I was really quite surprised at how much I enjoyed Rivers of London, the first of Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant books. It was one of those books I pick up for £0.99 on an Amazon Kindle deal because it sounds interesting, but by the time I actually get to read the book, I’ve forgotten any hint of the synopsis. So, a page or so in, when Pc Grant is approached by a ghost witness to a murder, I was amused, puzzled, and a little delighted.
Aaronovitch is quite aware of the potential silliness of the whole concept, but has delivered a book that really feels set in the London I came to in 2001. He seems to bring together coherent ideas of life in the Met Police, of the mythologies and geographies of London and the South East, and importantly science and the supernatural. At times, especially early on, some of the asides feel too glib, but more often than not they’re well observed and pithy.
My rating of 4/5 on GoodReads still feels overgenerous, it’s probably as low a 4/5 as one can go. As a piece of sub-genre fiction, it is very enjoyable and also a lot of fun.