The best way to describe this book is Sherlock Holmes meets Harry Potter. This is the first on a series which follows Peter Grant, police officer with the London Met and apprentice wizard. While I enjoyed this book from the start I found it slightly slow in the beginning. The reason of course is as the first in a series the author is playing a long term game. Where as if it was a standalone novel he would have to try shoehorn in as much as possible, as the first in a series it's really laying the groundwork for the rest of the series, providing us with the background information we will need later on. However from about the half way point it really got its hooks into me, to the point that I stayed up until 3am to finish it (just as well it's the Christmas Holidays). I'll definitely be reading more of this series. Enjoyed the book. Reminded me of Dresden Files/Laundry Files/Jasper Fforde, so definitely worth a try if you liked any of those.In a nutshell -- newly minted Police Constable Peter Grant escapes the drudgery of paperwork to report to the head (and only member) of the London police's Magic department, where he must learn how he fits into the magic underlying London, solve a problem with a murderous ghost, and help the spirits of the Thames resolve their differences.And London is a wonderful character in this book. The sequels will definitely be joining my to-read list.
