Book: The October Man By Ben Aaronovitch (2019)

“Trier is famous for wine, Romans and for being Germany's oldest city. So when a man is found dead with, his body impossibly covered in a fungal rot, the local authorities know they are out of their depth. Fortunately this is Germany, where there are procedures for everything. Enter Investigator Tobias Winter, whose aim is to get in, deal with the problem, and get out with the minimum of fuss, personal danger and paperwork. With the help of frighteningly enthusiastic local cop, Vanessa Sommer, he's quick to link the first victim to a group of ordinary middle aged men - and to realize they may have accidentally reawakened a bloody conflict from a previous century. But the rot is still spreading, literally and with the suspect list extending to people born before Frederick the Great solving the case may mean unearthing the city's secret magical history. So long as that history doesn't kill them first.”

The October Man is lovely off-shoot to the Rivers of London series, were we meet Tobias Winter, who works for the Abteilung KDA (Complex and Diffuse Matters), a division within the Bundeskriminalamt (the Federal Crime Police) in Trier, a city on the banks of the Moselle. It lies in a valley in the west of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, near the border with Luxenbourg and within the important Moselle wine region. Much like the Folly, he investigates crimes of supernatural origin –or magic. Winter’s superior is only refrerred to as The Director (or Die Chefin), who was appointed by the KDA in 2005 by the new chancellor and is the only registered and qualified practitioner in post-unification Germany (before and during WWII, there were many). Oddly, the Director and Tobias are well aware of “the Nightingale” and his apprentice, Peter, but their British counterparts don’t know about them.

Anyways, much like the parent series, this novella has witty narration and enough snark to sometimes feel like its Peter Grant and not Tobias Winter talking. Still, Aaronvitch gives Tobias enough different quirks that you eventually settle down and realize they are two separate characters.  

The mystery of the murder is well constructed, and fans of deep procedural books, movies, and TV will appreciate how Tobias and Vanessa go about trying to solve it. It’s compelling enough to keep me reading, which I liked. Like any whodunits (even ones with magic and water Gods), it features a few twists and turns. However, I felt the ending was rushed and the motive for killer could’ve been better highlighted (like why the obsession to young Jackie to begin with). But the novella really reflects the work police must do during the investigation into a crime.

The local history of area and of Germany the writer relates does not affect the pacing, something the three novellas I’ve read so far have in common. Aaronovitch, like a lot of writers, can sometimes lose themselves in the weeds of world building. While a fun tale and Tobias grew on me, I don’t think he’s as engaging or as fun as Peter. But I would not be upset to either have the German version of the the Folly continue, or have the two eventually meet up. It could be fun.

Books: The Hanging Tree By Ben Aaronovitch (2017)

 

“Suspicious deaths are not usually the concern of Police Constable Peter Grant or the Folly—London’s police department for supernatural cases—even when they happen at an exclusive party in one of the flats of the most expensive apartment blocks in London. But the daughter of Lady Ty, influential goddess of the Tyburn river, was there, and Peter owes Lady Ty a favor. Plunged into the alien world of the super-rich, where the basements are bigger than the houses, where the law is something bought and sold on the open market, a sensible young copper would keep his head down and his nose clean. But this is Peter Grant we’re talking about. He’s been given an unparalleled opportunity to alienate old friends and create new enemies at the point where the world of magic and that of privilege intersect. Assuming he survives the week.”

As the sixth novel in the Rivers of London series plays out, we get some new developments in Peter's personal life, with the overall arc of the series takes a solid step forward. This tale still plays out as more procedural, even though we still get a lot magic. While Peter spends time hob-knobbing with the upper-crust of British life, Aaronovitch does not use this too much as social commentary on Peter’s life or his job. Here, also, DC Guleed, a female cop who wears a hijab, who debuted as a minor character in Whispers Under Ground, gets a co-starring role here. She’s a wonderfully realized here.

As always, Aaronovitch adds his dark humor, with some often time, and laugh out loud, clever comic touches. After the books fives diversion to the suburbs and novella that dealt with ghosts haunting the underground railway system, The Hanging Tree gets back to the main arc –dealing with the Faceless Man and his alliance with Lesley –though what their ultimate endgame is remains elusive.

Books: The Furthest Station By Ben Aaronovtich (2017)

“There have been ghosts on the London Underground, sad, harmless spectres whose presence does little more than give a frisson to traveling and boost tourism. But now there’s a rash of sightings on the Metropolitan Line and these ghosts are frightening, aggressive and seem to be looking for something. Enter PC Peter Grant, junior member of the Metropolitan Police’s Special Assessment unit a.k.a. The Folly a.k.a. the only police officers whose official duties include ghost hunting. Together with Jaget Kumar, his counterpart at the British Transport Police, he must brave the terrifying crush of London’s rush hour to find the source of the ghosts. Joined by Peter’s wannabe wizard cousin, a preschool river god and Toby the ghost hunting dog, their investigation takes a darker tone as they realize that a real person’s life might just be on the line.”

Technically, The Furthest Station was the first novella-length story to be published in Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series and chronologically, it is set somewhere between 2014’s Foxglove Summer and 2017’s The Hanging Tree. Still, 2021’s novella, What Abigail Did That Summer, leap frogs over this tale (and there is even a mention, of sorts, of that event here) to be the “first” tale set between the main series. Once again, we get hints at how Peter’s cousin, Abigail, is fitting in with all things magical in London.

Based on an interview at the end of this release, I get the impression that this novella was more or less designed (as probably the short story collection I’ve yet to acquire) to broaden the franchise out a bit by not really interfering with the main series. It gives Aaronvitch a chance to explore other ideas, add more dimensions to side characters, and give more information about the early days of the Folly.

While I’ve found great enjoyment with the series, for those who might not like books about magic, I would still highly suggest this one, if only because the procedural element sometimes is more the thrust of the story than the magic. In a sense, Aaronvitch fools the reader in believing your reading a tale about magic and wizards, when, in the end, the story has a more conventional policing methods. As for The Furthest Station, the story is tight, and like Foxglove Summer, focused on one through line. There are still plenty of loose ends here, which I hope will be further explored in the main series, but altogether a fun time is had.

Books: The Hidden Masters and the Unspeakable Evil by Jack Barrow (2006/2020)

“The Three Hidden Masters – two from Hemel Hempstead, one from Bricket Wood (you’ll get that once you’ve read the book) – are pretty low-key, laid-back guys. Of course, all the beer, rum and weed they consume contribute to that. So when their friend Geoff, the Fourth Hidden Master (from Blackpool), contacts them for help it’s rather an effort for Clint, Nigel and Wayne to mobilize for a weekend trip up there to lend a hand. It seems strange things are afoot in Blackpool. Initially it appears to be confined to the model village Geoff is building, where figures are moving around of their own accord and, even more disturbing, figures Geoff didn’t even make for the village are appearing out of nowhere. If that was the only strange thing happening it could be written off as voodoo gone wrong, which has been known to happen to Geoff on an occasion or two. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that there are larger forces at work in Blackpool. Is it simply that the local council has disturbing plans to turn Blackpool into the Las Vegas of England, or is something more sinister at work, something that could threaten to tear a hole in the fabric of the Universe? Well, whatever it is, the Hidden Masters have to wrap things up by Sunday night… they do have to be back at work on Monday after all.”

Jack Barrow’s The Hidden Masters and the Unspeakable Evil takes a heavy dollop of Douglas Adams, Monty Python, Robert Rankin (it was because of this writer, I found Barrow’s book), and your basic old-style British sitcom of arrested developed men. Then he adds dashes of mystical doings, and you get this often silly, sometimes frustrating work (the book constantly breaks the “fourth” wall and goes off on historical and pop culture references ala Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy that could’ve easily been dropped). A lot goes on here, but your mileage will vary on how much suspension of belief you’re willing to give. I admit, Nigel, Wayne and Clint are interesting heroes (sort of lesser cousins to John Dortmunder and his gang from the Donald E. Westlake books), but I found their single mindedness with alcohol and weed to grow tiresome after awhile –we get it, they love to drink and smoke pot. And they love to argue about nonsensical things and be sarcastic.  

There are, however, some clever ideas here, including when Wayne and Clint actually get pulled into the miniature model village (like in Beetlejuice) and is by far the best bit early in the book. The other set piece I liked was the hotel sequence with the mobsters –but it could’ve been tightened up a bit. And I think, in the end, this could be a great book, a great series, if Barrow’s had a better editor to strengthen the book. The prose is strong, the humor great, and he makes Blackpool his punching bag (though there was once a proposal to transform Blackpool into a casino resort along the lines of the Las Vegas and Atlantic City, for it to become the center point of gambling in the UK). Still, it took me way too long to get through it. While I’ve always appreciated the dry British humor, the jokes do get repetitive (two from Hemel Hempstead, one from Bricket Wood) and so I end up skipping pages.