Winter's Gift is the first story in Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series that is set in the USA. It follows FBI agent Kimberley Reynolds as she investigates a report of odd happenings in a small Wisconsin town.

I had issues with this novella. Part of what makes the Rivers of London series so good is that Aaronovitch is very good at portraying the ways class, race and gender impact British society. But he doesn't have the same insight into US society and it shows. I also just don't find Reynolds compelling because she doesn't feel like a character, she feels like a stereotype of a Christian white woman from the South, racism and all (though Reynolds' racism is more of the microaggression variety).

I did like the horror aspects of the book. They felt well described and appropriately chilling. I enjoyed learning a little more about American magic systems, both imported and indigenous. The actual mystery itself was interesting, but the reveal at the end was too on the nose in execution.