Whispers Underground

Another superb book in the series, in which PC Grant is seconded to a murder investigation team after a killing on the London Underground. It expands further on the world, and brings in a number of new characters, some of which seem to be being set up for novels further on in the series. Lesley also has a bigger role to play than she did in the previous book, now beginning to cope rather better with her new life.

The murder is arguably secondary to the worldbuilding, but the latter is notable for being strong on the ‘urban' part of urban fantasy, being very much grounded in the real world. The writing remains top-notch, with a self-deprecating style and what certainly feels like a plausible portrayal of police work. Even if our central character has a few spells up his sleeve, he's still a London policeman, and the story is to a large extent a procedural with the magic - here showing hints of a wider world than we'd seen previously - just forming part of the backdrop.