Broken Homes
Ben Aaronovitch
Architecture, magic, and London police
Broken Homes is book 4 in Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London/Peter Grant series. This one pretty much follows the formula: Peter, Leslie, and Nightingale, along with other previously introduced magical beings, investigate strange goings-on, including several murders, in and around London. The publisher's blurb suggests that The Faceless Man, who is more-or-less the Folly's nemesis, might be involved. I'm not gonna tell you whether that turns out to be true. As usual the story is told in the first person by Peter, whose snarky voice is one of the best things about the series. Peter and Leslie are much more like cops who happen to be magical than magicians who do police work.
Unlike the previous novel, Moon Over Soho, which was mainly world-building, Broken Homes is mostly storytelling. Although there are murders and mysteries, it feels more like a thriller than a murder mystery in the classical Agatha Christie/Dorothy Sayers/Sherlock Holmes mold.
The plot is intricate -- a little too much so, I think. I had trouble following at times. For instance, as the publisher's blurb tells us, a guy commits suicide by throwing himself in front of a tube train. I'm still not sure why that happened or why Aaronovitch introduced that little plot twist in the book. It plays so little role that, when the suicide's name turns up late in the book, we haven't heard about him for chapters and I no longer remembered who this name belonged to.
Peter Grant's architectural snobbery, which had just begun to become unpleasant in Moon Over Soho, has been dialed up to eight in Broken Homes. By eight I mean it has become intense enough to be obnoxious, but not so bad yet that I can't imagine it getting worse. My complaint is not that Peter drones on about architecture. I like to learn new things, and if those new things happen to concern architecture, that's fine by me. It is that Peter is very judgmental about architecture, architects, and builders. He knows who is good and who's getting a lump of coal in their Christmas stocking. He is also a bit of a snob about other things. It is an unattractive trait in an otherwise engaging and funny character. If this gets worse in subsequent books, it is possible that I will Nope out.
But in the end Aaronovitch spins an interesting and often funny story. (There's a running joke about Peter's grammar that I find quite funny, although I notice some other reviewers don't realize they're being played.) And he manages to wrap up in way that ties off most but not all of the loose ends. So, four stars, despite the complaints.
My review of the audiobook, with **Spoilers**, is here.