Beasts of London

A fast-paced and imaginative new take on Holmes and other familiar faces!

There was one sad and unnecessary event, I thought, which I'll put at the very bottom because it is a spoiler.

Aside from that, the magic did take some learning, as it's deeply embedded into the world. However, I adored the concept of the beasts (and want to know what the others are!) and I liked how everything came together. My absolute favorite storyline was Mycroft's, which was a nice change from usual depictions of him.

I will say that for the first few chapters I felt like I was reading book 3 in a series, not book 1. But by the end, I was definitely interested in any sequels that might come along. :)

The [SPOILER] I mentioned earlier . . . the dog dies. :( Really not necessary, I thought, and it took me out of the story. But then, I am very soft-hearted. And I did very much enjoy that the dog (and other side characters) was there at all, because he's a reference to one of the short stories (if I remember my names right!).