The Hanging Tree

December 5, 2016
Aaronovitch’s sixth supernatural police procedural featuring Peter Grant (after Foxglove Summer) is another superior blend of mystery and wry humor. Grant, who is one of just two people in London authorized to practice magic, is asked by an acquaintance, Lady Cecelia Tyburn-Thames, to make sure that her adolescent daughter, Olivia, is not implicated in the homicide investigation into the fatal overdose of a friend, 17-year-old Christina Chorley. The aristocrat also insists that Grant keep her request confidential, which he promptly ignores. When Grant looks into the death, he finds evidence that the dead teenager had been practicing magic, without permission, at the time of her death. His pursuit of the truth ends up leading to a ledger kept by legendary Victorian criminal Jonathan Wild, which may indicate where Isaac Newton’s lost alchemy papers can be found. The worldbuilding is both clever and funny, and Grant continues to be an interesting hero.

January 1, 2017

While police constable/wizard apprentice Peter Grant has settled into a domestic routine with Beverley Brook (at least as domestic as you can get with the physical incarnation of the goddess of one of London's rivers), he still approaches Bev's big sister, Lady Tyburn, with caution. Tyburn calls in a favor when her daughter Olivia is arrested in conjunction with a death at a posh London apartment, but the case soon grows into something Peter and his boss cannot keep off the books. Especially when former colleague Lesley May shows up and they finally have a lead on the identity of the Faceless Man. The world of Peter Grant and the Rivers of London (last visited in Foxglove Summer) is extremely English, the British police jargon especially might go over American readers' heads. VERDICT The mix of humor, fantasy, and meticulous attention to the police procedural continue to make this an enjoyable series for urban fantasy fans.--MM

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