Are you, are you coming to the tree? Where they strung up a man, they say, who murdered three. Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be if we met at midnight in the hanging tree. Let’s prepare the gallows for The Hanging Tree, by Ben Aaronovitch.
Synopsis:
The Hanging Tree was the Tyburn gallows which stood where Marble Arch stands today. Oxford Street was the last trip of the condemned. Some things don’t change. The place has a bloody and haunted legacy and now blood has returned to the empty Mayfair mansions of the world’s super-rich. And blood mixed with magic is a job for Peter Grant.
Peter Grant is back as are Nightingale et al. at the Folly and the various river gods, ghosts and spirits who attach themselves to England’s last wizard and the Met’s reluctant investigator of all things supernatural.
Source: Goodreads
SPOILERS BELOW
The Folly’s latest case begins when a teenage girl dies of a drug overdose. While tragic, it’s not the sort of thing that’s normally in remit of the supernatural department of London’s police – but every angle of the case seems to turn up magical involvement. The girl’s brain shows signs of magic use, one of the girls who was at the party is an adoptive daughter of Lady Tyburn, another has been dealing in stolen magical paraphernalia with a shady fae calling himself Reynard the Fox, and other magical practitioners are sniffing around the edges of the things – not just their old nemesis the Faceless Man, but also two previously unknown groups.
This book represents a significant advancement of the series’s overarching plot, as Peter finally uncovers the true identity of the Faceless Man. This is a welcome development after all this time, promising that this long-running subplot will finally be advancing to the next stage. The book’s main content was interesting as well, introducing new factions and having some great action scenes, so on the whole I can call it great.
The Hanging Tree is an excellent entry in the Rivers of London series.
Final Rating: 5/5
profmorbius 