This omnibus edition from the Nightside series contains books 3 and 4 of the ongoing adventures of John Taylor.

The first story, Nightingale's Lament, starts off with Taylor upsetting Walker, representative of the Authorities who want to keep things in the Nightside running smoothlly, so he's hiding out in Strangefellows, his favourite bar, when he is approached by a new client who wants to make sure his daughter is ok. Rossignol is potentially the next big thing™, a singing sensation that has been wowing audiences ever since she appeared on the scene. She has recently attained new management and severed all ties with her family and friends. She has also dramatically changed her style and now solely sings sad songs which seem to be causing some of her fans to go off and commit suicide. After the first encounter with the Cavendishes, Rossignol's new management, Taylor decides he needs some help so enlists Dead Boy, the Nightside's resident expert on death, to help track down the Cavendishes previous protégé.

Hex and the City sees Taylor being hired by Lady Luck to investigate the actual origins of the Nightside and as rumour has it that his mother was involved somewhere along the line he accepts despite all previous attempts failing with no-one ever returning to say what they'd found. Taylor decides he will again need some help and seeks out Sinner, the only man barred from both Heaven and Hell who brings along the succubus demon he's in love with, and Madman, who can distort reality just by his very presence. They will need to visit some major players to find the answers they want and will have to be very wary with others looking to use any knowledge they come up with or stop them from finding out altogether.

For me this series sits somewhere in between the Harry Dresden and Felix Castor books. Take the action sequencing from the former and add in the darker tone of the latter throw in a touch more horror and you'll get the general idea. Unfortunately there's no real affinity built with the main protagonist. John Taylor is very much the clichéd private investigator with power who's generally on the side of good but he's not averse to using the people around him in any way that's necessary to get what he wants. Reasoning that anyone who's in the Nightside knows the risks and that makes everything ok. The stories themselves are fast-paced but somewhat predictable with none of the big reveals coming as much of a surprise. While the previous three books have all been self-contained the fourth does seem to offer something more to come at its conclusion and seeing that I did buy the first three omnibus editions I will be continuing to find out where it leads. ( )

The third and fourth books in the Nightside series, which is now my favourite urban fantasy series.

Nightingale's Lament

In the end, it all came down to her singing. I'd have to come back again, watch her perform, listen to what she did with her voice. see what it did to her audience. After taking certain precautions, of course. Certain defences. There are any number of magical creatures, mostly female, whose singing can bring about horror and death. Sirens, undines, banshees, Bananarama tribute bands . . .

After solving a case of sabotage at the Prometheus electricity generating plant, John Taylor is trying to keep a low profile, since Walker, the representative of the Authorities who run the Nightside, is not pleased about the power blackouts his actions have caused. But as usual he gets himself into more trouble with his next case, when he is hired by the father of a singer called Rossignol, to find out if she is being coerced by her management and whether her singing really is causing a spate of suicides among her fans. Not as exciting as "Agents of Light and Darkness", the previous book in the series.

Hex and the City

However, when you work as a private investigator in the Nightside, that hidden magical heart of London, where gods and monsters walk side by side, and sometimes attend the same self-help groups, some cases almost inevitably lead you to the most unpleasant places. The head auctioneer of the Nightside's Great Auction Hall hired me to stand watch over one particularly contentious auction, to keep the bidders in line, which should have been a warning. Nothing's ever straight forward in my life.

A lot of questions raised in the earlier books of the series are answered in this book. It is the first in a three book story arc, concerning the identities of John Taylor's inhuman mother and the enemies that have been trying to kill him since he was a child, as well as the nature of the faceless entities known as the Harrowing.

After being keeping an eye on the auctioning of a very special butterfly (and yes, it is that butterfly), John Taylor is hired by Lady Luck to investigate the origin of the Nightside and the identity of his mother, and a lot of people seem determined to prevent him from succeeding. With the oldest Powers and Dominations of the Nightside reduced to guessing her identity, I decided to have a go too, and one of my half a dozen guesses was actually correct. ( )