Pagans - James Alistair Henry

I haven't done as much reading as I mean to on holiday - I never do, but I have finished Pagans, which I really loved. It's a mash-up of alternative history, urban fantasy, and police procedural, so not my usual kind of book choice, though not entirely unusual either and it delivered on all levels. 

Britain is a global back water - I guess on a par with one of the less fortunate Balkan countries now, maybe a little bit more depressed. Christianity never got a strong hold on the west and the Norman conquest didn't happen. The global super power is a pan African alliance, much of Southern Europe is a caliphate, America was never colonised... Britain itself is still 3 countries - Scotland is an independent Nordic country, the east of England is ruled by the dominant and more wealthy Saxons, the west is tribal Celtic.

On the eve of another summit to unify the three nations, a Celtic diplomat is found nailed to a tree—crucified. Detective Inspector Drustan is sent from the west to work with Captain Aedith Mercia, a Saxon princess as well as policewoman (or reeve). Two cops. One Killer. Hundreds of Gods, as the strapline would have it. 

It's a brutal kind of world, though not precisely a dystopia (depending on your view of London, which might be considered dystopian at the best of times). The whodunnit element is decent if not spectacular, the relationships between the various characters are more interesting, with plenty of scope for more a series, the alternative history is really good fun. 

Henry has an excellent pedigree as a comedy writer, he uses it well here both in his world building and in the way relationship he forges between Aedith and Drustan who bounce off each other nicely. There are political parallels and points that can be drawn from this reimagined history if you want to, but expertly balanced against the comedic possibilities of the world building so I never felt it was heavy handed with the morals. 

There is quite a bit of violence or mention of violence, though it's seldom graphic in the details. If that doesn't bother you I highly recommend this. It's intriguing, provocative, and overall really good fun.