Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch, 2012.The advantage of being a semiretired adult is that there is nobody around who can force one to stop reading and go to sleep. The disadvantage of same is...
That's a great series of Aaronovitch's. I didn't notice that there was much problem with a diminution of tension because of the narrative perspective - perhaps tastes differ in that regard. In the Whispers Under Ground world, since ghosts exist, it's not so easy to be certain that a character survives a particular peril simply because they're narrating the story, which may help remove the certainty about the outcome.
As you say, the back story of Nightingale is quite intriguing. Fortunately Aaronovitch's didn't suffer the plot problem that turns up in anime so frequently: plots that simply end with a confusing conclusion (or lack of conclusion), or the disastrous plot loop that occurred in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, season 2!
Just finished Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, by the way - it was a lot of fun. Great to see cousin Ivan the star of his own story at last!
As you say, the back story of Nightingale is quite intriguing. Fortunately Aaronovitch's didn't suffer the plot problem that turns up in anime so frequently: plots that simply end with a confusing conclusion (or lack of conclusion), or the disastrous plot loop that occurred in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, season 2!
Just finished Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, by the way - it was a lot of fun. Great to see cousin Ivan the star of his own story at last!