Title Moon over Soho / Ben Aaronovitch.

SRP 2011 REVIEW: Following up hard on the heels of Midnight Riot, Moon Over Soho is the second installment in Aaronovitch's brilliant debut series. Peter, rookie cop and apprentice mage, is still fumbling through the arduous learning process in the aftermath of the events of Midnight Riot. The story picks up on another case of curious deaths that he is naturally sent to investigate, and discovers right away a supernatural element is involved. Nightingale, his teacher and the last mage in Britain (at least until he took Peter as his apprentice), is out of commission mostly and the story revolves around Peter's ability to negotiate a tricky world, all the while feeling immense guilt towards his friend Leslie, and enticed by the smoky, seductive Simone. There are very dark themes explored against the backdrop of London's lively jazz and theatre scene, though nothing so gory as to repel sensitive readers. The implications for experimentation, magical labs, and dehumanization on supernatural creatures all echo the modern prejudices that our society grapples with today on another level. But Aaronovitch's gifts for lively, tense storytelling and brilliant wit -- there's nothing to compare to how Nightingale earns the nickname "Tiger Panzer" from his student, and the Harry Potter references are also a hoot -- prevent the story from becoming any kind of self-referential, demanding slog. It's well worth the price of admission and he can only keep going up from here. I admit this series far surpasses the standards set by Charlaine Harris, Jim Butcher, and Simon R. Green (the latter two being the closest competitors in the immediate genre in terms of the material they cover), and he's getting the complexity that make Kim Harrison the master of her art.