Rivers of London (Rivers of London #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Oct 03, 2022 Harold Ogle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: magic, contemporary, pop-culture, faeries, fun-characters, mind-control, detective, police-procedural, supernatural, ac-library

Recommendation: An enjoyable blend of pop culture, police investigation, and British occultism, Midnight Riot is tonally a more modern Dirk Gently.

Critique: It's a good urban fantasy police procedural yarn. It reads how I think John Constantine would be if it was written as a collaboration between Terry Pratchett and Tim Powers.

This was a book I'd set out to read because it was a summer selection for one of the Goodreads book clubs I've joined. I got to it late and read it on the last day of the Recommendation: An enjoyable blend of pop culture, police investigation, and British occultism, Midnight Riot is tonally a more modern Dirk Gently.

Critique: It's a good urban fantasy police procedural yarn. It reads how I think John Constantine would be if it was written as a collaboration between Terry Pratchett and Tim Powers.

This was a book I'd set out to read because it was a summer selection for one of the Goodreads book clubs I've joined. I got to it late and read it on the last day of the month where it was the selection. Then I had to return this book to the library before I was able to finish my summary, so coming back to review it now, I had to search to remind myself of the name of one of the major characters, Peter's friend and contact (and hoped-for love interest) in the Criminal Investigations department. Bizarrely, almost none of the reviews here on Goodreads mentioned Lesley May at all, even though she is a central character that provides key resources in the investigation. Normally I don't read others' reviews before I write my own review, but because I was trying to find Lesley's name, I read many of them. Not only did almost none of them mention Lesley at all, but several of them talk about the book as if it has two separate stories/plot lines...which absolutely is NOT the case. There is one plot, with one villain causing all the murder and mayhem, which was never in doubt in my mind. (view spoiler) That the murders and madness and consulting spirits is all of a single supernatural piece should be really obvious to the reader, given the nature of urban fantasy and mystery fiction, let alone the opening chapter which presents both the murder scene and an actual ghost giving eye-witness testimony.

The book is very, very whimsical, with a lot of pop culture humor in a first-person voice that makes the protagonist, Peter Grant, really relatable and lovable. I was so delighted with some of the humor that I read passages with Pratchett-like jokes aloud to my family, such as "Carved above the lintel were the words SCIENTIA POTESTAS EST. Science points east, I wondered? Science is portentous, yes? Science protests too much. Scientific potatoes rule. Had I stumbled on the lair of dangerous plant geneticists?" These doses of self-effacing absurdity really kept me going in a story that contains supernatural, police procedure, and horrific murder otherwise...two of those are things I don't enjoy on their own. But the humor and the engaging characters kept me reading and enjoying the novel. I'm likely to read more.

Review: In London, a black constable-in-training, Peter Grant, longs for a workplace romance with his fellow probationer, Lesley May. We meet them as they watch over the site of a brutal murder, where someone's head was knocked clean off their neck. During the night as he's trying to figure out how to chat up Lesley, Peter is approached by a shady character who gives testimony as a witness to the murder. But Peter is unable to summon the nerve to make a pass at Leslie then or at any time before they go through their placement interviews (where they finish their probation and are assigned to their permanent divisions within the Metropolitan police force). He is assigned to the Filing division while Leslie is assigned to Criminal Investigations. (view spoiler)[Resigned to never seeing her again except maybe sometimes in the commissary, Peter is surprised when his assignment is revoked temporarily so he can be assigned to assist Detective Chief Inspector Nightingale, the official wizard on the London police force. Apparently, Nightingale heard that Peter had taken that eyewitness testimony of that shade - something that everyone, including Peter himself, had doubted - and recognized that it was actually a ghost. Thomas figured Peter might be useful if he could indeed interact with the supernatural. They investigate another crime scene where a similar murder had happened, and Peter is able to see another spirit. The husband and wife who murdered each other had a dog; this dog gloms onto Peter, and hapless Peter is unable to figure out anything to do with the dog other than adopt it. Amused at the constable's lack of willpower, DCI Thomas is nevertheless impressed that Peter has the Sight.

After thus reassuring himself that Peter is a good candidate, Thomas invites Peter to become his apprentice. Peter has to perform a ritual and swear a binding oath to enter into a formal magic contract with his master. Then he is able to enter Thomas' sanctum: a mansion in a very posh old London neighborhood. Peter meets the mansion's housekeeper/maid, Molly, who is quickly established to be some kind of horrible fey creature that has been bound to meekly serve the household. She never speaks, but she takes a liking to the dog. Thomas begins training Peter in magic while the investigation continues. As part of the investigation, Peter encounters various witnesses and authorities, including Leslie May (now his contact in Criminal Investigations), various ghosts, and the living avatars of the Thames and its various tributaries. A schism has built up between the two spirits of the Thames: the old man River (whose avatar and allies present as "pikeys" - an extended family living in caravans that move from place to place, representing the old country) and Mama Thames (whose avatar and allies present as West African immigrant Londoners, representing the cosmopolitan city). In exchange for information on the case, Peter has to do them favors, which boils down to brokering a marriage between their two families. With the help of all these, Peter is able to figure out that the murders have all been caused by the vengeful spirit of a 17th-century actor: a hack who gets his jollies by forcing ever-expanding numbers of people to act out scenes from Punch & Judy. "That's the way to do it!" Knowing this helps Peter chase down the spirit and put an end to it, stopping the cycle of murder at last. Peter continues his wizard training, nicely set up for an ongoing series of supernatural investigations where he will consult with the earthly police and the avatars of the Rivers. (hide spoiler)] ...more

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Mar 14, 2016 Joanna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-sci-fi, 2016-read, audiobooks, bookclub-bo

The narrator for the audiobook is fantastic. I'll definitely be listening to other books in this series.

In some ways, this series reminds me quite a bit of Harry Dresden -- this is to London what Harry is to Chicago. Except that instead of a sarcastic middle aged white guy, Peter Grant here is a mixed race, actual police officer young Londoner.

The book introduces a fun cast of river gods, ghosts, and magic to put it solidly in the urban fantasy realm, but it shows some appropriate surprise by t ...more

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Jun 07, 2022 emily rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: detectives-and-private-eyes, magic-witches-occult, 2022, cw-body-horror, fantasy-urban-fantasy, anglophilia, why-is-this-not-a-movie-yet, non-white-protagonist, 2016, audiobook

Liked this just as much the second time as the first. And truly the audiobook is great. Definitely going to keep on w/the series in audio.

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Jul 22, 2019 Rachel N. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: urban-fantasy, series, play-book-tag, read-in-2019, england, london, police, magic

Peter Grant is a police officer headed for a desk job when Detective Inspector Thomas Nightingale catches him waiting to interview a ghost. Peter is then drafted as an apprentice magician to Nightingale. He's involved in solving the case of people who become irrationally angry then have their faces explode. He's also helping Nightingale solve a dispute between Mama Thames and Old Man Thames, two rivers gods/spirits. This book was a lot of fun and i really liked the main character. There's still ...more

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Mar 22, 2016 Catsalive rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016

I fail to see why the name was changed for the American market. Having read it, "Rivers of London" is certainly descriptive of the content, whereas "Midnight Riot" seems meaningless. My copy has the English cover & American title - I much prefer this Patrick Knowles cover.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed it very much & will certainly be reading the series. A paranormal, police detective novel. Great fun & well-written. 4.5 * ...more

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Dec 09, 2016 Nicole rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, 2016

Midnight Riot should have been a fun and interesting book. After all, what's not to like about a constable in London who is invited to be part of the department dealing with supernatural crimes, and in the process becomes a magician's apprentice. Add in the tongue-in-cheek Harry Potter references, the spirits of the Thames River, and this should be a good recipe.
Unfortunately something didn't work out quite right and I found myself reading a chapter and nodding off.
Aaronovitch seems to bring in ...more

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Jul 31, 2013 Cora rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, kindle, urban-fantasy, detectives, mystery, paranormal, europe, audible, london, england

This was a fun beginning to a promising series. I enjoyed the world created by Aaronovitch where magic and magical beings coexist in the world, but most people don't notice. Peter Grant is a likable character who responds to the magical world with simple pragmatism that comes in handy investigating cases. I think I missed a sense of wonder that I expected from someone in his position and I would have liked to have seen more a relationship between Grant and Nightingale. Overall it was a good firs ...more

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Jun 16, 2013 Nancy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fantasy, still-owned

I love this series and although I read the second one first - which was a mistake as this book sets a lot of what happens in the second book up - I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

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