Rivers of London

My name is Peter Grant, and until January I was on probation as a constable in this mighty force of justice that all well-mannered people know as the London police (and for everyone else, “filth”). And one night, following murder-investigation instructions, I tried to question a certain individual who was dead but disquietingly talkative—which drew the attention of Inspector Nightingale, England’s last magician. And as they say, that’s where it all began.

Now I’m a detective-constable and an apprentice to a magician—the first in the last fifty years—and my world has become much more complicated: vampire nests in Pёрли, negotiations between warring gods and goddesses of the Thames, digging up graves in Covent Garden… and there’s also something rotting in the heart of the city I love—a malicious vengeful spirit that takes over ordinary Londoners and turns them into something like puppets in order to stage a drama of violence and despair. The spirit of rebellion and riot has awakened in the city, and it’s fallen on my shoulders to restore order in this Chaos—or die trying. And that’s exactly what I want to tell you, thereby attracting an appalling amount of paperwork.