What I've been reading...

Crow Investigations series by Sarah Painter


I first came across this series when the first book, The Night Raven,  was recommended to me on my Kindle. I liked the title so I downloaded it, but I had a strange reluctance to actually read it.  I did read the first page and it didn't really grab me, and at the time I had lots of other things I had to read so it remained unread on my Kindle for a long time.  Then, one evening, I suddenly decided to give it a serious try, and I'm glad I did as I found myself quickly immersed in the world Painter creates.  I read the second and third book in the series straight after each other, and I have pre-ordered the fourth one. They are pictured in order below:


           


The novels have some similarities to Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series in that they are set in an alternative but recognisable contemporary London, feature a detective (this time a woman, Lydia Crow, who is a private investigator), and involve magic and the supernatural.  I always like books set in London, a city I love, particularly when the writer clearly knows the place very well.  Aaronovitch's London is probably more vivid than Painter's version, but the Crow Investigations series definitely captures the place, 

Her imaginative twist on the urban detective genre is to have her protagonist, Lydia Crow, a member of the powerful Crow family, based in Camberwell.  Painter's London is divided between four magical families, The Crows (led by the formidable Uncle Charlie), The Foxes (led by Tristan Fox, whose son, Paul, used to be Lydia's secret squeeze), The Silvers (led by Alejandro Silver, whose barrister daughter is seriously upset by one of Lydia's investigations) and The Pearls.  So far, we haven't learnt much about the Pearls except that they are excellent salespeople - I assume we will learn more in Book Four.  Each family has particular magical gifts, though I think that the silver tongues of the Silvers are probably a bit close to the persuasive skills of the Pearls, though we will see how this plays out.  The Foxes are, like their namesake, cunning, independent, secretive, dangerous, and have a potent physical and sexual charm.  The Crows are historically the most powerful family, though the powers of all the families have been waning in recent decades.

In the first book, Lydia searches for her cousin Maddy who turns out (spoiler alert) to be not only more powerful than Lydia expected but also psychotic.  The second novel focuses on the Silvers and their involvement in several murders. The third begins with Lydia's discovery of the body of a member of the Fox clan in an unused underground station.  Each novel bleeds into the next, though they just about manage to remain self-contained stories.  

A real strength of the series is Painter's ability to create tension.  The scene near the beginning of the first book where Lydia is almost thrown off her rooftop balcony is terrifying and beautifully paced, for instance.  Lydia is an interesting, feisty heroine.  Brought up in the suburbs outside the main influence of her peculiar extended family, she is at first unaware of her own magical potential, thinking her only power is to recognise whether another person is a member of one of the four magical families.  However, we see her discovering new skills as the narrative progresses, and her courage is inspiring.  Her relationship with the good-looking Police Detective, Fleet, is also well-portrayed (though I found it odd that there seemed to be no reference to the fact he is black until halfway through book three - was his ethnicity an afterthought or a deliberate obfuscation?).  Uncle Charlie is a particularly vivid character, and Painter creates an atmosphere of mystery, conflict and suspense - one puzzle is solved only to introduce another, one problem sorted only to lead to a further complication.  The mystery of Lydia's ghost assistant's back-story is an excellent hook, though I'm ready for an explanation now.

Painter writes confidently and well, and is in control of her material.  There is sufficient originality to keep the reader interested, though I did feel that some of the plot climaxes were a little underwhelming.  Part of this is that investigations are sometimes puzzled out by reverting to Fleet using his police contacts or by other people telling Lydia things - I have felt that, despite my being fully engaged in earlier parts of each novel, the resolutions of the mysteries have pushed me as the reader away from the centre of the action.  This is mainly because Painter sticks to what can realistically be achieved by a PI, only using Lydia's magical abilities occasionally. As the books progress, this improves - in Book Three there is a good sequence where Lydia makes use of her friendly ghost to solve one mystery.  It would be satisfying to big up more of the minor characters, particularly Angel, the woman who runs Uncle Charlie's cafe below Lydia's flat,  

Overall, however, this is a readable and entertaining new series that I would definitely recommend. 

You can find Sarah Painter at: 

                            https://www.sarah-painter.com/     

RATING:

Crow Investigations series

****

Key:
*****      highly recommended - a 'must-read'
****         good - well worth taking the time to read
***           ok - will help to pass the time in a boring situation
**            not very good -  just about readable but flawed
*             not recommended - boring, offensive, badly-written or deeply flawed in some other way