The Masquerades of Spring:

I've read all the rest of this series (apart from the comic strips), and this story is an odd one out. Most obviously, it's set in New York City in the 1920s, whereas most of the series is set in London in the 21st century. Of course it features none of the regular characters, except the unnaturally long-lived Thomas Nightingale, who appears here in his 20s. (Molly, also long-lived, is mentioned but remains in London throughout.)

The protagonist, Augustus ‘Gussie' Berrycloth-Young, is completely new to the series. He's clearly an imitation of Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster, and he's quite a good imitation, who makes an entertaining first-person narrator of the story.

The story is quite unlike the other stories in the series. Usually there is some magical villain whom our heroes set out to thwart and perhaps arrest. But in this case Nightingale arrives in New York on a private mission to rescue a somewhat magical lady and her young child, who are being held captive by non-magical New York gangsters.

It's not a bad story. But it's basically a writing exercise for the author, who can have fun (a) imitating Wodehouse and (b) exploring New York in the 1920s. It's almost irrelevant to the Rivers of London series as a whole. Although it does make me wonder afresh exactly what is the relationship between Nightingale and Molly: because he goes on his mission to New York, risking his life at some points, at her request.

The story features Nightingale younger than we've seen him before, and I expected this to be (a) enjoyable and (b) somewhat illuminating; but it isn't, really. The Nightingale we see here is a rather bland young man, lacking most of his usual charisma and character. I suppose it's plausible that he acquired charisma and character with age, but it's a bit disappointing.

Gussie I find rather confusing. Because he's a good imitation of Bertie Wooster, I expect him to be basically Bertie Wooster under an assumed name, but there are differences.

1. Gussie can do magic. This is quite natural and acceptable because he attended Casterbrook School; Bertie would also have been able to do magic if he'd passed through that school.

2. Gussie has a black American boyfriend. Bertie seemed to have little interest in sex, but flirted occasionally with women (rather than men). Thus, this is a bit jarring and strikes me as out of character.

3. Gussie enjoys dressing up in women's clothing, and goes to a masquerade ball in drag to compete for a prize. This strikes me as very out of character. Bertie didn't enjoy appearing in front of an audience, and I can't imagine him appearing in drag unless somehow forced into it (in which case he'd do it badly).

It's true, of course, that Gussie is not Bertie, and the author is entitled to differentiate between the two. However, I nevertheless find it mentally jarring that Gussie resembles Bertie while doing things that would be out of character for Bertie.

One odd incident: In the middle of a stressful situation, Nightingale asks Gussie to cast a werelight (a simple spell that beginners learn first). It would surely be quicker and easier to do it himself than to ask someone else to do it.

Fun; feels like the pilot for a TV show. Much as I missed the London-setting, with all its local minutae, this was an effective jaunt across the Atlantic to New York. It started a little slow, but pulled it all together for the denouement.

If you're going to go toe to toe with PG Wodehouse you need to be a lot better than this.