Lesley May is a police officer who worked alongside Peter during their probationary period and joined the Folly in Whispers Underground as Nightingale's apprentice.
Lesley has an attractive face and is described as short, blonde and "impossibly perky, even in a stab vest".
Personality
Lesley May is initially described as "impossibly perky", even in a stab vest.[1] Lesley is highly focused and frequently described as having a great aptitude for police work. She is described by Inspector Neblett as, "a proper thief-taker"[2] and by Chief Inspector Seawoll, as "the best of [her] generation"[3], and refers to herself as, "bloody amazing as a copper."[4] However, she has a bit of a cynical streak regarding the possibility of there ever actually being law and order.[5][6]
Past
Not much is known about Lesley's past. Like Peter, she grew up in "her fair share" of council housing.[7] She started her police career at the same time as Peter and finished her probationary period with outstanding results.
Her parents live outside of London in Brightlingsea, on the Essex coast. Her father is named Henry May, who works as a truck driver. The name of her mother is unknown. She has five older sisters, one of whom is named Tanya.
Present
This part contains spoilers for all of the books. You have been warned.
Rivers of London
Lesley finished her probationary period at the same time as Peter, but due to her outstanding abilities as a police officer got sorted into the Westminster Murder Team at Belgravia. Despite being separated from Peter, she continues to help him with his case, obtaining information and speculating over possible solutions, while still working at the Murder Team.
It is later revealed she had been possessed by the ghost of Henry Pyke and the spirit of riot, resulting in her face falling off due to the magic used.
Moon Over Soho
Due to her injury at the end of Rivers of London, Lesley doesn't appear much in the second book, aside from a visit and a few mentions from Peter and phone calls. As her face got destroyed, she starts wearing a mask to cover it.
However, at the very end of the book, Peter comes to visit her again and it turns out that she has mastered the Lux spell.
Whispers Underground
Due to the final scene in Moon Over Soho she also gets taken in as Nightingale's apprentice and learns magic alongside Peter, even showing more precision and accuracy in her execution of spells than him. She still does not appear much though, as her injury keeps her firmly in the background and she often has to go to hospitals to help her with her injury and trying to restore at least part of its function.
Broken Homes
Lesley features more prominently in Broken Homes than the previous two books, supporting Peter in his case work. She notably starts a sexual relationship with Zach, mostly due to her seeking out someone who can see past her destroyed face.
At the end of Broken Homes, she betrays Peter in the final showdown between him and the Faceless Man by tasering him as he is about to reveal the Faceless Man's identity. By the end of the book she is missing and is suspected to have become an ally of the Faceless Man.
Relationships
Trivia
- In the US version of Rivers of London, titled Midnight Riot, and in the US edition of Moon Over Soho, her first name is spelled Leslie instead of Lesley. The author has written that he originally named the character Leslie with an "ie", which was changed by his British publisher but not his American publisher at the time. In the third book, the American publisher did not bother changing the name. A new US publisher took over the fourth book, and chose to keep using Lesley with an "ey". [8]
References
- ↑ Rivers of London Chapter 1
- ↑ Rivers of London Chapter 2
- ↑ Whispers Underground Chapter 13
- ↑ Rivers of London Chapter 1
- ↑ Rivers of London Chapter 1
- ↑ Broken Homes Chapter 16
- ↑ Broken Homes Chapter 6
- ↑ "Why Lesley Plays Soccer on the Sidewalk" http://temporarilysignificant.blogspot.com/2014/09/why-leslie-plays-soccer-on-sidewalk.html