The Fifth Elephant
by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 1999); audiobook read by Stephen Briggs (Isis, 2000)
![Book cover: “The Fifth Elephant” by Terry Pratchett](https://www.derelictspacesheep.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Pratchett_Fifth-Elephant-190x300.jpg)
A relatively dour instalment that, uncharacteristically, loses a little upon re-reading. As per many City Watch stories, much rests upon Vimes’s world view (good) and a slow-burning mystery (muddled). The grating Fred Colon subplot serves only to highlight the paucity of humour.