Broken Homes

, #4

320 pages

English language

Published Dec. 31, 2012 by Gollancz.

ISBN:
978-0-575-13246-7
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3 stars (2 reviews)

A mutilated body in Crawley. A killer on the loose. The prime suspect is one Robert Weil, possibly an associate of the twisted wizard known as the Faceless Man. Or maybe just a garden-variety serial killer. Before apprentice wizard and Police Constable Peter Grant can even get his head 'round the case, two more are dropped in his lap: a town planner has gone under a tube train, and there's a stolen grimoire for Grant to track down. So far, so London. But then Peter gets word of something very odd happening on a housing estate designed by a nutter, built by charlatans, and inhabited by the truly desperate. Is there a connection? And if there is, why oh why did it have to be South of the River—in the jurisdiction of some pretty prickly local river spirits?

1 edition

reviewed Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London, #4)

Review of 'Broken Homes' on 'Storygraph'

4 stars

Still not as good as #1 and #2 but on a par with #3 and I'll keep reading. 

The investigation dragged a bit so the resolution didn't seem very well tied to the opening. The new characters weren't as interesting as in previous books, though Varvara has great potential. The action was well handled and the ending twist was good.

Review of 'Broken Homes' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This story felt disjointed as I read it, like incomplete short stories. I struggled enough to keep all of the plot points in my head that I reviewed this summary at about the 75% mark. (summary link didn't transfer: allreaders.com/book-review-summary/broken-homes-40217)

However
, I liked quite a bit of it. The characters are really the reason I love this series. Peter is a great narrator with a good balance of humor integrated into tense situations and clear explanations of some police procedures. The explanations are helpful as an American reading about policing in London.

Most story threads came together at the end. Aaronovitch did a nice job of leading the reader to understand the importance of the architecture of Skygarden and its connection to the farm and the Faceless Man. And, that end, WOW! I’m a bit upset about it.

These are the plot points that seem to be …