Category: Ben Aaronovitch

Ben Aaronovitch – The Furthest Station

Gollancz, Hardcover, 128 pages

Published: 28^th September 2017

ISBN13: 978- 1473222427

This is a novella in the Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch.

There’s something going bump on the Metropolitan line and Sergeant Jaget Kumar knows exactly who to call – PC Peter Grant as odd stuff is his specialty.

But it is more than just going ‘bump’ – traumatised travellers have been reporting strange encounters on their morning commute with them being accosted by strangely dressed people trying to deliver an urgent message.

What is making solving this harder is that despite calling the police themselves, within a few minutes the commuters have already forgotten the encounter. This is making the follow up interviews rather difficult.

So aided by Abigail and Toby the ghost hunting dog, Peter and Jaget are heading out on a ghost hunting expedition but Nightingale may be needed for heavy artillery.

This is a nice little side episode in the Peter Grant series whilst we wait for the next novel – the main series plot of Lesley or the Faceless Man isn’t progressed but we get a good view in the day-to-day sleuthing of Peter Grant with enjoyable characters and laugh-out-loud moments.

Ben Aaronovitch – The Hanging Tree

Gollancz, Hardcover, 400 pages

Published: 3^rd November 2016

ISBN13: 978-0575132559

This is the 6^th PC Peter Grant novel by Ben Aaronovitch.

PC Peter Grant or the Folly don’t usually deal with suspicious deaths even when they occur at exclusive parties in one of the most expensive apartment blocks in London. However, Lady Ty’s daughter was there and Peter owes Lady Ty a favour.

Peter and DC Guleed are plunged into the alien world of the super-rich where basements are bigger than the house and dangerous, arcane items are bought and sold on the open market.

This is the sort of environment where any 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 . .

This is, in part at least a return to form after Foxglove Summer as Ben Aaronovitch is more comfortable writing about London and its environs than the countryside.

The story rattles along with plenty of action sequences, plot twists and some laugh out loud one liners. The mystery element is resolved very nicely and the Faceless Man narrative is moving forward – hopefully towards some resolution. But that partly is the major issue in that it feels like it has been cut in two with a second novel forthcoming to tidy up the loose ends.