Moon Over Soho by Ben AaronovitchMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: The song. That’s what London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant first notices when he examines the corpse of Cyrus Wilkins, part-time jazz drummer and full-time accountant, who dropped dead of a heart attack while playing a gig at Soho’s 606 Club. The notes of the old jazz standard are rising from the body—a sure sign that something about the man’s death was not at all natural but instead supernatural.
Body and soul. They’re also what Peter will risk as he investigates a pattern of similar deaths in and around Soho. With the help of his superior officer, Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, and the assistance of beautiful jazz aficionado Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter will uncover a deadly magical menace—one that leads right to his own doorstep and to the squandered promise of a young jazz musician: a talented trumpet player named Richard “Lord” Grant—otherwise known as Peter’s dear old dad.
Read as an audio book. Will be June 2020's scifi book group selection. I jumped the gun a little bit...
I enjoyed this selection quite a bit - I mean, who wouldn't? There were Jazz Vampires. A very cool concept executed in a delightful way.
This does pick up where Midnight Riot left off: Leslie is sequestered with her family and on leave while the doctors try and fix her face and throat, Nightengale is slowly recovering from being shot in the shoulder, and we learn more about the enigmatic Molly and Peter's father, "Lord Grant". Some new characters make an appearance - the lovely Simone and, ah the police detective whose name I completely forgot. I hope we'll see the good detective in future books.
I was engaged with the plot and sub-plots from the moment I hit "play" to the very end. This just rolled right along and took me with. There are several quite enjoyable plot twists, I loved the humor, and the history aspect in this one really fleshed out the world building.
My one teeny complaint with the book was the ending(s). The first big plot reveal hit rather abruptly, a bit out of left field (was pretty awesome), but was kinda like...okay..., then the rest got a bit garbled from there. Still quite enjoyable, but parts felt disconnected from the overall story.
Bottom line - I will be reading the next one in the series.
Recommended if you like urban fantasy with a twist of jazz.
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