Broken Homes

Peter Grant, a probationary constable and apprentice wizard in London, is sent to a road accident where a car turns out to be carrying human blood. The trail ends at a shallow grave. The dead man belonged to a magical dining club at Oxford, and someone has murdered him.

A German grimoire has also been stolen, and the theft draws Peter towards Skygarden Tower. This brutalist London estate was designed by an architect with an odd interest in magic.

Peter and Lesley May move in undercover as tenants. Meanwhile Thomas Nightingale pursues the Faceless Man, a rogue wizard who has stayed ahead of the Folly since the first book in the series.

The case brings Peter into contact with river gods and goblin traders. He also learns that the tower belongs to something far older than its concrete. This is the fourth Rivers of London novel, a police procedural with magic in it, a focus on architecture and a dry London sense of humour.

The question running through the book is what the tower was built to hold, and who is already inside it.