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David McK (3895 KP) rated Rivers of London: The First PC Grant Mystery in Books

Sep 6, 2026  
Rivers of London: The First PC Grant Mystery
Rivers of London: The First PC Grant Mystery
Ben Aaronovitch | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
6
8.7 (6 Ratings)
Book Rating
The first in what <i>Peter Grant</i> series of novels, which I'd previously heard compared to Jim Butcher's <i>Harry Dresden</i> series of novels.

If I'm honest, that's also a pretty safe comparison: urban fantasy (check), and as such set mainly in and around a city (check - here, London compared to Dresden's Chicago), told in the First person (check), with the central protaganist a wizard (check - even if only a trainee here) working in a world that doesn't believe in magic (check) where there is a whole other other society hidden from view (check), and with the aid of the police (check - here, he's a police officer compared to Dresden's PI), and with doggie help (also check).

That's not to say this doesn't have a flavour of it's own: for instance, as I've already mentioned, Grant has only just discovered the existence of the paranormal, and is only learning, whereas Dresden is already a fully 'qualified' wizard. Grant also has a mentor that provides a larger role than Harry's is given, doesn't have a death sentence hanging over him (like the early Dresden novels), has parents who are still alive (and around) and actually works for the police in his own right as a Police Constable rather than as Dresden's PI for hire.

I have to say, I also found this a little bit hard to get into at first, but also found that - once I did - the pages actually flew by pretty quick.