Book review: Broken Homes

The fourth of Ben Aaronovitch's PC Peter Grant novels, Broken Homes, brings the policemen from the supernatural branch of the Met, The Folly, to South London. I felt like this book was following me around actually, as most of it is set in the Elephant and Castle, which isn't far from me, and which I was often going through on the bus while I was reading. But then when I went to the Barbican a couple of times last week, the action briefly moved there as well.

This time the action centres on a tower block at the Elephant and Castle, an unusually-shaped building which to be honest I thought it took the characters a bit too long to figure out must have been built to harness some occult power. It's another fun book although it feels very much like a transitional one rather than ever really kicking off its narrative. Without spoilering, certain events at the end confirm the impression that the book is largely setup for things that will happen in later installments of the series.

Googling for a picture of the cover to illustrate my review with, quite a few photos of Samuel Anderson crop up. I guess that campaign to get him cast as Peter Grant if the books are ever turned into a TV series must have a lot of supporters. He wouldn't be a bad choice, certainly, and his recent stint on Doctor Who should make for a high enough profile to launch a show around (especially if you added a well-loved older actor as Nightingale - any thoughts?)