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Foxglove Summer Rivers of London 5 Ben Aaronovitch 9780575132504 Books

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Foxglove Summer Rivers of London 5 Ben Aaronovitch 9780575132504 Books

Peter Grant is asked to aid an investigation of two children who have disappeared. But this time, the locale is a small rural village and the fae he meets are raw, uncivilized and deadly. Once again we have Peter's laconic observations on the British police and their procedures ' no fish was harmed (sic) ' and their love of acronyms for example PEACE which stands for Planning, Engage and explain, Account and clarify, Closure, Evaluate training. These are pithy and amusing. We follow Peter's meanderings through the country as he meets various local identities and investigates sheep's intestines, bored holes in trees and ancient ruins. It was fun to be with Peter at the conception of a river god and to be given hints of Molly's background.

But the mad, exuberant climax we have come to expect from this series is missing. The story feels like a minor interlude from the main narrative of the Faceless Man and Lesley. Characters such as Hugh and Mellissa Oswald and her three neighbours, one with an Australian accent are introduced but never developed fully and I was left to wonder why the author bothered. I enjoyed Foxglove Summer but it never left me breathless or close to tears like previous novels in this series.

Eight months later.....
I have just reread Foxglove Summer. Instead of my usual manic devouring of a favourite series, I read slowly and carefully and enjoyed the experience very much. I appreciated the knowledgeable detail more and the many new characters were no longer a distraction. The mayhem may be missing but I have given "Foxglove summer" another star as a fair trade for this pleasurable revisit.


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Foxglove Summer Rivers of London 5 Ben Aaronovitch 9780575132504 Books Reviews

In this, the fifth of the PC Grant novels, Constable Grant of London's Metropolitan Police is seconded to a rural department on the Welsh border to discover whether or not there was any use for his, um, "professional talents" in trying to solve the disappearance of two young girls.

Grant is the junior half of the smallest division of the Met (read Scotland Yard)-- the division responsible for dealing with supernatural crimes. While officially a Police Constable studying for promotion to Detective Police Constable, he is also an apprentice, being apprenticed to the last working "official" wizard in England.

Peter, half white/half Sierra Leonean, has left diverse London for the sticks, and there's a certain amount of discomfort on all sides at first. Cheerfully complicating that is that Peter is in a bit of a mixed relationship himself, and his beautiful black girlfriend has joined him on his trip to the country. I mention that it's a mixed relationship, but I didn't refer to colour-- Beverly is actually the embodied spirit of a river (her mother is the Thames-- Bev's a tributary).

Having no desire to ruin this book for anyone, I think it best to say no more about the plot, beyond saying that it is certainly worth reading.

I do have one ongoing quibble with the novel and its predecessors. PC Grant grew up in London's Council Housing-- what on the US would be called the inner-city projects. The author has chosen to show this by having his protagonist make just one grammatical error, but to make it over and over again. "Me and Lesley did such-and-such." "Me, Dominick and Beverly talked for hours." In places during the series he will acknowledge that he knows it should be "Lesley and I" and "Dominick, Beverly and I", but that he keeps making the mistake despite it bothering his boss, DCI Nightingale.

I don't buy it-- rather, I think that it's merely a means of giving the protagonist a particular voice. The problem is that otherwise the character's grammar is perfectly good and even educated. Thus, every error of that sort in Grant's narration both stands out and rings false.

My complaint notwithstanding, this is one of the best series I've discovered in years.
Ben Aaronovitch's "Foxglove Summer" is the fifth in his "PC Peter Grant" series. By now, you know exactly what to expect simultaneously both light-hearted and dark in tone, fast-paced paranormal murder mystery, excellent characterizations, wonderful vocabulary, and well-done world descriptions. Again, there are a few minor negatives jarringly purposeful incorrect grammar for the main character on occasions (a recurring motif), a bit slow at the start, and a bit abrupt at the end. Nothing big. So, once again, I'm rating the book at a Very Good 4 stars out of 5.

The novels in Ben Aaronovitch's "PC Peter Grant" (or "Rivers of London") series are

1. Midnight Riot (PC Peter Grant Book 1)
2. Moon Over Soho (PC Peter Grant Book 2)
3. Whispers Under Ground (PC Peter Grant Book 3)
4. Broken Homes (PC Peter Grant Book 4)
5. Foxglove Summer (PC Peter Grant Book 5)
6. The Hanging Tree (Rivers of London)
I have come to really enjoy the stories about Peter Grant, they are written in a very approachable down to earth style that feels more like a conversation. He is also very skilled at explaining the story without asides, those nods to the audience that fantasy writers often feel are needed. Aaronovitch's stories have a 'real' feel and seem to be set in a place where police-work just has the extra Falcon element.
Can't wait for the next one.
Peter Grant is asked to aid an investigation of two children who have disappeared. But this time, the locale is a small rural village and the fae he meets are raw, uncivilized and deadly. Once again we have Peter's laconic observations on the British police and their procedures ' no fish was harmed (sic) ' and their love of acronyms for example PEACE which stands for Planning, Engage and explain, Account and clarify, Closure, Evaluate training. These are pithy and amusing. We follow Peter's meanderings through the country as he meets various local identities and investigates sheep's intestines, bored holes in trees and ancient ruins. It was fun to be with Peter at the conception of a river god and to be given hints of Molly's background.

But the mad, exuberant climax we have come to expect from this series is missing. The story feels like a minor interlude from the main narrative of the Faceless Man and Lesley. Characters such as Hugh and Mellissa Oswald and her three neighbours, one with an Australian accent are introduced but never developed fully and I was left to wonder why the author bothered. I enjoyed Foxglove Summer but it never left me breathless or close to tears like previous novels in this series.

Eight months later.....
I have just reread Foxglove Summer. Instead of my usual manic devouring of a favourite series, I read slowly and carefully and enjoyed the experience very much. I appreciated the knowledgeable detail more and the many new characters were no longer a distraction. The mayhem may be missing but I have given "Foxglove summer" another star as a fair trade for this pleasurable revisit.