Review: Foxglove Summer

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Foxglove Summer is the fifth of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London/Peter Grant series (think: police procedural with magic). Aaronovitch's novel continues his trend of producing immensely satisfying and highly entertaining, if slightly flawed, reads.

This time, Grant finds himself out in the country following up on a former colleague of Nightengale's, and ends up helping look for two missing girls who disappeared at the same time. Weirdness ensues, and Grant finds himself up to his neck in magical muckity muck.

This entry doesn't do much to push forward Faceless Man plot that was exploding at the end of Broken Homes, but the case that Grant is tackling this time around provides Aaronovitch an opportunity to take him out of the comfort of the London streets and push him out into the unfamiliar territory of the more rural surrounding areas. The juxtaposition of city and country offers a chance to explore differing policing styles and ways that the respective communities respond to problems. As far as "fish out of water" plots go, this is pretty good.

Aaronvitch's writing is sharp and funny. Grant continues to be the sort of character I'd love to stop and have a pint with, even if he can be a little bit oblivious at times. There's a great deal going on all the time, and I really appreciate that Aaronovitch provides multiple angles of approach for the problems that Grant is facing. It's very satisfying to have the mystery unfolding and to slowly discover, along with Grant, which pieces are actually part of the puzzle, and which are just red herrings. Most of the pieces are there, but, as in real life, the can seem to be making several different pictures at once. It's only as the case is coming to a close that the final pieces reveal what was really going on.

While I really enjoyed Foxglove Summer, the conclusion does feel rather rushed, and the deus ex machina could have used a little more explanation (to prevent it form being one). I also would have liked to have seen the FM plot pushed forward a lot more (especially in light of the last book!). I can understand the value in giving Grant a chance to breathe a bit, and take in what happened, but it does feel a little anticlimactic, given how much the status quo was shaken up in the last book.

Still, despite a few minor flaws, Foxglove Summer is an excellent entry in a great series.


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