In this, the third installment of Simon R. Green's Nightside series, the author seems to finally relax and not obsess as much over the reader's understanding how strange the Nightside is in every paragraph. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of new oddities taking up the pages here but it seems we are more in a groove now, going along with John Taylor, the noirish detective who lives in the Nightside, the utterly alien and magical dark underbelly of London. He gets hired to find things, since he has a psychic gift that prevents anything from staying hidden from him for very long. While this makes him a great detective, it also makes him a target for plenty of powerful beings that also reside in the Nightside who consider him a danger.

This story starts out with what amounts to a short story encased in one chapter where Taylor tries to figure out who or what is sabotaging Prometheus, Inc's power station, which provides over 12% of the power to the Nightside. The brief interlude ends with a bang and with Taylor on the run, doing his best to avoid Walker, the representative of the authorities in the Nightside who hired him to do the job because of the trouble he caused by solving the case.
Soon after, Taylor is hired by the father of a up and coming singer, Rossingol, who is being managed and kept under wraps by the Cavendish's, a husband and wife team...or perhaps brother and sister team. No one is quite sure. Her father just wants to make sure she is safe, since things have changed ever since she came under their protective wings. On top of this mystery is the fact that there are rumors floating around that every time Rossingol sings members of the audience are committing suicide.
Missing in this tale are some of the secondary characters we have become aquainted with in the first two books, including Shotgun Suzie and Razor Eddie, but we are introduced to a couple more allies of Taylor's that are definitely interesting. Julien Advent, the Victorian adventurer and present day Newspaper Publisher, and my favorite sidekick thus far of the series: Dead Boy. We also get to see a few other of Taylor's rivals but there is little in this story besides his new sidekicks that will end up carrying over to future stories here.
I felt as if this tale was the strongest so far from Green on Taylor and the Nightside. The descriptions of this small universe buried inside London were still just as vivid as the two previous stories but he is more focused on the story itself without spending exorbitant amounts of time wowing us with the wonders that make up "The Nightside". I also enjoyed the first chapter as something that pretty much stands on its own as its own story separate from the rest of the book. I am growing more accustomed to Taylor and his unique gift, along with his impressive ability to slip in and out of situations without resorting to that gift (his reputation proceeds him for the most part and even powerful enemies show him a great deal of respect and often buy his bluff that he is more dangerous than he actually is). Green knows how to spin a tale and describe an environment so that you feel a part of it.
I am looking forward to further tales from the Nightside, especially if they are as solid as this story.