The Rivers of London series is my favourite urban fantasy series. I love the main character, and his snark-meets-Captain-Carrot approach to community policing. (Actually, I like pretty much all the characters, which is something I rarely find in urban fantasy.) I like the humour and the tone, and I really love the diversity.

That said, Broken Homes just didn't do it for me like the others do. It was ok, but it just didn't grab me in the same way. For one (and this is petty but true, at least in my case) it has the two most boring opening pages of any book I think I've ever read. I glazed over within two paragraphs, and even Ayers and his horrible philosophy didn't have that effect. (Apparently philosophy beats traffic accident reporting - who knew?) More crucially: Lesley. She's one of the characters I really like - her snarky friendship with Peter is comic gold and for me the most consistently entertaining part of the series. I did not like how she ended up. I especially do not like the fact that seemingly, the only women left are very minor supporting roles, the most prominent of which is the maid, who never even speaks. One of the reasons I value this series so highly is the diversity, and I feel that's just taken a very big knock.

Most importantly, though: Broken Homes feels like a set-up. A series of events padded out and linked together in order to set up the final shocker. Credit where due, it is a shocker - it's also the only really exciting bit in the book. Too much set-up, too little plot.

That being said, I'm still excited to read the next book.