I really enjoyed this book. It's the first book I've read by Ben Aaronovitch and it definitely won't be the last. I'm certainly going to catch up on all of the 'Rivers of London' books I've missed out on. I must say that if you've never read any Peter Grant books, it might be a good idea to do so before reading 'The Hanging Tree'. I found that I had to concentrate quite a bit on trying to understand the connections between certain characters and things that had happened in the past. Once I was in the middle of the book and immersed in Peter's world, it was a lot easier, but I think that reading the others in the series would've avoided this.
Other than that, 'The Hanging Tree' was really enjoyable to read, there were witty remarks from the characters and plenty of humour throughout. I especially enjoyed the reference to Sharon and Darren on the Jeremy Kyle show!
There was plenty of magic, gripping tension and humour which constantly made me smile, but it took more concentration than usual due to references to the other books in the series, which, if you haven't read them are difficult to understand. For these reasons I give 'The Hanging Tree' 4 out of 5. Definitely worth a read but I would recommend reading the others first. However, if they're as good as this one, that won't be a chore.


This e-book was provided to me for free in exchange for an honest review.