Check out Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May series. The two gentlemen are detectives in London’s Peculiar Crimes Unit, which is a dumping ground for cases which the regular Metropolitan Police don’t want to try to solve. They’ve been doing this since London was suffering under the Blitz.
It’s charming. Bryant’s the eccentric, May is the solid dependable one, but both are intelligent. The best part for me is that you learn things along the way. In Book Two, for example, London’s underground rivers play a major role. What? You didn’t know London had underground rivers? Have a look.
This looks good, too. I’ll add it to my stack.
I’ve read at least 3 of these – this is one of the weirdest fictional worlds I’ve encountered, and it’s all in London! And yes, I read The Water Room, about the underground rivers…