I just finished reading False Value, book eight in Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series.
I really love these books.
Rivers of London is your usual urban fantasy detective series, except everything but the magic is played straight and realistic. Most of the time it’s more of a police procedural than a pulp urban fantasy story, and quite frankly it’s fantastic. Detailed, crunchy, and flavorful, written by someone who obviously has a deep knowledge of British government institutions and an abiding love for London. I’ve only visited the city once in my life, but even as a delinquent American I’ve fallen in love with the version of the old town that’s in Aaronovitch’s books.
These are the sort of novels that get better the more you know. They throw in references and acronyms and little tidbits of history every page, so often that even if you’re completely unfamiliar with the institutions involved you’ll still get an occasional thrill from seeing something you do know flash past your eyes. Since it’s a police procedural there are long dumps of information, but thanks to Aaronovitch’s writing they never feel tedious or overbearing, and when the action scenes get there they’re all so damn good…
Man, I really love this series. I should go catch up on the comic series published alongside it.