story. The protagonist needs to save the world, get the girl, and the three need to form a group for future stories in this series.

Blah.

What sort of saves this book from total ruin is the writing is better than average. Not great. But its decent enough to keep you turning the pages.

Music notes rising from a body? A scientific way of explaining magic? It must be a Peter Grant novel. Peter, or to give him his proper title, Detective Constable Peter Grant is Britain's first apprentice wizard in fifty years. In this novel, Peter comes across an corpse who died at the hands of something supernatural. Peter soon identifies a pattern and the trail leads him right back to his father.

Peter refuses to accept that magic just happens and constantly turns to science to try to explain the unexplainable. I really enjoyed reading about his controlled experiments and scientific theories. His relationship with Leslie solidifies as he supports her through her recovery (she had her face destroyed in "Rivers of London") by teaching her a basic spell that he is still struggling to master it. Not very responsible to let her play with magic but it did help take her mind off her face. His relationship with his mentor Nightingale develops - Nightingale teaches him magic and provides backup while Peter reminds him of his humanity. Peter's still fairly naive when it comes to romance and things have a habit of just fizzling out or going horribly wrong. I didn't sense any great passion from the romance - it seemed oddly desultory.

I'm still not sure how this intelligent and trained police officer managed to miss the baddie as I worked it out fairly quickly. Whenever a character appears and does something suspicious, I file it away for later. Whenever an author then immediately directs my attention away from the suspicious behaviour over and over again, I know I'm on the right track. What I didn't get until the end though was why. This aspect was handled well and made the baddie far more tragic rather than sinister (in my mind at least). The plot meanders much like the Thames with all manner of deviations. I enjoyed these but they did take away from the urgency that should have surrounded the serial killing of jazz musicians.

I enjoyed "Moon Over Soho" but I missed the old Leslie. I get that magic can't cure everything but couldn't it ease a little of her pain? You really need to start with the first in the series "Rivers of London" to understand how Peter came to be apprenticed to a magician. It is also worth it for Aaronovitch's intimate detailing of London which carries over into this novel.

I felt this story was poorly put together. did not flow well. too much "aside" info that wasn't relevant. Too many characters. Too many types of paranormal characters. I like the paranormal characters as a rule but this just had too much going on and was too complicated to follow. Sorry, I will not even continue with the series

Peter Grant isn't a very good copper. He gets distracted way too easily. One night, whilst in Covent Garden, he gets distracted by a ghostly figure and his whole world is turned upside down. He meets Inspector Nightingale and becomes his apprentice. He learns magic (slowly) and starts to investigate some very odd murders.

The first of this new series of book starts off with a lot of promise. Written in the first person and with a lot of humour the story is told at pace. London, as described here, is colourful and cynical in equal measures and that is an apt description of our hero. He certainly is very cynical and he seems a very likeable and human focus of the story. There is a good supporting cast of characters too. The story is told well and the wit and comedy works very well. The observations and opinions of our main character are commonly part of the narrative, although some may feel that it might be trying to be a little too clever for its own good. If you are familiar with London (or policing I would suggest) then you will love the location and way it is used. You will love the observations (take the crowded London tube sequence or the descriptions of Covent Garden as examples) as they accurately portray a weary yet loving view of our capital. Sometimes it seems that the narrative jumps too quickly from one step to the next and you can get a bit lost in it all. However, the overall story and writing pulls you along at such a pace that you just want to keep reading.

Rivers of London is a cracking yarn and promises much for this new series. It has a lot going for it and I read it very quickly and will quickly move through the rest of the series. Its recommended for someone who wants a quirky mystery, quick but fun read with odd overtones and someone who loves London. Its not high literature, but then again it is good storytelling and for me that's what I expected and found.

`'Rivers of London' is the first in an urban fantasy series that so far has four books in it, and I look forward to reading those other three. Constable Peter Grant is coming to the end of his probationary period as a new police officer and faced with the prospect of being put on a desk job when a witness to a murder turns out to be a ghost. But that's not the strangest part; it turns out that the London PD has a special unit for supernatural crimes and goings on. It is staffed by one person, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale- and, now, by Constable Grant. Peter is our narrator, and he quickly proved to be someone I'd like to spend time with, listening to him tell stories in a pub.

Up to now, Grant has not believed in anything supernatural. Suddenly he is thrown into a world he's not noticed before; ghosts, learning magic, spirits of the rivers, a housekeeper who isn't quite human. He accepts it all with amazing easiness, though. I suppose that's part of living in a huge city; you get used to running into unusual people and things. When it becomes obvious that the supernatural killer the ghost witnessed is a serial killer things get more complicated. To add to learning magic and solving the crime, Peter must act as liaison between Father Thames and Mother Thames, who are feuding.

I loved how the gods and goddesses of the rivers - the genii locorum - are still in place, even with modern London laid over the ancient landscape. To me, that was even more appealing than the vengeance story that started over a hundred years ago. While the characters aren't terribly deep- there isn't much fleshing them out- they are likable and I'm hoping to get to know them better in later volumes. The book is funny and exciting. It would make a great series on the BBC.

So have you ever watched BBCA's version of Law & Order? Or maybe caught an episode or two of CSI? Well smoosh those two together. Now add a heaping, helping of Harry Potter (minus Ron & Hermione and if Harry had grown up to become a police constable with a wry sense of humor). Got all that? Well that is the kinda of/sort of feeling you get when you read this book -- that BBCA L&O/CSI/Harry Potter mash-up feel. Only with super, delightful witty writing.

Peter Grant is a probationary constable who is on the cusp of getting his full assignment on the Metropolitan Police force in London. Sadly, his full assignment looks to be to the Case Progression Unit (CPU). The unit where the cops do the paperwork so the real cops can be out on the street. It isn't that Peter isn't smart or capable, it is that he just gets distracted a lot. He thinks too much.

During a particularly gruesome murder scene where the victim was decapitated, Peter is left behind to mind the scene and is approached by a person who claims to have witnessed the whole thing. The only problem is, this person is actually dead. Great, so now he's talking to ghosts! And what is worse, his presumably one-sided encounter was witnessed by Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale.

Peter is puzzled when he gets his permanent orders to see he is not required to report to CPU instead he is assigned to a special unit, under the auspices of DCI Nightingale. Turns out, much to Peter's surprise, that ghosts exist as do other supernatural things such as vampires, werewolves, and warring river Gods. And there is a special unit in the Police that deals with them. And since Peter has shown he can detect supernatural beings he is now a member of the unit. He is also sworn in as a Wizard apprentice with Nightingale is his very own Dumbledore (if Dumbledore wore a natty suit, had a plummy Leslie Howard accent and drove a Jag).

The book then morphs into a police procedural/mystery with Peter and Nightingale tracking down a supernatural killer. It also has a few side plots. One side plot deals with Peter moving into Hogwar---, I mean, ahem --- a magically protected manor house where all the wizard apprentices are supposed to live to learn and work on his magic with Nightingale as his teacher. Another side plot involves the task of settling a dispute between the gods/goddesses of the River Thames. And finally there is his friendship, complete with unresolved sexual tension, between him and his best friend Leslie, also a constable.

I classified this book as Urban Fantasy and really that is what it is. But it doesn't feel like other UF out there at all. First of all because Peter isn't gloomy and cynical. He has just the best inner voice. It is funny and dry and self-deprecating. Also, while there are supernatural creatures, the book marries magic with technology and police procedure. Peter may have magical ability but in his heart he is a tech geek. He loves his gadgets. And part of that 'thinking too much' thing that does not stand him well as a street cop, actually works incredibly well in his new assignment. He doesn't just rely on the magic to figure things out or help. It is new and shiny and cool, but it is still too new to him. So he falls back on what he knows: geek-science. In the end he uses both things to help him figure things out.

I also thought the River spirits were fun and clever. All of the rivers in and around London are personified. The women are daughters of the Goddess of the Thames and the men are the sons of the God of Thames. So we get to meet cute Beverly (Beverly Brook), mean Tyburn (River Tyburn) and others. The territory dispute between the boys and girls (& the God & Goddess) make for a fun distraction from the main case.

Also high points go to making the book multicultural, also a rarity in UF. Peter's mother is from Sierra Leone. His father is a British Jazz legend. Peter is biracial and many of his more amusing inner musings touch on this fact lightly. The daughters of the Mother of Thames are mostly black women, while the sons of the Father are all white. The London we wander around as we follow Peter and meet with the people he encounters are a cornucopia of races and ethnicities. The author has uses a deft, sure hand with his inclusion. The cultural variety and vibrancy around Peter is no big thing it just...is.

The ending of the main story was very exciting although I am super worried about Leslie's fate. I also enjoyed the ending to the river dispute and hope we get to at least glimpse those characters again in later books.

Terrific book!

If you've read Midnight Riot, I recommend you go ahead and pick this book up. If you're still uncertain, fine, here's my review:

Everything that made the first book great is here. You have an intelligent, clever, and overly observant protagonist. His view of everything and his actions are all hilarious, but make sense. There is no plot being moved along by stupid, unjustifiable decisions here, and I love it.

Midnight riot was a little meandering and convoluted. That is gone in this book, as it is much more direct. I kind of liked the wandering plot, but without that, there is more of a mystery that the reader gets to figure out on their own.

Really, I'm just going to pretty much blindly recommend this book to people when they want a mystery or fun novel. So if you have even a little interest in this book/series, I say pick it up. I doubt you'll regret it.

Rivers of London is mainly set in present day London but those of us who have a soft spot for dated architecture won’t be disappointed. There’s enough of it in this book to make your heart beat faster. Did I mention that Mr Aaronovitch even gives us a library? An old one. Actually there is more than one, but he describes one of them in enough detail for me to fall in love with it. (Okay I’m a bookaholic and a history student, I might not be a reliable source in those matters.)

Peter Grant, our main character, is an apprentice wizard and police constable. He is a very likable fellow and great to be around. You really want to be friends with him. There is, however, another character in Rivers of London that I felt more drawn to: Inspector Nightingale. Inspector Nightingale, who likes to dress in an old-fashioned way, is clever and mysterious which somehow seems to make him attractive.

Rivers of London takes you on a fast-paced hunt for a mysterious murderer. As a matter of fact, the novel’s pace sometimes gets so fast I had to reread certain passages to make sense of what was happening. Rivers of London combines a great sense of humor with loads of interesting facts about English history and architecture and this is what makes the novel special. If you are interested in history, but you’d like to try urban fantasy for a change, Rivers of London might just be the book for you.

US title - Midnight Riot. Ben Aaronovitch has an excellent pedigree: he wrote two 7th-Doctor-era serials for Doctor Who, and has written DW novels which I will now have to seek out. And he seems to have been the first to send a Dalek up a staircase. Evil, evil man.

I'm becoming an audiobook voice groupie. Which is going to be a problem here, because the sequel to Rivers of London is not (legally) available in the US. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith has a deep, dark, dusty voice, and reads aloud like a dream. His character voices are stupendous. London being the (insert something less clichéd than "melting pot" here) that it is, KHS has a variety of not only British regional but international dialects to deal with: male, female, other, Scots, Cockney, British Received, Nigerian, more - all are wonderful. It's lovely to hear him switch from what may be his own voice, here the voice of Peter Grant, to the dry light patrician tones of Nightingale - equally natural, equally fluent, and so different from the sound of Peter that it could truly be a different speaker. There is nothing between Kobna Holdbrook-Smith and the experiences he tells of, no evidence whatsoever that the words he speaks were ever such dead things as print on a page.

The writing doesn't hurt in that endeavor. Ben Aaronovitch's style is utterly natural and conversational, perfectly in keeping with the first-person voice of young Peter Grant, his main character. It's no young adult book - the "f-bomb" is dropped liberally, for one thing, and then there's the violence - but it is the story of the beginning of an apprenticeship, of the opening up of a strange, unsuspected world within the common mundane. Peter's world is, if not turned upside-down, tilted at a startling angle, and everything changes. And then changes again. Then gets a little stranger. I loved that he took every part of it, from the very beginning, back to his classmate and sort-of-partner Lesley to talk over, not worrying (much) about whether or not she would believe him. I think I'm in love with Peter Grant (and Chief Inspector Nightingale), but that could just be the influence of The Voice.

The story does a fascinating job of limning the difference between the sort of person who becomes a "copper" and the rest of us. I think it was a commercial for some possibly short-lived network series that explained that most people run away from trouble, while first responders run toward it. Here this is underscored, especially in the first chapters: Grant and May, the brand shiny new PC's, are caught up in the tail end of a hideous incident, and wind up standing shaking, covered in blood not their own, faced with a dead family and a scene of horrendous violence - and they field the situation. And come back for more. Most people (I) tend to want to avoid this sort of thing, and having been unable to avoid it once would do absolutely anything to avoid experiencing anything like it again....

I love how this world, this alternate London, was built. There isn't so much a conspiracy of silence as in, say, Harry Potter, where the wizarding world goes out of its way to keep muggles safe ignorance. (I love that Harry Potter exists in Peter Grant's world. It will be great fun to keep that in mind going on with the series, to try to spin it to determine what if anything the Alternate Jo Rowling knew about real wizardry.) In this London, in this world, it's more a matter of the muggles not wanting to see what they can't cope with (or not having the ability to see it), and the wizarding world simply staying rather quiet and out of the way. I love the skepticism, giving way grudgingly to acceptance, of just about everyone; I love Peter's attitude toward the situation in general and his situation in very much particular.

I love how the British title - so much better than the American - is brought to life. The voice of Mother Thames is wise and remarkably feminine and beautifully accented, and the tale of how she became Mother Thames is a small gem of storytelling. And then we go to meet Papa Thames. It's the sort of storytelling I just want to hug to myself and not let go of. And - bonus - I learned a bit. Going on to listen to A Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England, I could be a bit smug as the author talked about executions at Tyburn.

I loved just about everything about this book. I loved the revelations about what was going on - something which could have been truly awful in different hands, but which was suspenseful and horrifying here. I loved not knowing whether I could trust Aaronovitch with characters' lives. I even loved Peter's ambivalence toward Toby - and that's not like me. I can't honestly think of anything I didn't like. I can't wait to get my hands on the second book (and the third, and so on) - but I wish, I deeply wish, that the audio book was available here. It just won't be quite as much fun without KH-S.

But I have faith that it will be fun.

In his second outing, young Constable Peter Grant of London is now a magical apprentice and member of the branch of the police that deals with supernatural crimes and events. In this book, jazz musicians are dying off suddenly, with a trace of magic on them- the strains of a jazz song popular in the 1940s. The story brings Grant’s father, a famous jazz musician, into the story. There is also a monster on the loose that is munching genitals- and not in the good way.

This book has a bit slower pace than the first one, which allows for more character development- I enjoyed finding out about Grant’s parents. Grant spends time learning more about magic and having an extremely physical relationship with a mysterious woman. His best friend, hideously injuring at the end of the first book, is learning magic faster than Grant is. While the jazz musician story wraps up at the end of this book, a longer story arc is woven in with it that is obviously going to take place over several volumes.

I didn’t enjoy this funny, violent, magical story quite as much as ‘Rivers of London’ but it’s still a great work of urban fantasy.

I listened to this as an audiobook. I had mixed feelings about the reader-- I really liked his voice but he sounded as if his mouth was always dry and he needed a drink of water. However, I am not sure if that wasn't part of his depiction of the main character, as when he did other character voices, he didn't sound that way. (He does a great job with the secondary character voices.) The story itself was unique but complicated. I found myself getting confused several times throughout the book and I am not sure if it was because I was listening to the audio and was multitasking (although I do this a lot and don't usually have a problem) or if the story is really that complicated. Perhaps it was a bit of both. I absolutely love Aaronovitch's sense of humor which he injects not just into the main character but into the secondary characters, as well. I found my self chuckling many times during the book which I thought helped lighten up what would otherwise have been a fairly dark book. This was definitely not the urban fantasy I am used to and I give it a thumbs up for originality. I think I am going to give the second book in the series a try and will try to get a hold of the audio version this time, too.

If I could, I would have given this 3.5 stars but am rounding it up to 4. I felt it wasn't as good as the first book in the series, "Midnight Riot". It seemed rambling to me and seemed all over the place. It needed to be tightened up. For example, how does the Pale Lady fit in? But the biggest problem for me is that Peter got very close to one character without realizing that person was a supernatural being! And I thought he was a very sensitive kind of guy--in a magic sort of way, and could pick up on those paranormal signs. Also Peter seems very foolhardy in some situations. I have the third and fourth books (which I have) are better.

This entire work was quirky, in a good way, from cover to cover. To begin with, it is an urban fantasy (a genre that I am not particularly fond of because I very much dislike vampires and werewolves which seem to populate the genre), but it is an urban fantasy filled with rather fresh ideas and it is a work that does not take itself too serious. By that I mean the author has a very keen sense of humor which had me smiling and chuckling through the entire book, but at the same time has not gotten silly with it.

Now I call this an urban fantasy but that really is not fare. It is actually a police procedural filled with magic, history, art, pop culture and science.

Peter Grant is a young British Constable in London beginning his police career. He is in danger of being relegated to a mundane existence shuffling paper for the rest of his life but just before he receives this dreaded assignment he discovers he can actually see and talk to ghosts! He also finds that he has the abilities to become a practicing wizard and the only practicing wizard on the London police force takes him on as an apprentice. A number of rather grizzly murders are taking place, all linked in one way or another to magic.

This work is rather unique in several ways. First, the author has skillfully blended cold hard science with magic and done it so well that the reader will at times have problems distinguishing between the two - fantasy and reality blend here and blend well and I found that I had to continually remind myself that I was reading a piece of fiction. Second, the author has actually given us a wonderful mini lesson in the history of London, particularly in architectural history and in the area of mythology and fold tales. I delight in this sort of thing and found the author's approach to be extremely satisfactory. Third is the fact that even the author's writing style, syntax and plot development are just as quirky as the actual story. I liked that aspect of the book and it certainly kept me on my toes and the author shifted here and there not only with the plot but with the dialog.

There are a couple of points that need to be considered. First is the fact that the author does indeed work in a lot of pop culture references. Some of these left me clueless and I must admit to having had to rely on more than one internet search. Second, the author uses many acronyms because he is dealing with government agencies; primarily the police. I have trouble enough with American acronyms and until I allowed myself to get into the flow of the book I had moments of confusion. This couple with the author's use of British slang terms may put some readers off. I personally found that once you got use to it, it was rather nice and actually gave me very few problems. I would hate to see this novel being one of those that has been "Americanized."

The author goes into minute detail when it comes to his description of building and indeed, clothing. I personally like this; the more detail the better as far as I am concerned, so his tendency to give vivid and detailed descriptions of just about everything fit my reading needs perfectly.

The story here moves right along. The author has given us some very nice twists and turns; thrown in a few red herring here and there, but in the end all is logical. Overall I found this to be a very, very fun read; the sort of read I find difficult to put down once I start. I have already started reading the second novel in this series and am enjoying it just as much.

There are as many different tastes as there are readers...for me this was a perfect fit and I want to thank my the store friend E. Lovett for recommending this one to me.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Moon Over Soho is the second in the PC Grant series that follows a detective who has been apprenticed after showing signs of magical ability. This book follows the mysterious deaths of Jazz musicians in Soho alongside another set of murders. The same characters are back (minus Beverley Brook sadly but lets hope she is back at one point) and PC Grant also has a love interest. It follows on from the last book and is set a couple of months after that one.

The first book was a good read and almost felt like a young adult book at times. This one doesn't. This is mainly due to the more explicit descriptions (ok they are not that explicit but you wouldn't get it in a YA book) in the book. The procedural police details are as good as ever and without giving anything away this has introduced elements which may well be felt for books to come. The murders can get a little confusing and hard to follow and this led me to struggle at times with the book and getting going with it. However, the last third is a great read and I found it hard to put down. The humour is as good as ever and the descriptions of London will ring true with a lot of people who know the areas - I particularly liked the description of The Brunswick Centre. Its well written and the style of humour and tongue in cheek delivery is something I really enjoyed in the first book and this one.

Overall its a very good book. I can't quite remember the last time I read through the final third of a book so quickly. I just struggled a bit with the plotting in the middle third. This series continues to deliver though and for those who like their mysteries, humour and quirkiness then this series promises much and this book delivers.

Peter Grant is a bumbling, easily distracted constable on the fast-track for a paper-pushing job. His luck unexpectedly turns when a ghost approaches him at a murder scene. Apparently Grant does have a talent - he can see dead people. Suddenly, he is adopted as the sole apprentice of Detective Chief Inspector Nightengale, who heads the supernatural division of the police. Grant is up to his ears in weirdness as he tries to solve the murder while learning the ropes in the unexpectedly supernatural world. I mostly enjoyed Midnight Riot for its interesting world-building and a lot of dry humor. The character of Grant was likable enough - even if he was bumbling - and I suspect I'd grow attached to him after a few books in the series. The plot tended to stray a bit more than I prefer, though. Nothing too bad, mind you, but there were a few moments where I wondered if we were still trying to catch the murderer or just enjoy the scenery. I prefer a little more focus. But these passages were never very long, and the book was, for the most part, quite enjoyable. I'm sure I'll pick up the next in the series some day.

As for the narration by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith...I think his cadence, tone, and delivery was done perfectly for our character. He was so dead-pan with the dry humor that I sometimes only caught the humor by delayed reaction. Which made it funnier. On the other hand, he was a rather loud (and wet) breather. I figured at first that this was put on for the character effect - but then I realized that such breathing would be difficult to fake unless he narrator was really congested. So...the loud breathing wasn't enough to put me off, but it might be enough to put SOME people off.

My only complaint, really, is that the original English edition had a MUCH better and more appropriate title and cover.

If you're a fan of Neil Gaiman's American Gods and/or Anansi Boys, and if you like the Dresden Files, I suspect you will ADORE Midnight Riot, just as I did. Peter Grant is a not-quite-rookie cop in the London Metropolitan Police, just about to get his first non-trainee posting (and sadly consigned to the "not a real cop" paperwork division) when a ghost accosts him at the scene of a particularly baffling murder.

It only gets weirder from there.

Before he knows it, he's apprenticing for a detective-wizard, caught up in a turf war between the river spirits of London, investigating said baffling murder, and oh yeah, learning magic and Latin in his spare time. The Latin's harder.

Peter's a wonderful character - easily distracted, inquisitive, brave, resourceful, and possessed of an interesting little backstory (he's mixed race, the son of a Sierra Leone immigrant mother and a junkie jazz musician Londoner father, and not AT ALL bitter about the whole junkie thing, nuh-uh). He's a normal guy, really, and a pretty average cop who just happens to be able to sense vestigia - traces of magic and place - and to turn them into happenings in the real world - magic.

And oh, the magic in this book! It was codified and explained by Sir Isaac Newton himself, and acts more like a slightly wonky branch of chemistry and physics combined than anything - with the aid of Latin keywords, Greek concepts, and a good stiff dose of British exceptionalism. It's a very fresh take on contemporary fantasy's usual magic-using systems of ambient magic and the like, and it's nicely complicated, down to the fact that "going beyond your capabilities" destroys your brain and magic turns microchips to sand. Yeah.

If you're in the mood for some good, old-fashioned police procedure, a fascinatingly rigid magical system, and a romp around the London metro, you're going to love this book.

As a young teenager I dived into the genre of Scifi/Fantasy. There was a time when I could walk into the local bookstore and say that I had read pretty much every book on the shelves in that section. Then life took over and reading a good book because a thing I used to do. Now well into my 40's I've found the joy of audiobooks. I have a wicked commute, one that would kill most people and the only thing that keeps me alive is my subscription to Audible (the audio book division of Amz).

I tell you all that just so you can weigh my opinion accurately. So my new love is Urban Fantasy. I fist found out about it about 8 years ago with the Dresden files. I'm a big fan of the Iron Druid series but I must say that this is the best of the genre that I have read to date. It's a lot more subdued on the magic side then you get with dresden or the almost monty python esque'ness of the iron druid series. You definitely feel teased and each new magical discovery is slowly drawn out.

This is the kickoff for an ongoing series that has now reached three volumes, with a fourth on its way in 2013. Set in contemporary London, it posits a world in which magic is real but unknown to the general public. Where there is magic, there will magical villains, and so the Metropolitan Police have a special branch dedicated to handling supernatural cases, said branch consisting of one individual, Thomas Nightingale, a skilled wizard. And it has finally come time for him to take on an apprentice.

Constable Peter Grant is our narrator, and when it's found that he has a touch of inherent magical ability, circumstances dictate that Nightingale take him under his wing during the course of an investigation into some eldrich shenanigans. This ultimately involves encounters with ghosts, evil mages, and the quarreling broods of Father Thames and Mother Thames, antagonistic clans of river spirits. Will Grant be able to stop the bad guy while at the same time brokering a peace between the dueling Thames clans?

Most introductory novels for a series have to spend an inordinate amount of time in establishing the milieu and setting up the chief characters, leaving comparatively little time for a gripping plot. Aaronovitch, though, has a deft hand with narration and dialogue and is more than able to spotlight the major characters, sketch out a framework for the whys and wherefores of magic, and keep the plotline moving along smoothly. A former writer for "Doctor Who" (he banged out a couple of episodes in the late Eighties, and subsequently has written audio tales and novelisations for both that series and for "Blake's Seven"), Aaronovitch creates appealing characters here and also seems to have an in-depth knowledge of both the neighborhoods of London and the workings of the Met from the viewpoint of its rank-and-file.

A very entertaining debut, the promise of which is borne out in the ensuing volume as well. Readers of more traditional mysteries or police procedurals might not quite cotton to this, but genre fans should eat it up and be well satisfied.

I binge read trough these two books and I have to say it was worthy, even because I liked the second more than the first and all that jazz ;) Peter is getting stronger and a little bit better as a magician, but he is seriously lacking when choosing new girlfriends....we got to know other wizards as well and so I have hope for the next books, because it seems there are 4 more to read, yeah!

I primi due libri li ho divorati e sono contenta, specialmente perché il secondo mi é anche piaciuto piú del primo e poi c'era tanto jazz...Peter sta diventando piú forte e capace come mago, ma nel versante fidanzate é veramente scarsissimo. Conosciamo inoltre altri maghi e quindi c'é speranza per i prossimi libri, anche perché, siccome sono arrivata tardi, me ne aspettano altri 4 :))))

Ben Aaronovitch isn't really breaking new ground with his Rivers of London urban fantasy series. We have most if not all of the standard trappings after all. But perhaps more important he's doing the genre with style.

Of course we have our mysterious wizards, now including some black... ahem ethically challenged wizards. And our hero quips and gets beaten up in a suitably stoic manner. But the majority of the magical creatures we get to see are refreshingly different, so this certainly doesn't feel like a re-tread.

Aaronovitch picks up a number of hints that he dropped in the first book in the series Midnight Riot, but while he expands on them, he keeps them trailing. And this story doesn't have the same complete feel that the first did. Yes, the immediate case is resolved, but not all of the villains are caught and there are a lot more unanswered questions.

That's not a bad thing from my perspective, since I'm really enjoying the series and want to read more, but it does mean you should start with book 1.

It was also nice to see both the author and the characters address some of the nastier aspects of what happened in the first book head on. Again not resolved, but then... this was something that wouldn't be resolved so quickly.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next in the series. I think this is probably right up there with the Harry Dresden books for favorite urban fantasy.

If I was to give a quick description of this book I'd probably call it a UK version of the Harry Dresden series. But that doesn't really give it the credit it deserves.

Ben Aaronovitch may be known to some of you as the script writer for a couple of solid Doctor Who episodes (Remembrance of the Daleks and Battlefield). Here he shows not only a good grip on the basics of urban fantasy but also some nice background on the Metropolitan Police Force. Which gives the book an authentic feel.

Setting is critical to this book. In the UK it is titled _Rivers of London_ and that name has significance. In the US it's been called _Midnight Riot_ because... Americans.

Not only are the rivers themselves physically embodied in the book, but the locations add character and color. You couldn't simply transplant the story to New York and have it work the same way.

The book is also refreshingly multicultural (appropriate given the London setting) without making a big deal about it. The characters simply come from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.

If I have complaints it's that certain things are glossed over. None of the characters seem terribly upset or disconcerted by the sudden discovery of magic. Similarly they're not as upset as I might expect when things go almost catastrophically wrong.

And yet there's so much going on so fast that these are really only things I notice after the fact. There are three novels in the series so far and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

So this guy Peter Grant is a new plod in the London Metropolitan when he sees and speaks with a ghost at the scene of a grim and grisly murder. Not the ghost of the victim, but an informant who tells him things about the murder which are later confirmed.

But (a) no murderer is caught and (b) for his acute senses Grant gets sent to the branch of the Metropolitan that deals with magical stuff. The size of this branch? Prior to his arrival, one, a Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who begins to teach Grant the ways of magic.

The murder turns out to be the first in a series of bizarre murders with a pattern that becomes obvious to those familiar with the source material; not so much for most Americans though. Aaronovitch eventually lets the puppet out of the sack and clues us in, and it's quite a nasty pattern.

Lots of action, moderately witty writing, and a magical London with a truly macabre menace make for an interesting read.

The magic in this book has an innocence and freshness that reminds me of Harry Potter (I know I'm not the first to point this out); indeed, hero/ingenue Peter Grant is, like Harry, a slightly abashed apprentice just discovering that he is a wizard by nature, though a mortal by experience, and both delighted and nonplussed by his new abilities. The scenes in which he practices creating a werelight could have come right out of J.K. Rowling. The human and magical worlds exist side by side in a delightful humdrum solidarity, which leaves one eager for more cross-over. This aspect of the book is just really a lot of fun.

"Midnight Riot" also bears welcome marks of its other primary source-genre, the detective novel, with that form's charmingly ironic just slightly noir detective, its crisp dialogue, and its fully realized sense of the city where it is set: London. The city's sites--the tube, the bridge, Covent Garden, Russell Square, and many other locales--really come to life under Aaronovitch's skillful pen (in fact, rivers actually become characters). As in the typical detective novel, the relationships are not the focus, so I won't be too critical of the under-motivation of Peter's various love interests. This is a genre-typical blemish on the book, even when, as here, more than one of those relationships turns out to be essential to the development of the plot.

The book is also historical fiction. But who can complain? In a compelling interlude near the end, in pursuit of the arch-villain, Peter takes London back in time. The description here is masterful, truly riveting, and justifies the introduction of this additional formal context.

And yet--the multiplication of genres finally becomes too much, causing the book to feel like a slightly incoherent literary sampler. I was less than excited by the vampire-aspects of this otherwise skillfully executed novel. Did we really need the introduction of the Goth-inspired Molly's possible (s)excapades at the end? But I'm in the generation of the Twilight Zone rather than the Twilight series, so I'm a little lacking in sympathy in this area. "Midnight Riot" is an enjoyable and smart book. I'll be continuing to follow the adventures of Peter Grant; he has made a fine debut.

I absolutely love this whole series & have read (listened) to it twice now. The audiobooks are so well done. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Is a brilliant narrator, great at doing different accents from all across Great Britain. Highly recommend,

Right from the start, Peter Grant’s narratorial voice makes itself comfy in your reader’s brain and settles down for what turns out to be a rollicking good criminal case in the magical underbelly of London. It’s been hailed as what happens if Harry Potter became a policeman, and you know what? It really does have the same sort of laid-back, magic-is-just-another-part-of-the-fabric-of-society tone that JK Rowling managed with the Muggle and magical worlds of Harry Potter.

Aaronovitch has a methodical approach to setting scenes and gives the reader a detailed tour of London and surrounds. In the beginning this was a fantastic opportunity to really visualize the places Peter Grant moved through, but … well, by the middle to end of the book I was tiring of the almost excruciating detail given to streets and buildings. It worked well to set up the story and seriously establish an authentic London, but once the story gathered its momentum the layers of detail just seemed to slow everything down.

I enjoyed the characters of this book: they were a mix of familiar and new. I’m assuming Aaronovitch is building up his magical world for future books, which is a very good thing in my mind. I’d like to see a continuity unfold as Peter Grant gathers more experience in future books. The exploration of London’s (and Britain’s) river ‘gods’ was pretty unique and worked well alongside the more macabre criminal case.

The only drawback, apart from too much detail given to the streets and statues and ephemera of London, was the main character’s all-too-sudden expertise with magic. As the story opens, Peter Grant is just your regular under-performing police rookie, just about to be assigned to a desk job. A chance encounter with a charismatic ghost leads him to the magical police – which works well. However, Grant uses his rudimentary knowledge of science to really make leaps and bounds in his apprenticeship. His ‘master’, Inspector Nightingale seems to be happy to let Grant do all the hard magical work. That didn’t ring true to me. The case is quite dangerous and for most of the novel, the police (including Nightingale) are clueless about who is responsible; so when opportunities arise for some magical investigation (such as trying to raise ghosts in a graveyard) I couldn’t really reconcile the idea that Nightingale would let his apprentice do the spells.

Anyway, that’s just a gripe. I really recommend this book to those hordes of Harry Potter fans, and even to the fans of Harry Dresden. Aaronovitch is quintessentially British and his hero, Peter Grant, is equally so.

A promising jazz drummer is found dead of a heart attack shortly after playing a gig in London. At first, the only odd circumstance surrounding his death is the fact that Peter Grant, apprentice wizard and police constable, faintly hears the notes of the jazz standard "Body and Soul" rising from the corpse, indicating that magic was somehow involved in the musician's death. However, when further research reveals that several jazz musicians have died in similar circumstances over the years, it suddenly becomes much more urgent for Peter and his supervisor Thomas Nightingale to find out what's really going on...

So begins Moon over Soho, the second book in the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch. Let's get the most important news out of the way first: if you enjoyed Midnight Riot (or Rivers of London, as it's called outside of the US), you'll love Moon over Soho. The new novel does just about everything its predecessor did so well, but a little better and with enough new twists to make you wish the third book in the series was already on the shelves.

One of the reasons Moon over Soho is an even more fun read than the first book is the fact that it doesn't have to spend as much time setting things up for the reader. We already know who police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant is, we know about Thomas Nightingale and his secret magical department in the London police force, we have some background about how magic works, we know about the Folly. Thanks to all of this, Ben Aaronovitch can kick the story into high gear right from the beginning, with Peter's investigation into the jazz drummer's death (and into another seemingly unrelated but much more gruesome incident) quickly setting up a few side-plots and new characters. At the same time, there's space in the story to fill the reader in on things like Thomas Nightingale's past and the history of magic in England, and to throw in hilarious side-bars such as the goofy way of determining the strength of residual magic by measuring how loud Toby the dog barks ("0.5 milliyaps").

The cover's catchphrase is "Magic and murder to a jazz beat", which is surprisingly appropriate in several ways. Jazz is a running theme throughout the novel, from the drummer who is found dead in the opening chapter to Peter's father, a famous jazz musician in his day, who plays a more important role in Moon over Soho than in the first book. There's a comical group of side-characters called "the irregulars" who are all jazzmen (or at least wannabe jazzmen) and who will hopefully appear in future novels. Several chapters bear the title of famous jazz songs or albums. And finally, this may be a stretch but the book is written in what I'd pretentiously like to call a highly propulsive style. That's probably not a real jazz term at all, but nevertheless, the fact that the story rarely slows down (and when it does, it's for a good reason) makes Moon over Soho hard to put down and never boring. It's like one of those songs you can't help but tap your foot along to.

Going back to that cover for a moment: the "Neth Space" blog has an excellent article up about the noticeable difference between the US and UK covers. It's painfully obvious they're different, and while the term "white-washing" is not entirely appropriate (given that the model's actually turned into a black silhouette), it's still hard to imagine why Del Rey felt the need to change these covers in this day and age. (For some reason, the store shows the UK cover. The US version is the same, except the male figure is a silhouette, so you can't determine his race.)

Regardless, Ben Aaronovitch delivers another winner with Moon over Soho, a realistic modern day police procedural (aside from all the magic, of course) populated by increasingly solid characters and written in the same consistently witty style as the first Peter Grant novel. It features a gripping mystery plot with some truly creepy, borderline horror elements and a few incredibly tense action scenes. Moon over Soho is one of the most entertaining books I've read in a long time, and really made me look forward to the next installment in the Peter Grant series. Check it out, even if (like me) you usually don't enjoy urban fantasy.

Very good, a delicious, satisfying read. It moved fast, but not so much that the pace was unsustainable or unlikely.

I felt like Peter was exceptionally naive in dealing with Simone; shouldn't he wonder why he had this intense lust/fascination? Shouldn't he be more bothered that her last lover died abruptly two weeks ago and she doesn't seem to have any grief? I feel like most police wouldn't make the mistake of interacting on a very personal level so quickly. I found the shagging interludes kind of distracting, and not particularly congruent with the Peter of Midnight Riot, but perhaps Aaronovitch is trying to expand Peter's life. Still, he's been opened to this world of magic and discovering how like attracts like; it was hardly a surprise when Simone turned out to have very magical properties. I was only surprised by Peter's efforts to bring her into the Folly. I think Nightingale was right in pointing out that she and her sisters are responsible for 200 plus deaths. "Mental disorder," perhaps, but according to all copper standards, that still warrants locking up.

I was most pleased with how Peter interacted with Leslie. The most common way authors seem to handle tragedy in their male protagonists' lives is through excruciating guilt, and by telling us about the guilt. Instead, Peter visits, continues somewhat normally by texting, and then through the phone. He's used to bouncing ideas off Leslie, and this trend continues. There are hints at his guilty feelings, but they do not dominate their interactions or Peter's thoughts.

There's a fair amount of British colloquial slang and police terms, the most obvious is "copper" instead of police. Aaronovitch doesn't even explain in passing, so sometimes meaning is a challenge to pick up. This is only a minor bother, however. Overall, the language is fun, and sophisticated, and a thorough reading will generate a lot of chuckles, particularly in scenes with Peter and Stephanopoulis.

I'm a big fan of urban fantasy. I love Charlaine's Harris'quirky Southern Vampire series, Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld, Richelle Meade's Dark Swan, Patricia Brigg's Iron Kissed, The Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston and Mike Carey's Felix Castor books. So when I read the preview for Midnight Riot, I was pretty excited.

I've long thought that Urban Fantasy could use a good police setting, I've grown a bit weary of supernatural storylines that take place in private and never come to the attention of the police (so annoying and a bit unbelievable when buildings are falling and people are dying in bizarre supernatural ways).

So I was a bit disappointed to find out that the main characters would be performing their odd investigations away from the regular police.

But other than that little misstep, I liked this book.

Other reviewers complained about the voluminous descriptions of London locations, but I found it interesting. I've never been to London and the scene setting made it easier for me to imagine the characters investigating in Jolly old England.

The main character could have been fleshed out a little more. His likes and dislikes, what motivated him, why he liked the girl so much, but there was so much going on that I didn't have time to get bored and that's saying a lot. I have a short attentions span.

But the best part of the story was Peter's development from a bench sitter to a star player. I liked his occasional fumbles, it's tiring to always read about characters who are perfect, you know the type, they kick butt, dress like a badass and all the members of the opposite sex (sometimes the same sex) want to jump their bones. Peter's kind of a dork. He's smart, but not a genius and he's nice and you know what they say about nice guys.

Maybe it was me but I saw a real similarity in the relationship between Peter and Inspector Nightingale to another couple that I love, Agent Pendergast and homicide cope Vincent Dagosta from the series written by Lincoln Childs and Douglas Preston (if you haven't read them, you should, get a copy from the library because I think they are only available in hardback). Mentor and apprentice, the older male who takes the younger man under his wing and helps him to develop his special abilities. I guess it's called a heroes journey.

Anyways, Peter's story begins with him seeing a ghost. The ghost gives him info on a recent murder and the story develops from there. Like I said before, there's a lot going on, a lot of details, characters, supernatural and human and the plot moves at a pretty crisp pace.

One part I didn't like was the love interest. She didn't seem real and couldn't figure out why a guy like Peter would like her, they didn't seem to mesh well. Oh well, it's a minor thing, this doesn't rely on a romance to keep the readers interest.

I was disappointed when it ended but I've just found out the next book in the series will be released soon. Yay.

"Midnight Riot" was a fun book to read, and Diana Gabaldon, the reviewer who likened it to Harry Potter growing up and joining the Metropolitan Police, was so right. Although "Midnight Riot" isn't as rich as a Harry Potter book, it's a satisfying read that's fun to escape into for the time it takes to get through it. It's my brand of "paranormal," which is just paranormal enough to raise the hair on my arms, almost, but not so much that the freak-out lasts for days. There's a little London mythology thrown in, in the form of the personifications of the London rivers, and some magic- not pages and pages of magic 'procedural' or anything, but enough for a reader to get the gist. It's also written with a sense of humor. There are parts that are just laugh-out-loud funny.

The story takes place in London, and although we get a different title here in the States from what a UK audience would get (There it's called "Rivers of London"), there's enough of the London slang still intact in our version to lead me to believe and hope that it hasn't been changed too much so an American can get it- part of the fun of reading a book set in London is to figure out what the Cockneys are talking about! The narrator's voice, and his interactions with other characters, and their dialogue all rang true in my ears. The plot really moves along. I tried keeping this as a bedtime-only book, and found myself staying up until the wee hours for the couple nights that lasted, and taking the book with me to appointments to find out what happens.

Needless to say, this book on its own left me wanting too much more, but happily, there's a sequel already out, and a third to crown the trilogy, which I am about to pre-order, just based on how much I liked Midnight Riot. With Summer Vacation coming up, I think this one would be a good book to take along to the beach, or airport, or anywhere else you want a gripping book to pull you in and take you for a spin.

Despite the grisly, gruesome nature of the crimes and the realistic procedural detail within the modern London Metropolitan Police, the tone of this novel is lighthearted and comical. There were moments when I laughed out loud - which is rare for me when I'm reading. The magical and supernatural element is worked seamlessly into the realistic backdrop of 21st-century London with an impressive dose of historical trivia as well as contemporary detail.

At the start of the book, Peter Grant (the first-person narrator) has just finished his probationary period and is about to become a sworn London constable and be given his duty assignment. It looks like he will be getting a boring desk job, but after he briefly interviews a murder witness who turns out to be a ghost, he attracts the attention of Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the head (and apparently the only member) of a special division dealing with occult crime. Peter becomes Nightingale's apprentice and moves into "the Folly," an Edwardian mansion which is Nightingale's headquarters. In between magic lessons, he works on a bizarre case involving a series of murders and a plague of unexplained violence centering around Covent Garden.

Peter is extremely likable, as are most of the other characters who are briefly but solidly described. Hats off to Mr. Aaronovitch's ability to economically delineate his characters. It's an interesting cast, including a burly & disagreeable Chief Inspector, an Arabic/Scottish medical examiner, two rival factions of river spirits consisting of a bevy of beautiful African women and a band of quaintly creepy carnival folk, and the Folly's housekeeper who is some sort of unnatural creature...

The story is very readable but I experienced some dissonance between the seriousness and the silliness. The villain (when he finally appears) is a bit too over-the-top, and the climactic scene which gives the book its title is too big & melodramatic. At that point I felt the story was labored and I had trouble keeping up my suspension of disbelief. Also the book is very, very British. I appreciate the fact that it isn't overly "localized" for American readers because it makes the setting more authentic, and stopping to explain would ruin the mood. But some of the slang terms and odd details which are part of daily life for a Londoner are completely opaque to this hapless Yank. Perhaps a glossary or an occasional footnote would be in order?

Anyway, I enjoyed it. I recommend it for those who like the lighter, less serious side of occult thrillers and police-procedural mysteries.

I got a copy of this book through the the store Vine program. This is the first in a series of books that feature Peter Grant as the lead. The book was well put together and engaging, but I had a little trouble getting into the writing style.

Peter Grant is about to be given his permanent job on the London Police force and he is praying it's not a job as a paper pusher. Unfortunately that's where it looks like things are going until Peter bumps into a ghost that he can talk to. This is a ghost that witnessed the murder he is helping investigate. Suddenly it looks like Peter won't be pushing paper but instead will be apprenticed to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, a man who works in the supernatural division of the London Metropolitan police force. From there Peter is drawn into a murder investigation that will have him consorting with Gods and dealing with all sorts of supernatural creatures.

Aaronovitch does an excellent job of putting together a great plot and story. Peter is a great character, as is Nightingale. Both of them are somewhat mysterious, but have a healthy sense of humor. The pace of the plot is pretty much non-stop from the beginning to the end.

I loved the London setting and enjoyed how the author incorporated the different deities with the rivers in the London area. The plot was twisty, turny, and hard to predict which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed that the whole murder ties in with an old school play.

There was only one thing that kept me from thouroughly loving this book and I had a hard time pinpointing exactly what it is. I think I just had a hard time with Aaronovitch's writing style; the writing is so dense and includes so many intricate details. Some of the details help the reader picture the story, but others are just too much. So I would find my mind drifting as I read through all of these little details, then have to go back and re-read to make sure I hadn't missed anything while my mind wandered. Because of this, the book wasn't as enjoyable for me to read as it should have been and at points it was just down right hard to get through.

Overall a solid entry into the urban fantasy genre; for the most part I really liked it. I love the world created here and really enjoyed the characters as well. There was something about Aaronovitch's writing style though that turned me off a bit and I think it was all of the little intricate details included throughout; they just drew out the story too much and at points my mind would start wandering. I think fans of investigative urban fantasy from a male perspective might like this book; it really does have some great stuff in it. I would recommend reading a sample first though to make sure the detail heavy narration works for you. I probably won't be picking up the next book in this series, Moon over Soho, there are just too many other urban fantasies out there where I enjoy the writing style more.

Peter Grant is a constable-in-training in London's police force. At the end of his probation period, it looks like he's in line for a long career of boring desk work in the Case Progression Unit, but that all changes when he draws the luckless duty of guarding a crime scene overnight where, earlier that day, a headless body was found lying on the street. While Peter is freezing his heels off in the cold London night, he is approached by possibly the crime's only witness -- who also happens to be a ghost...

Peter is swiftly recruited into a secret department that focuses on the supernatural and magical, and apprenticed to the mysterious Thomas Nightingale, the leader and only other active member in this centuries-old department. Peter begins the long process of learning exactly how magic works and, at the same time, investigating who is responsible for the headless corpse, which will lead him on a complex and surprising adventure on the streets -- and rivers -- of London.

So begins Midnight Riot, the first book in the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch -- and the good news is that it's simply a blast from start to finish. The novel is fast-paced and exciting from the get-go, and there's barely any let-up in the action until you've turned the final page. It almost reads like a particularly exciting episode of a good detective TV series (just add magic), which makes perfect sense because Ben Aaronovitch has written extensively for TV, including two Doctor Who serials. Then again, he also knows how to describe visuals in such a way that you don't need a picture to get what he's talking about. His prose is consistently witty and never boring. Take, for example, this description of a building in London:

City of Westminster Magistrates' Court is around the back of Victoria Station on the Horseferry Road. It's a bland box of a building built in the 1970s; it was considered to be so lacking in architectural merit that there was talk of listing it so that it could be preserved for posterity as an awful warning. Inside, the waiting areas maintained the unique combination of cramped busyness and barren inhumanity that was the glory of British architecture in the second half of the twentieth century.

The novel is full of this type of quirkily effective prose, and the dialogues are likewise snappy and snarky (especially Peter's, who sounds like a less annoying version of, well, almost every John Scalzi character). Combine that with the rapid but steady pace of the plot and you end up with one of those books you occasionally look up from, realizing you've been reading much longer than you thought.

Peter Grant is the most well-defined character in the novel, mainly because Ben Aaronovitch deftly balances Peter's various struggles throughout the book. On the one hand, he's trying to master his magic (there are hints that magic has a methodical, even scientific underpinning going back to centuries of research) and investigating the strange, random murders occurring in London, but he's also a bachelor in the city, dealing with the various young women he encounters, including an attractive colleague and the female personification of a Thames tributary (the original title of the novel is Rivers of London). Also, because Peter has a mixed-race background, the novel gives an interesting look at what life's like for vaguely Arabic-looking young men in modern day London, especially when he's out of uniform. The other characters in the novel never reach the same level of depth as Peter, but then again, this isn't a novel you read for the deep character studies. It's a fun, fast story, part police procedural (Aaronovitch has evidently done his research) and part urban fantasy, but it's best not to take it too seriously and just go along for the ride.

As for the main intrigue, set in motion by the headless corpse in the very first chapter but quickly becoming more and more involved -- I'm not going to spoil it for you here. Suffice it to say that I didn't see the big twist coming at all. Once Ben Aaronovitch suddenly puts the various pieces together (at right about the start of chapter 8), I was extremely surprised and very impressed. Even more promising are the hints that this is just the start of a larger story, as we're sure to learn more about the nature of magic, the history of Peter's mentor Thomas Nightingale and his mysterious maid Molly, and several other items that are only hinted at in this first volume of the PETER GRANT series (book 2, Moon over Soho, is due on March 1st).

On the book's cover, Diana Gabaldon describes Midnight Riot as "[...] what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz." This is a good sound bite and probably will get many people to pick up the novel, but if you really need a comparison, it's probably more accurate to go for something like Mike Carey's Felix Castor series or even Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Regardless of comparisons, Midnight Riot is an excellent novel: it reads like a breeze but has just enough substance to keep you coming back for more. If you've read my reviews in the past, you may know I'm not a huge urban fantasy fan, but this novel was so refreshing and fun that I'm eager to read more of Peter Grant's adventures soon.

Midnight Riot is a refreshing urban fantasy that manages to feel cozy, but not cloying. I hesitate to call it a feel-good read, because then you start to picture the kinds of stories that my grandmother likes to read, but even in the midst of a horrific crime, it still felt chipper. Maybe it's because it's told from the perspective of British constables, and cops have a different take on things. If they let every investigation throw them into the depth of despair, they'd be in serious trouble, so I suppose they learn to be very pragmatic and even hold onto a sense of levity no matter what they're facing. Peter's coping mechanism is to crack jokes, even in the middle of a crisis, and that undercurrent of humor makes this book especially fun to read.

Midnight Riot is refreshing on several fronts. First off, it's highly detailed, and if you love a nice, juicy police procedural with accurate details, then you're going to groove on this story. Second, if you're tired of the typical, urban fantasy formula with a deeply traumatized heroine doing impossible ninja moves, then you'll love Peter's beta male approach to things. He's not a complete bad-a**, or a genius, or a magical prodigy. He's just good enough to figure things out, and fumble his way to the solution, and this makes him extremely likable and human. Third, the mythology and world-building is superb, and the things I learned about London were pretty cool. It satisfied my inner nerd on so many fronts that I can't help but give this book a perfect rating. It was so many things that other stories are not, and it impressed me no end. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read this in my usual four-hour marathon, but coming back to it again and again over the course of a week was a real treat.

The second book about apprentice wizard Peter Grant is Moon Over Soho, and it came out on March 1.

I'm a sucker for urban fantasy with male protagonists, so I was excited to pick up Midnight Riot when I saw it was available. Some of the quotes from authors made me leery (why must anything with the education of wizards be likened to Harry Potter?) but, as soon as I opened the book, I was sucked in. I read it in a single sitting, devouring it in the course of an afternoon.

The writing was light and fun, easily keeping the pages turning. The characters were, for the most part, appealing, though I do feel that Thomas Nightingale was a bit underutilized and kind of a disappointment as a wizard. (Peter was also a bit of a doof, but that wasn't detrimental.) The plot overall kept moving nicely, and wrapped up most of the loose ends while leaving plenty of room for sequels.

The book reminded me very strongly of Kate Griffin's Matthew Swift series, actually, with the central concept of the anthropomorphization of aspects of London. This is definitely not a bad thing as that is one of my favorite series, but I did find myself comparing them every now and then while I was reading. Again, not a bad thing, just a bit of a distraction.

From this point on, let there be a *** spoiler warning ***.

My biggest complaint was the book's ending. The antagonist goes on a Punchinella rampage throughout the book, including chucking a baby out of a window, only to suffer a fit of conscience at the end and not want to kill his possessed host? There's a paragraph expressing Peter's wonder over it, but aside from that it's never really addressed. It threw me out of my reading zone enough to leave the ending feeling a bit clunky to me.

Overall, I did enjoy this book quite a lot, despite my quibble with the ending, and am eagerly looking forward to its sequels.

Peter Grant is a Probationary Constable in London. While on the scene of a strange murder, he finds a witness, a ghost. Later, while scouting for the ghost, he finds Inspector Nightingale. When asked who he is looking for, Peter freely admits that he is looking for the ghost/witness. Then when Peter is about to be assigned to Case Progression Unit, where he will be filling out paperwork for detectives, he is surprised to learn that he is to be assigned to Inspector Nightingale.

Peter soon learns that ghosts, trolls, magic, and wizards are real. That he has been chosen to be Nightingales apprentice. The first thing he needs to do is create werelight along with solve the murder. But this is not the only murder. Peter witnesses a strange attack at a movie theater. Then the attacker from the murder is found in the act of murdering his wife and child. Something is going on that is strangely similar to the Punch and Judy play.

It is starting to look like a ghost is possessing people and acting out the Punch and Judy script. Now Peter has to find out who the next victim is, find out where the ghost is buried, and then grind up his bones with salt to keep him from possessing others. Sounds easy until nothing really happens for months.

I really liked this book. I got sucked into the story. I admit that it was a little difficult to follow because it has a lot of English slang and the timeline seemed to jump weeks/months ahead with no rhyme or reason. Beyond that, I have to say that I'm going to go out and buy the next book in the series. I cannot wait to see what happens to Peter next.

Shawn Kovacich
Author of the Achieving Kicking Excellence book and DVD series.

Biracial Police Constable Peter Grant is babysitting a corpse while waiting for his superiors when a witness steps forward to tell him about the murder. Dutifully taking notes, it doesn't take Peter long to realize no one is going to believe him regarding this witness, and for one very good reason: he's a ghost. And as a PC at the end of his probationary period, that doesn't bode well for his promotional prospects. Worse, after checking out the ghost's statement with fellow-PC Leslie May, the ghost is actually right about what happened. In an attempt to follow-up with the ghost, Peter accidentally outs his abilities to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale; luckily, the man is the last wizard in England, and takes him on as a trainee.

So opens Ben Aaronovitch's first novel, Midnight Riot. Both Peter and the reader get a headlong introduction into the realms of magic as it fits in with "normal" modern life. Both the case and Peter's new career direction have surprising twists and turns, involving ghosts, gods both old and new, and the hunt for a killer hidden in plain sight.

An intriguing story, the first chapter is a bit slow, but it picks up smartly from there. Peter is an interesting character, and it's a joy watching him feel his way through his new powers and life. This is definitely a worthwhile read; a slight detour from the usual urban fantasy stories that is still familiar to devotees of the genre. Looking forward to the sequel, Moonlight over Soho to see how Peter grows and changes now that he's settling into being a wizard-in-training. Aaronovitch is an author to keep an eye on - he's just going to keep getting better as time goes on.

Not a lot of "urban fantasy" is masculine these days - only Glen Cook's Garrett PI and Jim Butcher's Dresden files fit the bill, at least for some definitions of UF. This is more police procedural with magic than soft porn bodice-ripper with vampires/werewolves/demons/etc: I say that not to throw stones at anyone's favourite genre, just to make the point clear. There is no explicit sex, brief (but eye-popping) nudity, and while blood is drunk, its not really romantic and nor is it drunk by a vampire.

So...what is it about? Well, imagine being a young mixed-race copper in London, about to get posted to a dull dead end existance shuffling paper, while your glamourous almost-girlfriend gets a plum posting...and then a ghost gives you a tip-off and you discover a whole new world. This is a London of spirits and ghosts, groaning under the weight of history and geography. And someone is commiting murder by magical possession.

The London here is as much a character as setting, with the various rivers and streams all having human forms (the UK edition is called Rivers of London, the US Midnight Riot - both are appropriate for different reasons).

Most of all though there is an intriguing crime story which happens to involve ghosts, and the odd realistic tangent of dealing with a nest of vampires or settling scores between Father Thames and Mother Thames. Aaronovitch has written an story which runs along as a good pace, and you really don't want to put down.

The sequel, Moon over Soho, is out now, and the next volume, Whispers Under Ground, is out later this year. If they are as good as this, then there is a lot to look forward to.

It is always such a pleasure for me to find an author who manages to write a book that piques my interest and holds my attention. Both are true here because Ben Aaronovitch created something new for me. Normally when I read an urban fantasy book the plot requires that all those involved in that world are aware of the magic components active all around them. In this book that is not the case. Probationary PC Peter Grant had been left to guard a crime scene when he met a ghost. Not just any ghost either, no, this one was a witness to the crime. In very short order PC Grant finds himself assigned to a unit of the Metropolitan Police which up until he joined it had only one other member, a wizard. Peter is now on his way to becoming an apprentice wizard, learning magic and trying to help solve the crimes of completely unexplained violence which are breaking out all over London. Peter's best answer is to use his interest in scientific knowledge and experimentation in conjunction with the magic to explain some of the things that are happening.

I really enjoyed this book for its humor and the unusual combination of scientific investigation paired with utilizing magic. It put a different spin on the plot for me by having the entire London scene be so solidly in the present time, with the citizens of that great city completely unaware of the magic or the horrors within their city. I also enjoyed the great amount of research this author has obviously done regarding the many rivers around London. And to have each of them portrayed as an individual character was quite a successful undertaking. I also want to compliment those responsible for the artwork map on the cover of this book. No matter how many times I look at it I keep finding names of areas or a street that I recognize. I have to admit that, as an American, there were just a few times when I felt a little lost because I didn't understand some of the English slang or references, but it was certainly not anything that kept me from enjoying the novel. Book two, Moon Over Soho, is next in the series and if this one is anything to go by it should be another fascinating reading experience.

I'm not normally interested in paranormal mysteries at all, hated Harry Potter, don't like the Dresden books, iffy about Dr. Who. But the first book, Midnight Riot, was highly recommended by someone whose opinion I trust. What a delight to read. I laughed out loud many times at Peter's wry, self-aware comments about the Met and humankind. Peter is charming and intelligent and tells a good story. The descriptions of London, the rivers, the buildings, make you want to visit or re-visit them to see them through his eyes. Aaranovitch makes London magical on many levels.

Before I was even halfway through Midnight Riot, I got the rest of the series and read them in one delightful long weekend, where dishes didn't get done and meals weren't made.

Do read these books in order, though.

I'm not normally interested in paranormal mysteries at all, hated Harry Potter, don't like the Dresden books, iffy about Dr. Who. But the first book, Midnight Riot, was highly recommended by someone whose opinion I trust. What a delight to read. I laughed out loud many times at Peter's wry, self-aware comments about the Met and humankind. Peter is charming and intelligent and tells a good story. The descriptions of London, the rivers, the buildings, make you want to visit or re-visit them to see them through his eyes. Aaranovitch makes London magical on many levels.

Before I was even halfway through Midnight Riot, I got the rest of the series and read them in one delightful long weekend, where dishes didn't get done and meals weren't made.

Do read these books in order, though.

Peter Grant is a bumbling, easily distracted constable on the fast-track for a paper-pushing job. His luck unexpectedly turns when a ghost approaches him at a murder scene. Apparently Grant does have a talent - he can see dead people. Suddenly, he is adopted as the sole apprentice of Detective Chief Inspector Nightengale, who heads the supernatural division of the police. Grant is up to his ears in weirdness as he tries to solve the murder while learning the ropes in the unexpectedly supernatural world. I mostly enjoyed Midnight Riot for its interesting world-building and a lot of dry humor. The character of Grant was likable enough - even if he was bumbling - and I suspect I'd grow attached to him after a few books in the series. The plot tended to stray a bit more than I prefer, though. Nothing too bad, mind you, but there were a few moments where I wondered if we were still trying to catch the murderer or just enjoy the scenery. I prefer a little more focus. But these passages were never very long, and the book was, for the most part, quite enjoyable. I'm sure I'll pick up the next in the series some day.

As for the narration by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith...I think his cadence, tone, and delivery was done perfectly for our character. He was so dead-pan with the dry humor that I sometimes only caught the humor by delayed reaction. Which made it funnier. On the other hand, he was a rather loud (and wet) breather. I figured at first that this was put on for the character effect - but then I realized that such breathing would be difficult to fake unless he narrator was really congested. So...the loud breathing wasn't enough to put me off, but it might be enough to put SOME people off.

My only complaint, really, is that the original English edition had a MUCH better and more appropriate title and cover.

If you're a fan of Neil Gaiman's American Gods and/or Anansi Boys, and if you like the Dresden Files, I suspect you will ADORE Midnight Riot, just as I did. Peter Grant is a not-quite-rookie cop in the London Metropolitan Police, just about to get his first non-trainee posting (and sadly consigned to the "not a real cop" paperwork division) when a ghost accosts him at the scene of a particularly baffling murder.

It only gets weirder from there.

Before he knows it, he's apprenticing for a detective-wizard, caught up in a turf war between the river spirits of London, investigating said baffling murder, and oh yeah, learning magic and Latin in his spare time. The Latin's harder.

Peter's a wonderful character - easily distracted, inquisitive, brave, resourceful, and possessed of an interesting little backstory (he's mixed race, the son of a Sierra Leone immigrant mother and a junkie jazz musician Londoner father, and not AT ALL bitter about the whole junkie thing, nuh-uh). He's a normal guy, really, and a pretty average cop who just happens to be able to sense vestigia - traces of magic and place - and to turn them into happenings in the real world - magic.

And oh, the magic in this book! It was codified and explained by Sir Isaac Newton himself, and acts more like a slightly wonky branch of chemistry and physics combined than anything - with the aid of Latin keywords, Greek concepts, and a good stiff dose of British exceptionalism. It's a very fresh take on contemporary fantasy's usual magic-using systems of ambient magic and the like, and it's nicely complicated, down to the fact that "going beyond your capabilities" destroys your brain and magic turns microchips to sand. Yeah.

If you're in the mood for some good, old-fashioned police procedure, a fascinatingly rigid magical system, and a romp around the London metro, you're going to love this book.

As a young teenager I dived into the genre of Scifi/Fantasy. There was a time when I could walk into the local bookstore and say that I had read pretty much every book on the shelves in that section. Then life took over and reading a good book because a thing I used to do. Now well into my 40's I've found the joy of audiobooks. I have a wicked commute, one that would kill most people and the only thing that keeps me alive is my subscription to Audible (the audio book division of Amz).

I tell you all that just so you can weigh my opinion accurately. So my new love is Urban Fantasy. I fist found out about it about 8 years ago with the Dresden files. I'm a big fan of the Iron Druid series but I must say that this is the best of the genre that I have read to date. It's a lot more subdued on the magic side then you get with dresden or the almost monty python esque'ness of the iron druid series. You definitely feel teased and each new magical discovery is slowly drawn out.

This is the kickoff for an ongoing series that has now reached three volumes, with a fourth on its way in 2013. Set in contemporary London, it posits a world in which magic is real but unknown to the general public. Where there is magic, there will magical villains, and so the Metropolitan Police have a special branch dedicated to handling supernatural cases, said branch consisting of one individual, Thomas Nightingale, a skilled wizard. And it has finally come time for him to take on an apprentice.

Constable Peter Grant is our narrator, and when it's found that he has a touch of inherent magical ability, circumstances dictate that Nightingale take him under his wing during the course of an investigation into some eldrich shenanigans. This ultimately involves encounters with ghosts, evil mages, and the quarreling broods of Father Thames and Mother Thames, antagonistic clans of river spirits. Will Grant be able to stop the bad guy while at the same time brokering a peace between the dueling Thames clans?

Most introductory novels for a series have to spend an inordinate amount of time in establishing the milieu and setting up the chief characters, leaving comparatively little time for a gripping plot. Aaronovitch, though, has a deft hand with narration and dialogue and is more than able to spotlight the major characters, sketch out a framework for the whys and wherefores of magic, and keep the plotline moving along smoothly. A former writer for "Doctor Who" (he banged out a couple of episodes in the late Eighties, and subsequently has written audio tales and novelisations for both that series and for "Blake's Seven"), Aaronovitch creates appealing characters here and also seems to have an in-depth knowledge of both the neighborhoods of London and the workings of the Met from the viewpoint of its rank-and-file.

A very entertaining debut, the promise of which is borne out in the ensuing volume as well. Readers of more traditional mysteries or police procedurals might not quite cotton to this, but genre fans should eat it up and be well satisfied.

I binge read trough these two books and I have to say it was worthy, even because I liked the second more than the first and all that jazz ;) Peter is getting stronger and a little bit better as a magician, but he is seriously lacking when choosing new girlfriends....we got to know other wizards as well and so I have hope for the next books, because it seems there are 4 more to read, yeah!

I primi due libri li ho divorati e sono contenta, specialmente perché il secondo mi é anche piaciuto piú del primo e poi c'era tanto jazz...Peter sta diventando piú forte e capace come mago, ma nel versante fidanzate é veramente scarsissimo. Conosciamo inoltre altri maghi e quindi c'é speranza per i prossimi libri, anche perché, siccome sono arrivata tardi, me ne aspettano altri 4 :))))

Ben Aaronovitch isn't really breaking new ground with his Rivers of London urban fantasy series. We have most if not all of the standard trappings after all. But perhaps more important he's doing the genre with style.

Of course we have our mysterious wizards, now including some black... ahem ethically challenged wizards. And our hero quips and gets beaten up in a suitably stoic manner. But the majority of the magical creatures we get to see are refreshingly different, so this certainly doesn't feel like a re-tread.

Aaronovitch picks up a number of hints that he dropped in the first book in the series Midnight Riot, but while he expands on them, he keeps them trailing. And this story doesn't have the same complete feel that the first did. Yes, the immediate case is resolved, but not all of the villains are caught and there are a lot more unanswered questions.

That's not a bad thing from my perspective, since I'm really enjoying the series and want to read more, but it does mean you should start with book 1.

It was also nice to see both the author and the characters address some of the nastier aspects of what happened in the first book head on. Again not resolved, but then... this was something that wouldn't be resolved so quickly.

I'm really looking forward to reading the next in the series. I think this is probably right up there with the Harry Dresden books for favorite urban fantasy.

If I was to give a quick description of this book I'd probably call it a UK version of the Harry Dresden series. But that doesn't really give it the credit it deserves.

Ben Aaronovitch may be known to some of you as the script writer for a couple of solid Doctor Who episodes (Remembrance of the Daleks and Battlefield). Here he shows not only a good grip on the basics of urban fantasy but also some nice background on the Metropolitan Police Force. Which gives the book an authentic feel.

Setting is critical to this book. In the UK it is titled _Rivers of London_ and that name has significance. In the US it's been called _Midnight Riot_ because... Americans.

Not only are the rivers themselves physically embodied in the book, but the locations add character and color. You couldn't simply transplant the story to New York and have it work the same way.

The book is also refreshingly multicultural (appropriate given the London setting) without making a big deal about it. The characters simply come from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds.

If I have complaints it's that certain things are glossed over. None of the characters seem terribly upset or disconcerted by the sudden discovery of magic. Similarly they're not as upset as I might expect when things go almost catastrophically wrong.

And yet there's so much going on so fast that these are really only things I notice after the fact. There are three novels in the series so far and I'm looking forward to reading the next one.

So this guy Peter Grant is a new plod in the London Metropolitan when he sees and speaks with a ghost at the scene of a grim and grisly murder. Not the ghost of the victim, but an informant who tells him things about the murder which are later confirmed.

But (a) no murderer is caught and (b) for his acute senses Grant gets sent to the branch of the Metropolitan that deals with magical stuff. The size of this branch? Prior to his arrival, one, a Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who begins to teach Grant the ways of magic.

The murder turns out to be the first in a series of bizarre murders with a pattern that becomes obvious to those familiar with the source material; not so much for most Americans though. Aaronovitch eventually lets the puppet out of the sack and clues us in, and it's quite a nasty pattern.

Lots of action, moderately witty writing, and a magical London with a truly macabre menace make for an interesting read.

The magic in this book has an innocence and freshness that reminds me of Harry Potter (I know I'm not the first to point this out); indeed, hero/ingenue Peter Grant is, like Harry, a slightly abashed apprentice just discovering that he is a wizard by nature, though a mortal by experience, and both delighted and nonplussed by his new abilities. The scenes in which he practices creating a werelight could have come right out of J.K. Rowling. The human and magical worlds exist side by side in a delightful humdrum solidarity, which leaves one eager for more cross-over. This aspect of the book is just really a lot of fun.

"Midnight Riot" also bears welcome marks of its other primary source-genre, the detective novel, with that form's charmingly ironic just slightly noir detective, its crisp dialogue, and its fully realized sense of the city where it is set: London. The city's sites--the tube, the bridge, Covent Garden, Russell Square, and many other locales--really come to life under Aaronovitch's skillful pen (in fact, rivers actually become characters). As in the typical detective novel, the relationships are not the focus, so I won't be too critical of the under-motivation of Peter's various love interests. This is a genre-typical blemish on the book, even when, as here, more than one of those relationships turns out to be essential to the development of the plot.

The book is also historical fiction. But who can complain? In a compelling interlude near the end, in pursuit of the arch-villain, Peter takes London back in time. The description here is masterful, truly riveting, and justifies the introduction of this additional formal context.

And yet--the multiplication of genres finally becomes too much, causing the book to feel like a slightly incoherent literary sampler. I was less than excited by the vampire-aspects of this otherwise skillfully executed novel. Did we really need the introduction of the Goth-inspired Molly's possible (s)excapades at the end? But I'm in the generation of the Twilight Zone rather than the Twilight series, so I'm a little lacking in sympathy in this area. "Midnight Riot" is an enjoyable and smart book. I'll be continuing to follow the adventures of Peter Grant; he has made a fine debut.

I absolutely love this whole series & have read (listened) to it twice now. The audiobooks are so well done. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Is a brilliant narrator, great at doing different accents from all across Great Britain. Highly recommend,

This book was quite unique—a police procedural crossed with urban fantasy. Peter is a policeman in London, and learns that he has a unique talent for magic which could help solve a baffling case. Aaronovitch is a really good writer—some of his sly humor was reminiscent of that found in the novels of the late great Douglas Adams. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

Right from the start, Peter Grant’s narratorial voice makes itself comfy in your reader’s brain and settles down for what turns out to be a rollicking good criminal case in the magical underbelly of London. It’s been hailed as what happens if Harry Potter became a policeman, and you know what? It really does have the same sort of laid-back, magic-is-just-another-part-of-the-fabric-of-society tone that JK Rowling managed with the Muggle and magical worlds of Harry Potter.

Aaronovitch has a methodical approach to setting scenes and gives the reader a detailed tour of London and surrounds. In the beginning this was a fantastic opportunity to really visualize the places Peter Grant moved through, but … well, by the middle to end of the book I was tiring of the almost excruciating detail given to streets and buildings. It worked well to set up the story and seriously establish an authentic London, but once the story gathered its momentum the layers of detail just seemed to slow everything down.

I enjoyed the characters of this book: they were a mix of familiar and new. I’m assuming Aaronovitch is building up his magical world for future books, which is a very good thing in my mind. I’d like to see a continuity unfold as Peter Grant gathers more experience in future books. The exploration of London’s (and Britain’s) river ‘gods’ was pretty unique and worked well alongside the more macabre criminal case.

The only drawback, apart from too much detail given to the streets and statues and ephemera of London, was the main character’s all-too-sudden expertise with magic. As the story opens, Peter Grant is just your regular under-performing police rookie, just about to be assigned to a desk job. A chance encounter with a charismatic ghost leads him to the magical police – which works well. However, Grant uses his rudimentary knowledge of science to really make leaps and bounds in his apprenticeship. His ‘master’, Inspector Nightingale seems to be happy to let Grant do all the hard magical work. That didn’t ring true to me. The case is quite dangerous and for most of the novel, the police (including Nightingale) are clueless about who is responsible; so when opportunities arise for some magical investigation (such as trying to raise ghosts in a graveyard) I couldn’t really reconcile the idea that Nightingale would let his apprentice do the spells.

Anyway, that’s just a gripe. I really recommend this book to those hordes of Harry Potter fans, and even to the fans of Harry Dresden. Aaronovitch is quintessentially British and his hero, Peter Grant, is equally so.

A promising jazz drummer is found dead of a heart attack shortly after playing a gig in London. At first, the only odd circumstance surrounding his death is the fact that Peter Grant, apprentice wizard and police constable, faintly hears the notes of the jazz standard "Body and Soul" rising from the corpse, indicating that magic was somehow involved in the musician's death. However, when further research reveals that several jazz musicians have died in similar circumstances over the years, it suddenly becomes much more urgent for Peter and his supervisor Thomas Nightingale to find out what's really going on...

So begins Moon over Soho, the second book in the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch. Let's get the most important news out of the way first: if you enjoyed Midnight Riot (or Rivers of London, as it's called outside of the US), you'll love Moon over Soho. The new novel does just about everything its predecessor did so well, but a little better and with enough new twists to make you wish the third book in the series was already on the shelves.

One of the reasons Moon over Soho is an even more fun read than the first book is the fact that it doesn't have to spend as much time setting things up for the reader. We already know who police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant is, we know about Thomas Nightingale and his secret magical department in the London police force, we have some background about how magic works, we know about the Folly. Thanks to all of this, Ben Aaronovitch can kick the story into high gear right from the beginning, with Peter's investigation into the jazz drummer's death (and into another seemingly unrelated but much more gruesome incident) quickly setting up a few side-plots and new characters. At the same time, there's space in the story to fill the reader in on things like Thomas Nightingale's past and the history of magic in England, and to throw in hilarious side-bars such as the goofy way of determining the strength of residual magic by measuring how loud Toby the dog barks ("0.5 milliyaps").

The cover's catchphrase is "Magic and murder to a jazz beat", which is surprisingly appropriate in several ways. Jazz is a running theme throughout the novel, from the drummer who is found dead in the opening chapter to Peter's father, a famous jazz musician in his day, who plays a more important role in Moon over Soho than in the first book. There's a comical group of side-characters called "the irregulars" who are all jazzmen (or at least wannabe jazzmen) and who will hopefully appear in future novels. Several chapters bear the title of famous jazz songs or albums. And finally, this may be a stretch but the book is written in what I'd pretentiously like to call a highly propulsive style. That's probably not a real jazz term at all, but nevertheless, the fact that the story rarely slows down (and when it does, it's for a good reason) makes Moon over Soho hard to put down and never boring. It's like one of those songs you can't help but tap your foot along to.

Going back to that cover for a moment: the "Neth Space" blog has an excellent article up about the noticeable difference between the US and UK covers. It's painfully obvious they're different, and while the term "white-washing" is not entirely appropriate (given that the model's actually turned into a black silhouette), it's still hard to imagine why Del Rey felt the need to change these covers in this day and age. (For some reason, the store shows the UK cover. The US version is the same, except the male figure is a silhouette, so you can't determine his race.)

Regardless, Ben Aaronovitch delivers another winner with Moon over Soho, a realistic modern day police procedural (aside from all the magic, of course) populated by increasingly solid characters and written in the same consistently witty style as the first Peter Grant novel. It features a gripping mystery plot with some truly creepy, borderline horror elements and a few incredibly tense action scenes. Moon over Soho is one of the most entertaining books I've read in a long time, and really made me look forward to the next installment in the Peter Grant series. Check it out, even if (like me) you usually don't enjoy urban fantasy.

Very good, a delicious, satisfying read. It moved fast, but not so much that the pace was unsustainable or unlikely.

I felt like Peter was exceptionally naive in dealing with Simone; shouldn't he wonder why he had this intense lust/fascination? Shouldn't he be more bothered that her last lover died abruptly two weeks ago and she doesn't seem to have any grief? I feel like most police wouldn't make the mistake of interacting on a very personal level so quickly. I found the shagging interludes kind of distracting, and not particularly congruent with the Peter of Midnight Riot, but perhaps Aaronovitch is trying to expand Peter's life. Still, he's been opened to this world of magic and discovering how like attracts like; it was hardly a surprise when Simone turned out to have very magical properties. I was only surprised by Peter's efforts to bring her into the Folly. I think Nightingale was right in pointing out that she and her sisters are responsible for 200 plus deaths. "Mental disorder," perhaps, but according to all copper standards, that still warrants locking up.

I was most pleased with how Peter interacted with Leslie. The most common way authors seem to handle tragedy in their male protagonists' lives is through excruciating guilt, and by telling us about the guilt. Instead, Peter visits, continues somewhat normally by texting, and then through the phone. He's used to bouncing ideas off Leslie, and this trend continues. There are hints at his guilty feelings, but they do not dominate their interactions or Peter's thoughts.

There's a fair amount of British colloquial slang and police terms, the most obvious is "copper" instead of police. Aaronovitch doesn't even explain in passing, so sometimes meaning is a challenge to pick up. This is only a minor bother, however. Overall, the language is fun, and sophisticated, and a thorough reading will generate a lot of chuckles, particularly in scenes with Peter and Stephanopoulis.

I'm a big fan of urban fantasy. I love Charlaine's Harris'quirky Southern Vampire series, Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld, Richelle Meade's Dark Swan, Patricia Brigg's Iron Kissed, The Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston and Mike Carey's Felix Castor books. So when I read the preview for Midnight Riot, I was pretty excited.

I've long thought that Urban Fantasy could use a good police setting, I've grown a bit weary of supernatural storylines that take place in private and never come to the attention of the police (so annoying and a bit unbelievable when buildings are falling and people are dying in bizarre supernatural ways).

So I was a bit disappointed to find out that the main characters would be performing their odd investigations away from the regular police.

But other than that little misstep, I liked this book.

Other reviewers complained about the voluminous descriptions of London locations, but I found it interesting. I've never been to London and the scene setting made it easier for me to imagine the characters investigating in Jolly old England.

The main character could have been fleshed out a little more. His likes and dislikes, what motivated him, why he liked the girl so much, but there was so much going on that I didn't have time to get bored and that's saying a lot. I have a short attentions span.

But the best part of the story was Peter's development from a bench sitter to a star player. I liked his occasional fumbles, it's tiring to always read about characters who are perfect, you know the type, they kick butt, dress like a badass and all the members of the opposite sex (sometimes the same sex) want to jump their bones. Peter's kind of a dork. He's smart, but not a genius and he's nice and you know what they say about nice guys.

Maybe it was me but I saw a real similarity in the relationship between Peter and Inspector Nightingale to another couple that I love, Agent Pendergast and homicide cope Vincent Dagosta from the series written by Lincoln Childs and Douglas Preston (if you haven't read them, you should, get a copy from the library because I think they are only available in hardback). Mentor and apprentice, the older male who takes the younger man under his wing and helps him to develop his special abilities. I guess it's called a heroes journey.

Anyways, Peter's story begins with him seeing a ghost. The ghost gives him info on a recent murder and the story develops from there. Like I said before, there's a lot going on, a lot of details, characters, supernatural and human and the plot moves at a pretty crisp pace.

One part I didn't like was the love interest. She didn't seem real and couldn't figure out why a guy like Peter would like her, they didn't seem to mesh well. Oh well, it's a minor thing, this doesn't rely on a romance to keep the readers interest.

I was disappointed when it ended but I've just found out the next book in the series will be released soon. Yay.

"Midnight Riot" was a fun book to read, and Diana Gabaldon, the reviewer who likened it to Harry Potter growing up and joining the Metropolitan Police, was so right. Although "Midnight Riot" isn't as rich as a Harry Potter book, it's a satisfying read that's fun to escape into for the time it takes to get through it. It's my brand of "paranormal," which is just paranormal enough to raise the hair on my arms, almost, but not so much that the freak-out lasts for days. There's a little London mythology thrown in, in the form of the personifications of the London rivers, and some magic- not pages and pages of magic 'procedural' or anything, but enough for a reader to get the gist. It's also written with a sense of humor. There are parts that are just laugh-out-loud funny.

The story takes place in London, and although we get a different title here in the States from what a UK audience would get (There it's called "Rivers of London"), there's enough of the London slang still intact in our version to lead me to believe and hope that it hasn't been changed too much so an American can get it- part of the fun of reading a book set in London is to figure out what the Cockneys are talking about! The narrator's voice, and his interactions with other characters, and their dialogue all rang true in my ears. The plot really moves along. I tried keeping this as a bedtime-only book, and found myself staying up until the wee hours for the couple nights that lasted, and taking the book with me to appointments to find out what happens.

Needless to say, this book on its own left me wanting too much more, but happily, there's a sequel already out, and a third to crown the trilogy, which I am about to pre-order, just based on how much I liked Midnight Riot. With Summer Vacation coming up, I think this one would be a good book to take along to the beach, or airport, or anywhere else you want a gripping book to pull you in and take you for a spin.

Despite the grisly, gruesome nature of the crimes and the realistic procedural detail within the modern London Metropolitan Police, the tone of this novel is lighthearted and comical. There were moments when I laughed out loud - which is rare for me when I'm reading. The magical and supernatural element is worked seamlessly into the realistic backdrop of 21st-century London with an impressive dose of historical trivia as well as contemporary detail.

At the start of the book, Peter Grant (the first-person narrator) has just finished his probationary period and is about to become a sworn London constable and be given his duty assignment. It looks like he will be getting a boring desk job, but after he briefly interviews a murder witness who turns out to be a ghost, he attracts the attention of Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the head (and apparently the only member) of a special division dealing with occult crime. Peter becomes Nightingale's apprentice and moves into "the Folly," an Edwardian mansion which is Nightingale's headquarters. In between magic lessons, he works on a bizarre case involving a series of murders and a plague of unexplained violence centering around Covent Garden.

Peter is extremely likable, as are most of the other characters who are briefly but solidly described. Hats off to Mr. Aaronovitch's ability to economically delineate his characters. It's an interesting cast, including a burly & disagreeable Chief Inspector, an Arabic/Scottish medical examiner, two rival factions of river spirits consisting of a bevy of beautiful African women and a band of quaintly creepy carnival folk, and the Folly's housekeeper who is some sort of unnatural creature...

The story is very readable but I experienced some dissonance between the seriousness and the silliness. The villain (when he finally appears) is a bit too over-the-top, and the climactic scene which gives the book its title is too big & melodramatic. At that point I felt the story was labored and I had trouble keeping up my suspension of disbelief. Also the book is very, very British. I appreciate the fact that it isn't overly "localized" for American readers because it makes the setting more authentic, and stopping to explain would ruin the mood. But some of the slang terms and odd details which are part of daily life for a Londoner are completely opaque to this hapless Yank. Perhaps a glossary or an occasional footnote would be in order?

Anyway, I enjoyed it. I recommend it for those who like the lighter, less serious side of occult thrillers and police-procedural mysteries.

I got a copy of this book through the the store Vine program. This is the first in a series of books that feature Peter Grant as the lead. The book was well put together and engaging, but I had a little trouble getting into the writing style.

Peter Grant is about to be given his permanent job on the London Police force and he is praying it's not a job as a paper pusher. Unfortunately that's where it looks like things are going until Peter bumps into a ghost that he can talk to. This is a ghost that witnessed the murder he is helping investigate. Suddenly it looks like Peter won't be pushing paper but instead will be apprenticed to Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, a man who works in the supernatural division of the London Metropolitan police force. From there Peter is drawn into a murder investigation that will have him consorting with Gods and dealing with all sorts of supernatural creatures.

Aaronovitch does an excellent job of putting together a great plot and story. Peter is a great character, as is Nightingale. Both of them are somewhat mysterious, but have a healthy sense of humor. The pace of the plot is pretty much non-stop from the beginning to the end.

I loved the London setting and enjoyed how the author incorporated the different deities with the rivers in the London area. The plot was twisty, turny, and hard to predict which I enjoyed. I also enjoyed that the whole murder ties in with an old school play.

There was only one thing that kept me from thouroughly loving this book and I had a hard time pinpointing exactly what it is. I think I just had a hard time with Aaronovitch's writing style; the writing is so dense and includes so many intricate details. Some of the details help the reader picture the story, but others are just too much. So I would find my mind drifting as I read through all of these little details, then have to go back and re-read to make sure I hadn't missed anything while my mind wandered. Because of this, the book wasn't as enjoyable for me to read as it should have been and at points it was just down right hard to get through.

Overall a solid entry into the urban fantasy genre; for the most part I really liked it. I love the world created here and really enjoyed the characters as well. There was something about Aaronovitch's writing style though that turned me off a bit and I think it was all of the little intricate details included throughout; they just drew out the story too much and at points my mind would start wandering. I think fans of investigative urban fantasy from a male perspective might like this book; it really does have some great stuff in it. I would recommend reading a sample first though to make sure the detail heavy narration works for you. I probably won't be picking up the next book in this series, Moon over Soho, there are just too many other urban fantasies out there where I enjoy the writing style more.

Peter Grant is a constable-in-training in London's police force. At the end of his probation period, it looks like he's in line for a long career of boring desk work in the Case Progression Unit, but that all changes when he draws the luckless duty of guarding a crime scene overnight where, earlier that day, a headless body was found lying on the street. While Peter is freezing his heels off in the cold London night, he is approached by possibly the crime's only witness -- who also happens to be a ghost...

Peter is swiftly recruited into a secret department that focuses on the supernatural and magical, and apprenticed to the mysterious Thomas Nightingale, the leader and only other active member in this centuries-old department. Peter begins the long process of learning exactly how magic works and, at the same time, investigating who is responsible for the headless corpse, which will lead him on a complex and surprising adventure on the streets -- and rivers -- of London.

So begins Midnight Riot, the first book in the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch -- and the good news is that it's simply a blast from start to finish. The novel is fast-paced and exciting from the get-go, and there's barely any let-up in the action until you've turned the final page. It almost reads like a particularly exciting episode of a good detective TV series (just add magic), which makes perfect sense because Ben Aaronovitch has written extensively for TV, including two Doctor Who serials. Then again, he also knows how to describe visuals in such a way that you don't need a picture to get what he's talking about. His prose is consistently witty and never boring. Take, for example, this description of a building in London:

City of Westminster Magistrates' Court is around the back of Victoria Station on the Horseferry Road. It's a bland box of a building built in the 1970s; it was considered to be so lacking in architectural merit that there was talk of listing it so that it could be preserved for posterity as an awful warning. Inside, the waiting areas maintained the unique combination of cramped busyness and barren inhumanity that was the glory of British architecture in the second half of the twentieth century.

The novel is full of this type of quirkily effective prose, and the dialogues are likewise snappy and snarky (especially Peter's, who sounds like a less annoying version of, well, almost every John Scalzi character). Combine that with the rapid but steady pace of the plot and you end up with one of those books you occasionally look up from, realizing you've been reading much longer than you thought.

Peter Grant is the most well-defined character in the novel, mainly because Ben Aaronovitch deftly balances Peter's various struggles throughout the book. On the one hand, he's trying to master his magic (there are hints that magic has a methodical, even scientific underpinning going back to centuries of research) and investigating the strange, random murders occurring in London, but he's also a bachelor in the city, dealing with the various young women he encounters, including an attractive colleague and the female personification of a Thames tributary (the original title of the novel is Rivers of London). Also, because Peter has a mixed-race background, the novel gives an interesting look at what life's like for vaguely Arabic-looking young men in modern day London, especially when he's out of uniform. The other characters in the novel never reach the same level of depth as Peter, but then again, this isn't a novel you read for the deep character studies. It's a fun, fast story, part police procedural (Aaronovitch has evidently done his research) and part urban fantasy, but it's best not to take it too seriously and just go along for the ride.

As for the main intrigue, set in motion by the headless corpse in the very first chapter but quickly becoming more and more involved -- I'm not going to spoil it for you here. Suffice it to say that I didn't see the big twist coming at all. Once Ben Aaronovitch suddenly puts the various pieces together (at right about the start of chapter 8), I was extremely surprised and very impressed. Even more promising are the hints that this is just the start of a larger story, as we're sure to learn more about the nature of magic, the history of Peter's mentor Thomas Nightingale and his mysterious maid Molly, and several other items that are only hinted at in this first volume of the PETER GRANT series (book 2, Moon over Soho, is due on March 1st).

On the book's cover, Diana Gabaldon describes Midnight Riot as "[...] what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz." This is a good sound bite and probably will get many people to pick up the novel, but if you really need a comparison, it's probably more accurate to go for something like Mike Carey's Felix Castor series or even Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Regardless of comparisons, Midnight Riot is an excellent novel: it reads like a breeze but has just enough substance to keep you coming back for more. If you've read my reviews in the past, you may know I'm not a huge urban fantasy fan, but this novel was so refreshing and fun that I'm eager to read more of Peter Grant's adventures soon.

Midnight Riot is a refreshing urban fantasy that manages to feel cozy, but not cloying. I hesitate to call it a feel-good read, because then you start to picture the kinds of stories that my grandmother likes to read, but even in the midst of a horrific crime, it still felt chipper. Maybe it's because it's told from the perspective of British constables, and cops have a different take on things. If they let every investigation throw them into the depth of despair, they'd be in serious trouble, so I suppose they learn to be very pragmatic and even hold onto a sense of levity no matter what they're facing. Peter's coping mechanism is to crack jokes, even in the middle of a crisis, and that undercurrent of humor makes this book especially fun to read.

Midnight Riot is refreshing on several fronts. First off, it's highly detailed, and if you love a nice, juicy police procedural with accurate details, then you're going to groove on this story. Second, if you're tired of the typical, urban fantasy formula with a deeply traumatized heroine doing impossible ninja moves, then you'll love Peter's beta male approach to things. He's not a complete bad-a**, or a genius, or a magical prodigy. He's just good enough to figure things out, and fumble his way to the solution, and this makes him extremely likable and human. Third, the mythology and world-building is superb, and the things I learned about London were pretty cool. It satisfied my inner nerd on so many fronts that I can't help but give this book a perfect rating. It was so many things that other stories are not, and it impressed me no end. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to read this in my usual four-hour marathon, but coming back to it again and again over the course of a week was a real treat.

The second book about apprentice wizard Peter Grant is Moon Over Soho, and it came out on March 1.