Ring the Bells, a review by Joanna

When a coven of librarians accidentally release body-stealing Old God Zalas into the world, they don’t live long enough to regret it. Zalas gains power from belief, so what better person to take over than Father Christmas – even if this particular Santa is a down-on-his-luck department store version. Unfortunately, when children’s Christmas wishes start coming true, chaos ensues. Deputy editor Hannah and her reluctant friendly policeman Tom must find out what’s going on, and stay ahead of the evil power-hungry Founders, to save Manchester – and quite possibly the world.

This series is lots of fun because instead of the standard UF tropes – vampires, werewolves and the like, you have a motley crew of humans bumbling about in a world they don’t fully understand. It’s like a paranormal version of Slow Horses, including the slovenly foul mouthed leader and mismatched but ultimately loyal team who always get the job done in spite of their own incompetence. The magical community, known as The Folk, keep having to get involved, if only to keep their existence quiet, but they have their own internal conflicts to worry about. Meanwhile we learn Manny’s sad backstory, but many other mysteries remain. It felt a bit long and the ending was perhaps a little too easy after all the build-up, but I still enjoyed the ride. Roll on the next one!

Thanks to NetGalley and Transworld for the ARC. Ring the Bells is available now.