Lora Hates Spam

by Ben Aaronovitch

This one grabbed me right away with its offbeat humour and a quirky situation where an off-duty cop finds a body in Covent Garden and meets a ghost who is witness to the murder. The tone of the writing made what was actually a fairly long first chapter fly by and make me wonder what other weirdness was yet to come.

More weirdness came along pretty quickly. I don't want to go into spoilers but the story has a lot to do with magic, mythology and police work. It gets points for diversity as well. It not only held my attention but kept me entranced and even made me like police characters, though I usually avoid anything either military or law enforcement.

Towards the end I missed a few transitions from one situation to another, but whether that was because I was distracted while reading or things happened too quickly is hard to say. Either way, I enjoyed the book and would certainly consider reading more in the series.

The general plot is about an unrecognised branch of the London police who deal with supernatural phenomena. Peter Grant, the protagonist, shows some sensitivity and is recruited into this branch and finds himself negotiating territorial disputes among the local river gods, using all the skills he was taught in the police academy. At the same time he has to deal with a murder case involving ghosts and out of control spectral phenomena.

I found it very well done and the story did come to a tidy conclusion, if perhaps a little abruptly. A sample chapter of the next book in the series was included and showed me it will be further adventures of some of the same characters, especially Peter Grant. I've put it on my price drop list for now, but I think the chances that I'll continue at some point are pretty high.