Whispers Under Ground: Book 3 in the #1 bestselling Rivers of London series

The body of an American student is found in Baker Street tube station, murdered by a piece of pottery heavily imbued with magical resonance, our hero PC Peter Grant is brought in to investigate. His meandering investigations take him into the underground tunnels and sewers and reunite him with his old partner Leslie, as well as introducing him to an FBI agent hired by the man's wealthy and influential father to investigate the murder. I always struggle to keep up with the ins and outs of the narrative in these stories, maybe because I enjoy the scenery and the humour so much I kind of lose track of the plot? Anyway, I found it harder than usual this time, not helped by the fact that I kept picking this book up and then putting it down again - of course that's a bit a chicken and egg thing. By the end I found myself thinking "who is Zach?". Okay, I've just searched on my Kindle and now I find out that Zach is the dead man's tenant/ lodger and the connections now fall into place. Sorry, rambling here. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I was enjoying the sorties through the sewers and the fake houses that disguise railway lines so much that I wasn't paying attention to the plot and/or the plot didn't really grab me. Nevertheless, Ben Aaronovitch is still a brilliant writer and Peter Grant is a fascinating character with witty insights into modern policing, I love, love, loved the unofficial motto of CO19, I look forward to reading the next book in this complex and funny series.

Another absolutely delightful and at time even very tense mystery-slash-adventure from Ben Aaronovitch! His tales of the 'Magic Brigade' just keep getting better and better! And with is obvious keen and even passionate love of all things London-y, it's all too easy to just imagine that you are there. Whereas I think I enjoyed Book 2 a bit more - the dual plots just lined up ever-so-perfectly - 'Whispers Underground' was still a real thrill. These books read like any of your favorite 'guilty pleasures' and if those fall in the 'fantasy-humour' or 'urban-fantasy' genres (I hate these distinctions but whatever) then the Rivers of London series is just right for you!

This was quite a strange little tale, but that is what we are reading the Peter Grant series for; right? The premise of a magical pottery sherd being used as a murder weapon was definitely out there and yet, somehow the author manages to weave a whole civilization out of this one, small sherd. To be honest I found it completely gripping and was nearly late for work twice reading this book. Lesley May is finally back. She is still suffering from Mr Punch's devastating atack on her from Rivers Of London but it isn't swept aside, her injuries are front and centre in a very matter of fact way. To be honest, maybe that's why I like these books so very, very much, the Magical world is very matter of factly dealt with throughout and this gives it a real air of authenticity. There is also a lot more about Police procedure in this book and the juxtaposition of the two worlds meeting through Thomas Nightingale and Peter Grant is sublime. I really love the slightly ascerbic conversations with senior officers who are "in the know" about The Folly but don't particularly like that it exists. This has everything you could wish for a book - high art (clearly Ryan Carroll is supposed to be a contemporary of Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin but just never made it), underground trains on not so underground tracks, the grand Victorian Sewers underpinning the City and those pesky River Goddesses and their underground raves. Throw in the Nazareth Market, a Goblin and a secret civilization and this book has just about everything you could want. The same wit is present in this book as the previous two in the series and Peter grant is at his inept best. He really can be a bumbling idiot at times but he's all the better for it!