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The Furthest Station (Peter Grant, #5.5)
Ben Aaronovitch | 2017 | Crime, Paranormal
8
8.0 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
<i>Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a copy in exchange for an honest review </i>

<i>The Furthest Station</i> starts off with the same flair we've seen in previous installments to the Peter Grant series and I'll tell you, it's good to be back with Peter.

Though short at only 144 pages The Furthest Station is packed with enough information to give you an insight into the trouble peter can get into when left to his own devices. 

This novella is about ghosts predominantly and we experience Toby the wonder dog in his element. The same characters from the previous books star with a special mention to Jaget and Abigail - Abigail in particular was brilliant - incredibly smart and up on all thing supernatural. 

Ben Aaronovitch's typical descriptive monologing through Peter is as always brilliant. My favourite is below:

<blockquote> ...it is the cry of the guilty middle-class homeowner.

This sort of thing always creates a dilemma since the scale of guilt you're dealing with ranges from using a hosepipe during a ban to having just finished cementing your abusive husband into the patio.</blockquote>

The ghosts eventually give Peter the information he needs to locate a crime happening and in true Folly flair it's filled with supernatural hijinks and Nightingale at his best. The magic was few and far between but the ghosts made up for it and the relationship between Peter, Nightingale and Abigail as well as Abigail and Molly were written very well. I look forward to seeing where the growing friendship between Abigail and Molly goes in the next books. 

It was a touch odd reading book 5.7 after reading book 6 but there were no crossed boundaries that made things seem complicated so great news there. Overall, very well written.
  
Rivers of London: Body Work
Rivers of London: Body Work
Ben Aaronovitch, Lee Sullivan, Andrew Cartmel | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
7
5.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Great book for urban fantasy lovers
I enjoyed reading this one as it featured a main character who wasn’t your typical anti-hero - which we seem to have a lot lately. I’m glad to see Peter was just your average good guy who’s doing his best to be a policeman until he comes across supernatural things in which his whole life changes.


Peter’s relationship with Nightingale is pretty much a mentor/student one. Nightingale has his own secrets though and a few are revealed but there’s more to him that you think - I hope there’s more information about him in the later books to come. There are other supporting characters; I do like Leslie because she’s got the wit (possible love interest, maybe) and she’s a perfect sidekick to Peter. Molly is another interesting character that I would love to know more about. Again this is the first book in the series so I’m hoping more character development will eventually come forth in later books.

The world building is pretty good and Peter does a good job also explaining how things are in London (I admit I had to google a couple of things as I didn’t know who or what Punch and Judy were) but it gives you information on the city and events that are common there to actually make you feel as if you are following Peter around as he tries to solve the case and becomes an apprentice.

The plot was well done and I liked how the different story arcs come together in the end into one large circle. It may seem confusing at first but once you have everything laid out and you know who is who everything comes to a close and it’s a great closing. It obviously leaves room for more books coming so one can look forward to what is next for Peter.

(The Riot scene though? Holyyyyy sheeeeeee what the……)

It’s a good read, those who are into urban fantasy mysteries will likely like this type of book. Looking forward to book two!
  
Meg has been drafted as the coordinator of the show house, which will be decorated by a group of designers and then opened to the public to raise funds for local charities. However, when Meg goes back to lock up late one night, she finds one of the designers murdered in the master bedroom. He wasn’t a very well-liked man, but who actually hated him enough to murder him?

Yes, this book does tie in to Christmas as well (as hinted at by the title). It’s a fun mystery I thought I had figured out, but I was surprised in the end. The characters are great, although Josh and Jamie, Meg’s twins, completely stole the show. I would have liked to see more from one thread from the previous book, but hopefully that will show up in the next in the series.

Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2014/12/book-review-nightingale-before.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.