Foxglove Summer

A missing children case sends DC Peter Grant out of his comfort zone (London) and into the wilds of Hereford (it's practically Wales for God's sake!) for the sake of due diligence. He only sticks around to help out, but before long, it's looking more and more like a Folly case, with invisible unicorns and who knows what sticking their oars in.

The latest from Ben Aaronovich was a book I approached with trepidation, since missing children plots give me the heebie-jeebies. It was bad enough when I was teaching, but as a father I can barely make it through an episode of Criminal Minds. Thankfully it was not the cripplingly terror-inducing experience that it could have been.

There is some time given to the evolving arc plot of the Faceless Man and Lesley - last seen escaping from Peter after the latter's blindsiding heel turn in Broken Homes - but for the most part this is about the case of the missing kids. I was glad not to see an actual appearance by the Faceless Man (it would be a bit much for him to be behind everything,) although at one point I thought that he and/or Lesley would put in an appearance and try to steal the staves Peter is given, following his sabotage of the Faceless Man's big power harvest.

I think I'm looking forward to the return to London. Aaronovich's grasp of London's landscape is stronger and thus its occult nature within the series is much better developed. Aspects of Hereford's supernatural side seemed a bit stock in places, whereas London's demimonde has always felt fresh. That being said, this is another good read and ducks the bleakness that dogs so many detective series.