I really enjoyed this novel that was a perfectly blended mix of supernatural/ fantasy/ magic and mystery, It was well written with such a vivid and engaging storyline and well developed characters that I loved. I cannot wait to read more by the author.

A humorous novel, in parts, that features supernatural elements, like a ghost, yet manages to make itself believable by including mundane police work as well. The author weaves the story with skill. I enjoyed the story and would certainly recommend it. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for giving me a copy of the book.

Broadhursts of Southport, it's like a magic book shop :-)
There is a fantastic bookshop near where I live - Broadhursts in Southport, do visit if you're ever remotely nearby, they're so cool in there that they wrap up your books in brown paper and string once you've bought them.  I always come away skipping.  Anyway, there is an immeasurably higher standard of customer care there than at Waterstones and they're very good at suggesting the kind of books they think you might like.  It was that that brought me to this and I am so very glad that they did.  It's always helpful when you can find a bookshop run by people who actually like books and even better when they stock random stuff that you wouldn't hear of otherwise.  


Rivers of Blood is the first book in what is apparently a franchise concerning the adventures of Peter Grant.  I've seen a quote on the cover which described it as what would have happened if 'Harry Potter grew up and joined the Filth'.  I don't like that term for the police but that is a pretty fair description.  If you liked Harry Potter, the odds are that you will like this too.  If you didn't, you still probably will.  Peter Grant is a bit of a dreamer who is trying to make some headway as he gets out of uniform only to discover that he is being pushed off the beat and on to the Case Progression Unit - paperwork and nothing but for the rest of his life.  Fortunately, while at a murder scene, a cockney ghost comes up and introduces himself as an eyewitness to the crime, "I saw the whole thing, squire".  Peter Grant takes down his statement because after all, just because you've gone mad is no excuse to stop acting like a policeman and with that, Grant is introduced to the magical underworld of London.


I think I enjoyed this book more because I do speak London - I lived there for two of my summer jobs and particularly summer 2010 I was on the tube for three trips a day and when Peter Grant talked about the different routes he was taking, by and large I knew what he was talking about.  Plus, there is something very particular about our capital city that I did think that this book captured really well.  Like with Harry Potter, Grant easily translates the magical world into the real world.  Vampires have to be blasted out of a house by the fire brigade, coroners are readily able to notice the effects of brains 'on magic' and the Rivers of London are having a turf war (Mother Thames and Father Thames are not related, hence the problem).  


This is a very funny book, quite apart from Peter Grant's everyday hopelessness.  Entering the magical world reveals the various kinds of rules involved and the one that got me falling about giggling was when Peter Grant offered a sandwich to Beverley, the spirit of one of the rivers controlled by Mother Thames.  Beverley immediately bridled and furiously demanded what Grant's intentions were with this sandwich since she had grown up with an Uncle Bailiff - an innocent man who had turned up at Mother Thames' flat to repossess some furniture in 1997, eaten a custard cream and never been allowed to leave again.  


Another thing about this book is that to a certain extent I do still speak Police a wee bit - my grandfather was a bobby and I know it has effected the culture of our family.  Police are not infallible by any means but they are basically the good guys and I thought Aaronitch had captured their attitudes towards dealing with magic in a very believable way: they hated it.  Peter Grant is initiated into the magical world by Inspector Nightingale, the only wizard in Britain who is despised yet just about tolerated by the rest of the force who view magic with total disgust and hope desperately it will go away.  Nightingale is the Dumbledore-esque figure/Merlin/Gandalf la la la but it still doesn't quite seem like a colour by numbers because of the quality of the writing.  


Finally,  case under investigation for this novel involved various Londoners spontaneously attacking each other while under the influence of forces unknown.  This aspect is fairly standard police procedural and I found this very interesting because you don't have to be a genius to notice that society is becoming angrier and angrier and I actually checked the publication date when I got to the bit where there's a full on riot.  This was indeed written before the Riots (there's already a sequel out) but it still seemed kind of eerie to read.  


It's very clear that this is a book written by someone who loves London and knows it inside out; the personalities he gives the River spirits depending on which area of London they inhabit made me laugh but was also very accurate.  Aaronovitch is clearly a patriot of our capital city and that is something to be proud of - it's funny after the first summer I lived there, I hated it, but after the second I came to love it.  I will be looking out for the further adventures of Peter Grant, it's like a less political Discworld and a less childish Harry Potter and also completely misses out the idiocy of Twilight which makes it ultimately very original and very, very funny.

Having seen this series of books recommended in a number of book reading groups over the years I decided to take the plunge and read this, the first in the series, and I can see why so many people have sung the praises of these books, I will definitely be downloading the rest of the books and I look forward to the character development

This is a marvellous reread of a wonderfully humorous fantasy series by Ben Aaronovitch that has London as a central character. I have to admit I originally read the series out of order as a mix of audio and the actual books, I can still remember the first book I read, The Hanging Tree, and being completely bowled over by it and wanting to read all the other books, and absolutely loved the black police officer, Peter Grant. With a new addition to the series coming up, which I will be reading, it seems a fine time to go back to where it all began again with Grant harbouring desires to become a detective in the London Met, finding himself heading in a unexpectedly different direction when his abilities to communicate with a lingering ghost become known. With London beset by brutal murders, Grant's skills come to be recognised by Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale as he finds himself becoming a trainee wizard learning magic as he investigates. This establishes the hugely entertaining series and its characters with verve and fabulous supernatural world building. Thanks to the publisher for making the first in the series available.