First published 2013
PC Peter Grant faces a gruesome murder in Crawley with Robert Weil as the prime suspect. Weil might be connected to the dangerous magician called the Faceless Man, or he could be an ordinary serial killer. Before Peter can focus on this case, a town planner dies under a tube train and someone steals a grimoire. These incidents pile onto his already heavy workload. Then Peter learns about strange events at a housing estate in Elephant and Castle. The estate was designed by someone unstable, constructed by dishonest builders, and now houses desperate residents. Peter must determine if these seemingly separate incidents connect to each other. The investigation forces him to work south of the River Thames, a prospect that fills him with dread. As Peter digs deeper into the magical and mundane crimes plaguing London, he discovers that the city's supernatural underbelly intertwines with its everyday violence in ways that challenge his understanding of both police work and magic.
Genres: mystery, crime, fantasy, urban-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: found-family, investigation
Setting: Crawley, Elephant and Castle, London, River Thames
Period: Contemporary
357 pages · Paperback · Gollancz
Content warnings: violence