Moon over Soho is the second book by Ben Aaronovitch about Peter Grant, detective constable at ESC9 (Economic and Specialist Crime Unit 9) – the unit of the London Metropolitan Police dealing with magic related crimes. In this book, the high mortality rate of talented musicians in the London jazz scene is initially investigated when a series of very bloody killings of males nightclub visitors begins.
After a surprisingly slow start, the pace of story picks up and is very thrilling towards the end of the book. The text has very detailed descriptions of detective work and the bureaucracy surrounding it, which combined with the also detailed magic descriptions gives it a quite odd slant that I enjoyed reading. The quite relaxed writing in general, with some humour at its heart, and of course the London setting are also things that I like. However, it is very clear that this is the second book in a series of books. In the earlier book, Rivers of London, a lot of the set-up is explained, and without having read those explanations this book would probably be very difficult to understand. Additionally, there are several loose threads at the end of this book that I expect will be tied up in a later book. I prefer more self-contained books. Now I feel that I have to continue reading this series, being forced to enjoy more time together with Peter Grant in the magic world of London.