# What Happened in London

By Kim M. Watt · DI Adams, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/what-happened-in-london-6df0a9d0/

Detective Sergeant Adams is working a case unlike her usual ones. Six children have vanished around London's river, and she is determined that a seventh won't go missing. A review places the disappearances at a riverside Christmas market, with police close by, and says Adams begins linking them to homeless people who have also gone missing. She isn't a DI yet, and this is the story of why she later headed north.

## What makes it funny?

Reviewer Mike Finn says the book mixes grit with humor, and he points to the opening, where a bin seems to eye Adams with intent. The blurb sets up her equipment as a baton, a light, chocolate and, last of all, a duck.

### The comedy at work

The jokes sit inside a grim case. Adams reasons like a police officer who has dealt with human monsters and now has to ask how different these can be, and the blurb's clipped kit list gives that a deadpan edge. The reviewer finds it darker, faster and harder-edged than the author's cozy Beaufort Scales books while keeping the humor.

### Try this if…

Readers of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London will know the hidden magical London, though the reviewer finds a different tone here. It suits anyone who wants a British police fantasy with some humor but no tea and cake.

### Good to know

The listing calls it darker than the Beaufort Scales books, with some non-graphic violence, some blasphemy and no strong language. The story is about missing children. The author describes it as a prequel set before the first Beaufort book, readable on its own and free of Beaufort spoilers, and she recommends reading it before the other DI Adams books.

## What to expect

- Genre: Fantasy · Mystery
- On the shelf: Private eye & detective · Paranormal mystery · Urban fantasy
- Kind of humor: Dry wit · Situational comedy
- Story ingredients: Supernatural detective
- Format: Novel
- Published: 2023

## More in DI Adams

- Book 4: A Right Shambles in York

## A few distinguishing details

- A kit list of a baton, a light, chocolate and a duck
- A bin that seems to look at Adams with intent
- A prequel about why Adams left London

## Sources & further reading

- Book information: [Bookvault paperback listing](https://shop.bookvault.app/?p=86916)
- Book information: [Book Notification author page, DI Adams publication order](https://www.booknotification.com/authors/kim-m-watt)
- Author commentary: [Author shop page, What Happened in London](https://kmwatt.com/products/what-happened-in-london)
- Author commentary: [Author reading-order page](https://kmwatt.com/pages/reading-order)
- Review: [Mike Finn's Fiction review of What Happened in London](https://mikefinnsfiction.com/2024/08/11/what-happened-in-london-2023-di-adams-prequel-by-kim-m-watt-highly-recommended)
- Book information: [Alliance of Independent Authors bookstore listing](https://bookstore.allianceindependentauthors.org/author/kim-m-watt/what-happened-in-london)