Amongst our weapons (Rivers of London, #9), by Ben Aaronovitch

This book is a comforting return to the world of Peter Grant. But it could have been more.

The basic ingredients I’ve expected are all there (including the occasional Monty Python joke), no questions asked. But it is lacking in some aspects.

I like the talking foxes, and they have become a series stable by now. As of the architectural blubber, which at this poor does nothing more than providing background noise.

But I think Nightingale was heavy underused in this book. His special relationship with Peter send to have taken a back seat, which is a shame – it seems to me that Peter needs a lot more training (I’m follow up on that soon). That might be my personal taste, of course. But there’s something else that has been bugging me for the last two or three books.

Lesley May started learning magic after Peter, but by now she is better than the faceless man, seemingly better than Nightingale and definitely better than Peter. And that just isn’t right. By now Peter should have turned into a powerhouse all by himself. Or at least received advanced war combat training by his mentor.

In the end, Nightingale describes Peter als reckless – and I can’t see where that is coming from. A little more recklessness would eventually do Peter some good.

It would at least have sped up some of the more boring parts, and maybe – just maybe – we would have gotten to the secret of the seven rings. Because they have never been explained, and it seems to me like Ben had forgotten all about them at the end, which had a taste like it was written rather hastily on a deadline.

Also, SPOILER, when the Nightingale proclaims he might retire in the next few years, one has to ask – how? Peter is far, far from taking over the folly. He’s still a DC, even, while Guleed has managed to make it to DS. How is that supposed to work? A constable can’t be in charge.

And that’s the problem with Peter Grant right now. Everyone around him is evolving (even his boss who is developing thoughts about retirement), but Peter basically stays the same. Maybe becoming a father will change that, who knows.

3.5, rounded up to 4 because I don’t want Bev coming after me.