Book Review – Rivers of London

There are some book series that you just keep hearing about, and eventually cave in to read. There’s no better time for me, apparently, than a readathon to just jump on in there and and read the first book of a series; I’ve done it with past readathons, and this month, I had the first book from three different series down on my August TBR, including Rivers of London.

Half fantastical adventure, half crime investigation by the Met Police, this series has been hugely popular since its release, and naturally it was popular here, too. I read this book as a combination between audiobook and physical book, and I have to add huge compliments to the narrator, as he really brought the characters to life.

When Detective Constable Peter Grant takes a witness statement from a ghost, he sets off a chain of events that end up drawing attention to himself – unsurprisingly. One person paying attention is Inspector Nightingale; the last wizard left in England. Taken on as Nightingale’s apprentice – the first apprentice in fifty years – Peter suddenly finds himself encountering a world he couldn’t have previously imagined existed. From vampires to the gods of the Thames, Peter dives into investigating the supernatural crimes facing him, trying to anticipate what’s coming his way next.

I had numerous people tell me this was a book I would enjoy, and they weren’t wrong. It was an easy, amusing read, the type of book that you relax into reading. With my chronic illnesses, I found the length of the chapters – an hour long on Audible on average – somewhat exhausting, but it was well worth persevering with.

The characters are vivid and clearly defined, each very individual. The narration especially made me smile with the way the characters each had their own voice that so suited them. I’ve gone on to buy the physical books of the rest of the series but I’ll be listening to the audio version of the first book – and possibly the latter ones – again in the future. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith compliments the work of the author so perfectly, it might as well have been written for him.

I really did feel endeared to Peter Grant, and felt for him with some of the positions he was put into by the evil he is forced to face up to within the story, but also loved just how realistically he was crafted, and can’t wait to see where his further adventures take him.