Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch

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.

Reading Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series is usually a good, but often mildly frustrating time for me as they’re decently fun reads that are so close to being excellent. Book number three, Whispers Under Ground, is unquestionably the most tonally consistent and focused story so far that improves upon all my biggest criticisms of the previous installments. While Midnight Riot/Rivers of London (I’ll be referring to book 1 as Midnight Riot for consistency) and Moon Over Soho suffered from overly loose, meandering plots that attempted to weave together two separate cases, Whispers Under Ground smartly focuses on just one case and allows its dry, tongue-in-cheek British style to be front and center. Despite the improvements across the board, unfortunately I found the core mystery investigation to suffer from inconsistent pacing yet again and the culprit/reveal to be rather random which holds this back from a higher rating.

Each novel in the series so far has had an underlying theme that’s tied to the magical crime case and some type of fantasy element/being; Midnight Riot was themed to the theatre while Moon Over Soho was heavily Jazz-focused. Whispers Under London’s thematic flair is the visual fine arts (though one could also make a case that the theme could also be the London railway system), specifically pottery, though the art angle is less prominent than the previous two themes utilized. Despite being arguably slower-paced and more lowkey that the previous two novels (this one has the least action and magic thus far), I personally loved Whispers Under Ground’s conception and progression. I’ve critiqued previously stories for suffering from too large of an ensemble cast or unnecessary plot threads that seem to rely on Peter Grant’s humorous narration to keep things going off the rails. Here, nearly the entire narrative is focused on Peter and (surprisingly) Lesley May who has unofficially transferred to the Folly following the plot twist at the end of Moon Over Soho. Book three finally feels like Aaronovitch nailed the buddy cop banter that felt off (and uncomfortably mildly sexist) in Midnight Riot and their verbal sparring was a highlight for me. While I didn’t notice it at first, the story felt a lot better here with Lesley back in action compared to when she was sidelined in Moon Over Soho (I did not care for Peter’s chemistry and investigations with Simone Filtzwilliam, I don’t know how some anti-fans thinks Lesley was worse). It’s hard to describe but Peter and Lesley feel like actual Police Constables here and the inter-agency investigation with the Murder Investigation Team, British Transport Police, and the FBI feels more cohesive and polished than previous books.

As required for a new case and storyline, new characters are inevitably added but their additions feel more purposeful and restrained, keeping the cast at a size that’s comfortable to follow. British Transport Police Jaget Kumar and American FBI officer Kimberly Reynolds each are given considerable amounts of pages and chapters to contribute to the story and to leave a memorable impression compared to past side characters. Refreshingly, Peter Grant also does not thirst over any new random female characters for a change which had previously felt jarring and juvenile in Moon Over Soho. Aaronvitch’s character writing feels like it gets better with each outing and Whispers Under Ground is by far the strongest.

As typical with previous novels, the tone and humor are a highlight. I will never get tired of Peter Grant’s dry, smart and hilarious commentary (which admittedly took me some time to warm up to in Midnight Riot). The character voice manages to make even mundane activities like target practice or random drives across town to be a fun and enjoyable time. As per the norm, Whispers Under Ground continues to series incredible on-the-ground details of the great London area and historical details that despite not being required for the story, greatly enhance the material. I have yet to read another series that commits and delivers so hard on the “urban” aspect of the urban fantasy genre and it makes you feel like you’re living and breathing London. As usual, the heavy slang is an absolute treat.

The only aspect that I wasn’t quite sold on was the resolution to the magical crime case and the direction in the last one third of the book. The first two thirds of the story focus on Peter and Lesley’s investigation into murder victim and American art student James Gallagher and his connection to locals in the area. The investigation portion uncovers corporate connections, smuggled goods, railway secrets that all feel quite grounded. Then in the last third, the novel pivots suddenly by introducing a new form of being/group that feel like they come out of left field. Additionally, the arrest and confession of the culprit comes right on the heel of this reveal which is similarly tied to this new group. The killer’s motive, movements and the new group technically make sense on paper, but to me it all felt a bit random. Unless I missed crucial details during the initial read, it felt like more hints at these plot threads were needed for a proper setup and more intentional conclusion. Despite finding it’s resolution and culprit underwhelming, Moon Over Soho did a much better job with leaving breadcrumbs that hinted at the magical elements throughout the case. Whispers Under Ground ironically only has whispers and faint hints of magic suggested via vestigia flashes of pottery and kiln work which indicate this group’s purpose, but does not hint at any of their fantasy background. The culprit’s motive also felt a bit weak and a letdown compared to Midnight Riot, but at least the conclusion felt more satisfying then Moon Over Soho’s convoluted trainwreck on morality.

On a side note, a major point in my review on Moon Over Soho was the episodic, interim nature of its conclusion that felt like it was setting up the series for a larger, overarching plot. Whispers Under Ground has trace mentions of it and a minor side story where Peter and Leslie interview an individual connected to the Faceless Man, however this book’s plot and case are largely self-contained. As far as the trajectory of the series is concerned, Whispers Under Ground feels like its primary purpose is to get Lesley back up to speed as there’s little time directly devoted to the Faceless Man, the Folly, Molly, or Nightingale’s backstory (or even Nightingale in general).

For most of the read I was convinced that Whisper Under Ground would be the “ah-hah” novel that finally nails the huge potential of this series’ premise with how solid the tone and character work felt but alas, the plot didn’t quite stick the landing for me. However, despite having a similar rating as previous novels in the series, Whispers Under Ground is without question my favorite book so far and at the very worst, Rivers of London is always a fun (albeit sometimes a messy) time.