I just finished Rivers of London/Midnight Riot (such a dumb name) per Megan's rec and it was excellent. So different! If you've ever been to London you'll enjoy reading all the action that occurs in places you've visited. Also, his writing actually reminded me a little of yours, Megan. The book is subtly funny, suspenseful, and clever. Here's the blurb:
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’ll 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.
But it's stuff like this that makes the book such a delight (Peter is learning a magic spell):
I nodded and Nightingale brought out a basket of apples. A wicker basket with a handle and a checked napkin, no less. He placed a second apple in front of me and I didn't need him to explain the next step. He levitated the apple, I listened for the forma, concentrated on my own apple and said, "Impello." I wasn't really that surprised when nothing happened. "It does get easier," said Nightingale. "It's just that it gets easier slowly." I looked at the basket. "Why do we have so many apples?" "They have a tendency to explode," said Nightingale.
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Date: 12/7/12 02:39 pm (UTC)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’ll 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.
But it's stuff like this that makes the book such a delight (Peter is learning a magic spell):
I nodded and Nightingale brought out a basket of apples. A wicker basket with a handle and a checked napkin, no less. He placed a second apple in front of me and I didn't need him to explain the next step. He levitated the apple, I listened for the forma, concentrated on my own apple and said, "Impello."
I wasn't really that surprised when nothing happened.
"It does get easier," said Nightingale. "It's just that it gets easier slowly."
I looked at the basket. "Why do we have so many apples?"
"They have a tendency to explode," said Nightingale.