This was a book by a Brit; "Simon" was the last name if I recall correctly. It's fantasy done private eye style. Two city guard captains (Hawk and Fisher, married) investigate fantastical crime scenes by using standard detective methods (clues, interrogation, logic, etc). It's a clever tweak on the traditional fantasy.

However, most of the time the characters just aren't very smart about their methods. I think this reflects more on the author not being very good writing detective fiction (characters are only as smart as their authors, thus why authors need to do significant study and research). I wanted to kick the characters for being slow and thinking like 14 year olds sometimes.

Still, I kept reading. I liked the characters. They were strong, honest characters with a sense of duty. These are always good role models (well, except the cracking skulls part, but it came with the tough job).

Was it worth reading? Yes. Was the writing good? Not really, passable maybe, but not good. This might be a good study of style juxtaposition, but don't taking it too seriously. It's pure pulp.