Not being a Londoner, hell being a born and bread American, I appreciate the way Ben Aarononvitch paints London in this series. It makes me want to see England but not for all the touristy reason but rather for the almost-underbelly side of the town. To me that speaks volumes about the quality of the writing. The plot twist in this one was a little transparent but it is forgivable because the world Ben has created is vibrant enough that seeing the twist coming really doesn't matter. Ben is now one of my favorite Urban Fantasy authors. The research he put in to the London jazz scene had to be rigorous and his ability to drop in the right pop culture references (Lounge Against The Machine in a burlesque setting?!?) shows that he knows You should read Midnight Riot first but if you don't want to then Ben does a decent job of giving you enough backfill to make the book enjoyable without making it seem repetitive to those of us who read the first book. All in this is well written urban fantasy with a well thought out and detailed mythos. One of the best I've read this year in the genre.