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reviewed The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch (Rivers of London, #6)

Ben Aaronovitch: The Hanging Tree (2016) 4 stars

Suspicious deaths are not usually the concern of PC Peter Grant or the Folly, even …

Review of 'The Hanging Tree' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Is anyone else getting rather frustrated by the amount of superfluous detail in these books? If the author cut out all the architectural details of every single building Peter Grant goes into and the precise description including exact shade of every item everyone he meets is wearing the book would probably be about two thirds of the length, and this seems to be getting worse as the series progresses not better. It almost feels like he's trying to make up a word count, and particularly in this book I found it made it harder to follow the story, as well as occasionally disrupting the pacing - a dramatic scene where someone is shot is interrupted by a detailed discussion of the consequences of gunshot wounds for example. This is a shame because I've generally enjoyed the series and this book introduces some interesting new ideas and characters and ties up some loose threads, but I found it very difficult to stay focussed on the story.