Broken Homes

Peter Grant has gotten himself an arch-nemesis; a twisted magician known as the Faceless Man is reeking having on London’s underground. On the case of a suspected serial killer named Robert Weil, Peter Grant has discovered a deeper conspiracy involving his nemesis and weirdly enough a neo-brutalist housing estate. Will Peter finally stop the Faceless Man? Can he work out just how he feels about his partner Lesley Mai? Or can he make it through one case without destroying a major landmark?

As most people know, I am a fan of the Peter Grant series and Broken Homes (the fourth book) did not disappoint. Ben Aaronovitch has created a great world that mixes police work, urban fantasy and humour together perfectly. So much so, that as soon as I finished Whispers Under Ground, which is book three, I picked up Broken Homes.

The best thing about this series is the overarching story that unfolds. This does mean you have to read the books in order but it is something that I found was missing in many crime series and The Dresden Files. I enjoy watching the characters grow and discovering new details about this world. So much so that I was ready to pick up book five, which is called Foxglove Summer right away. I haven’t done that but I suspect it will happen soon.

In every book there is something that is revealed about the world or characters that really helps cement my love for the series and the world that has been created. This time there was more around Inspector Nightingale’s back story including the elite wizardry school he attended when he was young; which means plenty of Harry Potter jokes to be told.

I have talked a lot about this series, since I have reviewed every book but one thing I find hard about reviewing a series, especially a crime one, is how to avoid spoilers. There is so much to love about these books and I highly recommend them but I cannot say much about them. This does make it difficult to recommend them or convince people to read them but know that I enjoyed Whispers Under Ground so much that Foxglove Summer will probably be read very soon. Then I will have to wait til November for The Hanging Tree (book six) to be released.

This review originally appeared on my blog; literary-exploration.com/2015/03/06/broken-homes-by-ben-aaronovitch/

This book seriously confused me by using mph to estimate speed on the second page, causing me to believe I had some kind of american edition, and then being so british I had to look up the following terms: mullered, nonce (not that one), muggins, 'sling your hook', 'do me a favour'.

So, maybe mph is more British than I had thought, but it's 53 mph, which is clearly a conversion of a more normal estimate of 85 kph. Which is really a dumb thing to have bothering you while you are trying to read a book.

The plot in this book was either a bit too complex for me, or didn't quite make sense, and I am leaning toward the first. There were a number of murder victims and suspects who I couldn't quite keep straight, and there was an entire architecture plot that I'm going to admit sounded like adults talking to Charlie Brown, to me.

That said, this was a really enjoyable read. I liked the dynamics between all the characters, I liked seeing more of all the secondary characters who have been so carefully established, I was pleased with all the Folly and Nightingale backstory I got. The only thing missing was having Kobna Holdbrook-Smith narrating the entire thing.

I finished it in about three hours, and immediately went looking for some good fanfiction, because I didn't feel at all done with the characters.

I spoiled myself for Lesley's end by accident, and so I was bracing myself for it throughout the book, and prepared to be really pissed off about it when it turned out that Lesley had betrayed the Folly for the sake of her face, but by the end I wasn't even mad? First, Peter really does manage to be an ass to Lesley about her face. It's like he just can't quite get over his horror that while he still likes her, his penis no longer does, and he can't deal with this.

I mean, not that this justifies Lesley's actions, but the second thing is that Lesley's motivation and goals are left ambiguous, so it doesn't have to.