A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP

 It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher—and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom—if it exists at all—is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects . . . except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and—as of now—deadliest subway system in the world.

At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful . . . and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah—that’s going to go well.

Young Abigail from Peter’s neighborhood contacts him because she has seen a ghost. Accompanied by PC Lesley May, unofficially as she is still on medical leave, Peter goes with Abigail to see if they can find the ghost in the railway tunnel.  After a brief encounter with the ghost in the railway tunnel Peter and Lesley return to the Folly, the headquarters of the Specialist Assessment Unit which is the unit one calls when things get weird, as in magic being involved.  What was once a headquarters filled with dozens of wizards and students it is now the home of DCI Thomas Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England as well as Peter and now Lesley who are both his students.

Before Peter can research what, if anything, should be done about Abigail’s ghost,  he is called to check out the murder of a young American student found dead in the subway and the murder weapon is giving off indications of magic. That, along with the mystery of how the murderer got into and out of the railway tunnel without being seen by CCTV means Peter is helping with the case.  But there is also the continuing search for The Faceless Man, the evil wizard responsible for so many deaths all complicated by the appearance of an American FBI agent assigned to “help” with the investigation of  James Gallagher’s murder.

Action starts several months after the end of the last book, Lesley is healing, albeit slowly, and has moved into the Folly as she, too, is learning magic. Higher-ups in the force are willing to use Peter and Nightingale while preferring to pretend there is no such thing as magic but that is hard to do when it turns out that the dead man’s roommate is part fae and the murder weapon itself has some magic attached. I am really enjoying this series, I am sorry I missed its original release but glad to catch up now. Highly recommended ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

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