Rivers of London (2011) by Ben Aaronovitch
Good Reads meta-data is 392 pages, rated 3.86 by 130,264 litizens.
Genre: Fiction: Species: krimi. Sub-species: Fantasy
DNA: Brit.
Verdict: Harry Potter with a body count.
Tagline: Mind the undertow.
Constable guards the perimeter police tape of a crime scene one dreary January night in the cold and mist when an eye witness to that earlier crime appears to him. Training kicked in, Constable opens his notebook to take a statement from this apparition whose address is a graveyard, and he is a ghost as he proves to Constable’s satisfaction and consternation.
By the time Constable’s partner reappears with coffee, ghost has departed (again). Copper dares not tell anyone but, how can he not, so he blurts out this confrontation to his partner, who promises not to tell. As if.
Soon this undistinguished constable is selected for a special squad since it seems he has a gift of sight…into the world of ghosts, goblins, demons, spirits, magic, and such. The Met needs all the help it can get and he becomes, duly sworn in, a sorcerer’s apprentice.
Meanwhile, the bodies keep falling and the plot thickens to curdled cream. The ride is a mile-a-minute, the prose is crisp, the wit is diabolical. There is a melody of irony and humour in it all. There is also infanticide.
This world of magic may be crazy, but is reality any less crazy? There is no easy answer to that when watching the television news. Plenty of child-murder there, too.
It all ends where it began, sort of, though the dog reappears, its agent failed to get it the major part it should have had. Toby you can do better!
It is part of a series.
Of course, what it brings to mind is Wellington Paranormal, which is low key by comparison. Oh, and Punch and Judy.