John Taylor works as a private investigator in the Nightside: an in-between world hidden in London, where it's always 3 a.m. and few things are as they seem. Surprises -- usually unpleasant -- lurk around every corner. Humans and nonhumans come here to indulge in their wildest fantasies and sometimes end up trapped in their worst nightmares. Taylor, who is not quite human himself, has a gift for finding things and a reputation that allows him to move freely through the Nightside with few who dare to cross him.

His first job is seemingly simple: an elf on a diplomatic mission needs an escort to the Osterman Gate to get back to his own world. Despite the old saying, "Never trust an elf," Taylor takes the job with the help of a transvestite- crime-fighter named Ms. Fate.

After a harrowing journey through the Nightside, including an encounter with a werewolf biker gang, Taylor heads to Strangefellows, the oldest bar in the world, to relax. There he encounters Larry Oblivion, a fellow PI who just happens to be dead. Larry wants Taylor to help find his brother, Tommy Oblivion, who disappeared and was presumed killed during the recent Lilith War (a war started by Taylor's evil mother). Larry, who feels he would know if Tommy were truly gone, has discovered some other disappearances that may hint at something sinister going on. Taylor, who was supposed to be protecting Tommy, feels obligated to take the case.

That would be complicated enough, but then Walker, the all- powerful agent for the Authorities that rule the Nightside -- and Taylor's arch nemesis -- approaches him with the news that he is dying. A new agent is needed to run the Nightside; Walker has decided it can only be his most worthy opponent: John Taylor. And Walker never takes "no" for an answer.

The Nightside stories are a delightful combination of noir and urban fantasy, with bizarre human and nonhuman characters: some funny, some tragic and some flat-out frightening; a twisted, desert-dry sense of humor; a hero who holds on to his principles in a world where the line between good and bad is more of a smudge; and the Nightside, almost a character in itself with its cheerful decadence and anything-goes aura. These books are sure to appeal to readers who enjoy Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden but find the Chicago setting a little too mundane.