More Guards! Guards!

Men at Arms; Terry Pratchett (HarperTorch; 2000; ISBN 978-0-06-109219-0; unknown cover artist).

After finishing one book earlier in the day, this could not have been a bigger contrast. Captain Sam Vines should be happy. He's about to retire and marry the richest woman in the city of Ankh-Morpork. He can give up the stress, the worn out shoes, the bad food. He won't have to deal with the transformed City Guard, where he has been forced to take on a number of minorities, specifically a dwarf, a troll and a woman (or is she?).

But he isn't. Captain Vines is a cop. It's in his blood. And when somebody blows up a swamp dragon at the Assassin's Guild and a member of the Clown's Guild turns up dead and a dwarf ends up with a hole in him and...well, let's just say it is a good thing that Captain Vimes is on the case.

Hilarious stuff. And a cracking good mystery, to boot.