The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

I have loved this series ever since it was recommended to me as “Harry Potter for adults”. If you’ve never heard of this series before, it follows Peter who’s a PC in London, and he works alongside Nightingale in a division that deals with investigating crimes which are linked to magical suspects. The Hanging Tree is the sixth book in the series and is as brilliant as all the others.

In this tale, Peter has a decision to make. They’ve been called to One Hyde Park for a suspicious death, it doesn’t reek of magic when they get there but Peter knows a magical being was there, because he’s already received a phone call from Lady Ty asking him to protect her daughter who was at the apartment. He owes Lady Ty… but things aren’t looking great for Olivia when she’s interviewed…

The plot reveals an even more delicious tale of events when an informal witness chat at Harrods turns into a magical fight and old enemies show their faces.

Aaronovitch has the most incredible writing style, he weaves action, context and british humour into every page creating plots that are utterly satisfying to read. For this reason, he’s managed to maintain the thrill throughout this series and I’m already looking forward to reading Lies Sleeping, which is on my TBR pile!

I also loved the development of DC Guleed’s character in this book, I really felt I got to know her more and seeing the cheekiness of her personality starting to come out… was GLORIOUS.

There’s three reasons why you’d pick up this book:

1. You love crime thrillers and like following the police as they investigate and solve a case;
2. You love magic – the excitement and added escapism it adds to a plot;
3. You love books set in London, the ‘nod’ to places that are familiar to you.

Well I love all these elements and to find a series that continues to tick all these boxes, brings me immense happiness.

The Hanging Tree is available now in paperback and eBook versions from Gollancz publishers! As I’ve said before, these books are light hearted thrillers that give you a wonderful balance of police business and magic… if you haven’t heard about this series before now… go have a nose!

Until next time, Chloé x