Peter Flach wrote a very neat introduction to machine  learning. The ISBN is 978-1107422223. It is more on a theoretical side than on the practical, but it also contains a lot of good pieces of advice about concrete decisions professionals have to make on selection of features, testing and so on. Mathematical points are clearly explained. I usually don’t mention this but the layout is also very pleasant, with lots of charts helping to visualize the issues discussed.

I would have liked to read more on kernel methods. A bit more of detail on the algorithmic part would also have been welcome. Still, it is a good reference book.