Having read and loved the first Nick Paris book, I was really excited to read Know Your Rites.

While it doesn't quite have the charm of the first book, and the word play gets a little grating after a while, it's still a fun read which takes Paris to the magical world on his investigations. Still reliant on a diet of mainly cigarettes and whiskey, Paris is on form as he investigates a murder where the only suspect is a rapping dwarf.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

In a second book about Nick Paris he is still in his forties, he is a police inspector, heavy smoker and he is best in investigation when he’s hammered, so his boss supplies him with whiskey. Only this time his investigation and action so not happen in Manchester but in the magical world, from where all his magical side-kicks are from.

This funny story is filled with word plays, paranormal criminal mysteries, brilliant characters and hints to a pop-culture. It’s not as funny as the first book was, but it has much more magic in it.

Good read!

Unfortunately, this book wasn't for me.

To ensure I had a full grasp of the characters and the plot I read the first of the series, 'Breaking the Lore' as well. For me, I found the setting, characters and general story of 'Know Your Rites' to be two dimensional. The authors presence is obvious and there is a lot of telling rather than showing.

The humour at times worked really well (hence 1 stars) but most of the time it was again too obvious or forced for my liking. The characters are explored but on a very top level, we get to know their habits and something of their personalities but nothing deep enough to make me want to care about them.

There was a lot of repetition of internal thoughts being spoken out loud, mundane thoughts being discussed for pages and random generic conversations that really jarred with the magical elements.

As far as urban fantasy goes, this has a few funny moments but all in all it didn't capture my imagination.

The continuing adventures of the cantankerous Inspector Paris, Tergis the Elf, Eric the Dwarf, Garf the Demon and Malbous the Crow as they solve supernatural crimes.

A bit light on the plot but still just as madcap and zany as the initial introduction. This time around we get a few new cast members and drip-fed a bit more world building. Forget drones being the future of mail delivery. Bring on the Raptor Relay System. Plus Redsmith provides us with the BEST post-brexit trade deal alternatives.

I found this second book in this series about magical creatures to be not quite as engaging as the first. There seemed to be a lot more page filler and a lot less happening. The characters from the first book were still there and the weak jokes and puns were just the same, but the story lacked action.

It was still interesting to see Inspector Paris's brain in action, especially when fuelled with whisky. I liked the involvement of witches, demons, elves and dwarves as well, but did not need the talking animals. They seemed to reduce the story to a childish level.

So mixed feelings about this one. If there is an Inspector Paris Mystery#3 in the future I will probably give it a try but I won't be rushing out to get it.

I remembered the first book clearly so it was a pleasure to be reunited with Nick Paris, his magical girlfriend Cassandra, Bonetti his rather thick sergeant, and the team who helped him in the last desperate adventure. Once again, I found the contrast between Nick’s worldweary, rather cynical outlook and the world of elves, dwarves and talking crows an enjoyable one. The storyline carries on from the adventures in the previous book, so my firm advice would be to read Breaking the Lore first, otherwise you will be missing too much of the backstory to make sense of what is going on.

Humour is highly subjective. What has one person roaring with laughter will leave someone else blank-faced and yawning, so do be aware of that with regard to my following comments. While I initially enjoyed the humorous aspect of the story, I quickly decided that Redsmith is trying too hard to make me laugh, rather than immerse me in an engrossing portal fantasy whodunit. There are too many times when scenes are included or extended for the sole purpose of yet another pun or wordplay, rather than for the sake of deepening the characterisation or advancing the storyline. Consequently I felt that the jokes got in the way of the story, rather than embellishing it.

That said, I still had no trouble turning the pages and finishing this murder mystery and will be very happy to read another slice in Nick Paris’s adventures. Recommended for those who enjoy paranormal murder mysteries – but please be aware that this series is nothing like Ben Aaronovitch’s Peter Grant mysteries. The ebook arc copy of Know Your Rites was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest opinion of the book.
7/10

My thanks to Canelo for an eARC via NetGalley of Andy Redsmith’s ‘Know YourRites’ in exchange for an honest review. Since publication I purchased my own copies in ebook format.

This is the second in his Inspector Nick Paris (aka Mr Parrots/Nipparis depending on who is addressing him) series of comic fantasy mysteries. It follows on from ‘Breaking the Lore’ as Manchester and the human world adjusts to the revelation of the existence of magical creatures and a parallel world linked by a mystic portal. I would recommend reading them in order.

Paris has hardly drawn breath from the last case before there is another crime involving a magical being. A dwarf named Dirk with aspirations to become a rapper (!) is accused of murdering a human music producer.

The case involves a number of the quirky characters from the first book as well as introducing new ones. I enjoyed the addition of the lamasu, winged bulls from Assyrian myth, and Nigel, the elephant bartender. I cannot recall encountering lamasu in other fantasy literature and these were very expressive.

Paris and company (including the lovely human witch Cassandra) spend a portion of the novel in the magical realm and we learn more about its society.

This was a great deal of fun though with so many characters it felt as times as though they were all jostling for attention. While not all the jokes were hits for the most part I was amused from start to finish. I did rather want more of the espionage cats!

Hopefully, there will be further adventures for Paris and company in the near future.

On a side note for some reason having the dwarfs constantly address Nick as Mr. Parrots just cracked me up.

Inspector Paris is back with the strange collection of friends and foes in this second of the great series set in Manchester.
We have ogres, warlocks, fairies, dwarves, elves, and the small stone child (read and see who I mean).
I thought that this book was not quite as original as book 1 as we had met all the characters before, but there were some excellent lines of text. eg 'What makes sense depends on how you look at it'; 'Persuasion, ..that's one way of describing Ug the Ogre dangling Orin upside down above the station cesspit'; 'Bonetti's heart was in the right place. even if his brain was nowhere to be found'.
I also liked the espionage cats and the rapping dwarf. Great ideas.
So overall a fun read with giggles.

In this fun mystery series, a portal between the world of magic creatures and the human world has been discovered in a wealthy area of Manchester. A secret long known by the magical creatures, humans discovered it when an army of demons tried to invade in the previous episode. Eventually thwarted by DI Nick Paris, aided by the British army and a band of magical creatures, the demons have returned home and the residential area is now a heavily guarded military zone. After being feted in the magical kingdom, DI Paris had hoped he could go back to dealing with human crimes but when a musical agent is murdered and the only suspect is a dwarf would be rap singer, he finds himself once again investigating a devious plot involving magical creatures.

This was a light, entertaining read peppered with a lot of silly jokes and puns as DI Paris practices his own style of policing (whisky is essential for his thought processes), aided by his girlfriend witch Cassandra, Malbus, a cigarette smoking crow, Tergil an elf noble, Dirk the appalling rapping dwarf and his sister Olga, a sword wielding warrior as well as Grarf, a large but friendly demon. Trolls, flying bulls, ogres, demon hordes, an elephant who drinks to forget and a trio of feline spies all make an appearance as Paris and company head back into the magical kingdom. Not high fantasy, but enjoyable if you're in the mood for a humorous cosy mystery set in a magical world.

This is the second instalment in this series and although I haven’t read the first one, I still got hooked on it! A great combination of the real world and the magical one with its peculiar characters (elves, dwarves, ogres, crows, wizards, witches, etc). You will be amazed by how nowadays political views are treated in this book (post Brexit trade deal).

It is well written and as I said before… you can’t put it down, I strongly recommend it. Hope there will be more books to come!

Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for a copy of this book to read and review.

This is the second in the Inspector Paris (aka Mr Parrots and Nipparis) series of murder, mayhem and magic by Andy Redsmith. Although I could see this was a good book, I was struggling to really get into it until at almost a third of the way in wham, I was totally immersed and loving it. Paris has become an unexpected hero and celebrity after previously seeing off a demon invasion with a team of normal and magical beings. The portal into the magical world is in the well heeled Didsbury district in Manchester, although it has now become a heavily militarised zone overseen by Captain Montrose. Paris is desperately hoping his next case will be a normal human one, but he is doomed to be disappointed when 28 year old Jay Ramirez, a music producer is found murdered, stabbed in his home, and the only suspect is an aspiring rapper, a dwarf named Dirk.

This is a highly politically sensitive case, the British government are looking for a post Brexit trade deal with the magical world. In what at first appears to be a slam dunk of a case, it soon transpires that nothing is as seems as evidence emerges that Dirk could not have killed Ramirez. Dirk is the oddest dwarf with his designer clobber and goatee beard, who raps his way through every situation, had been living with Ramirez, the producer supposedly grooming him for musical stardom, even though Dirk is not good, and the two had argued over the imminent arrival of Olga, Dirk's sister, a ninja warrior. Paris, aided by Sergeant Bonetti, and a police hierarchy happy to supply him with copious amounts of whisky, essential to oil the wheels of his brain for those break through moments, works a complex case that has him returning to the magical world with his lover, Cassandra, a purple haired witch and goth. The magical police consists of Malbus, a smoking crow, foxes, and a not to messed with golden eagle, who unearth felonious felines as they work closely with Paris.

This is a well written and hilarious series, and whilst it was my first taste, I have become a fan after reading this, keenly anticipating the next addition. There is a huge cast of characters and fantastical beings of a magical world that is nominally medieval in structure, with many aspects that replicate the normal human universe. I loved Nigel, the elephant who drinks to forget, Nola, the vengeful cat and so many others, whilst Paris is a charismatic protagonist. I found this to be a hugely entertaining, fun and comic read. I think readers who loved the Artemis Fowl series or the author Terry Pratchett will be likely to find Andy Redsmith's series an immensely enjoyable experience. Many thanks to Canelo for an ARC.

I just love this series. Canelo had been kind to give me the first book and they were kind to give me this book as well. And I have to say I just loved this book. In my opinion this is even better than the first one. And all of my favourite characters are all there in the book again. The characters of Nick Paris (Mr Parrots, Nipparis), Bonetti, Cassandra, Eric, Tergil, Grarf, Malbus (my favourite, Gizza fag) and a few new additions with Dirk the dwarf who's aspiring to be a rapper and who's quite bad at it and Olga, his sister who's quite overprotective and mercurial Knight. I loved this book and dare I say, I loved it even more than The Rivers of London series. Which brings me to the same point I made in the review of my last book. To any reader who picks this book up thinking that this is like Ben Aaronovitch's creation, it is not. It is completely different, yes, it's about a policeman and magical creatures, but unlike Peter Grant from Rivers of London, DI Nick Paris has no magical powers and no acumen for it. His only superpower is he can drink a lot of whisky (which apparently helps him think better). But this is a wonderful book and a wonderful series, one which anyone will enjoy as long as it's not compared to any other creation. Finally, a big thank you to NetGalley and an even bigger thank you to Canelo for giving me this wonderful book in exchange of my honest review. Really looking forward now to the next book and here's hoping that this series carries on for a long time.

I fell in love with the first instalment in this series and I was looking forward to reading this one.
I had high expectations because the first one was sort of "I didn't know I needed this series in my life" surprise and I can say they were all met.
It was great to meet again the quirky cast of characters and follow them in this new adventure.
It was a lot of fun, engrossing and entertaining.
It's a sort of follow up to the previous book and I think and hope it leaves enough open points for a further adventure of its hilarious heroes.
I was to know if Olga and Eric will become an item, read again about Malbus, Paris and Cassandra.
I think that Mr Redsmith has a gift for writing great characters: last time I discovered Malbus, this time it was the terrifying chicken.
The book is well written, the plot flows without problems and keeps you hooked till the last page.
This series became one of my favourite and hope there will be a lot more to come.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Canelo and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine