Above is the rather eye-catching cover for Ben Aaronovitch‘s first Peter Grant novel, RIVERS OF LONDON. Due to be published on Tuesday (August 30th) by Marco Polo in Taiwan as 倫敦河惡靈騷動, here’s the synopsis…
倫敦，這座孕育出福爾摩斯與哈利波特的古老城市，由衷歡迎新一任冒險者彼得．葛蘭特，前來挖掘她的更多祕密…
「你是否在告訴我，倫敦警察廳有個祕密分部，專門負責鬼魂、食屍鬼、仙女、惡魔、女巫和法師、小精靈和小妖精…？」我說，「你可以在我說光這些超自然生物之前阻止我。」
「你根本連表面都還沒搔到。」納丁格爾督察長說。
「所以真的有魔法。所以你是個……什麼來著？」
「巫師。」
「像哈利波特那樣？」
「不是，」納丁格爾嘆了口氣，「我不是小說人物。」
寒冷週二的凌晨時分，柯芬園聖保羅教堂的西門廊前躺著一具沒有頭的屍體。就要結束實習工作、接下來將分派到倫敦警察廳所屬轄區警局的菜鳥彼得．葛蘭特，基於職責在案發現場盤問了一名衣著老派過時的矮小男子，沒想到對方竟一五一十細細陳述了案發經過，其內容可信度非常高，只不過彼得恐怕沒辦法將這段證詞呈報給調查小組──
誰會相信一個平凡人光揮舞一根球棒就能將被害者的頭敲飛？誰又能接受提供證詞的這位老先生，是個死了足足一百二十年、站在光線下整個人變透明的鬼魂？
不過彼得相信，對現代警察來說，「看得見不存在的事物」是個不可或缺的重要技能，沒想到納丁格爾督察長不但願意接受這聽起來像胡謅的說法，還將彼得納入警察廳內最神祕的特殊犯罪部，聯手調查這樁超自然色彩濃厚的謀殺案。
在這個魔法捲土重來、惡靈騷動再起的時刻，暴力與叛亂已在古老的倫敦城內甦醒，想要解決一連串的詭譎怪案，還得有點福爾摩斯的腦袋與哈利波特的能力才行…
面對潛藏在混亂世界中的未知敵人與蠢動危機，
英國的首都、全歐洲最大的城市、由羅馬人建立的倫敦城，
只能仰賴彼得．葛蘭特這位非典型警察來拯救了！
RIVERS OF LONDON is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey (as MIDNIGHT RIOT). The novel has also been published widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis…
My name is Peter Grant and until January I was just probationary constable in that mighty army for justice known to all right-thinking people as the Metropolitan Police Service (and as the Filth to everybody else). My only concerns in life were how to avoid a transfer to the Case Progression Unit — we do paperwork so real coppers don’t have to — and finding a way to climb into the panties of the outrageously perky WPC Leslie May. Then one night, in pursuance of a murder inquiry, I tried to take a witness statement from someone who was dead but disturbingly voluable, and that brought me to the attention of Inspector Nightingale, the last wizard in England.
Now I’m a Detective Constable and a trainee wizard, the first apprentice in fifty years, and my world has become somewhat more complicated: nests of vampires in Purley, negotiating a truce between the warring god and goddess of the Thames, and digging up graves in Covent Garden… and there’s something festering at the heart of the city I love, a malicious vengeful spirit that takes ordinary Londoners and twists them into grotesque mannequins to act out its drama of violence and despair.
The spirit of riot and rebellion has awakened in the city, and it’s falling to me to bring order out of chaos — or die trying.
Gollancz has published the first five novels in the series, and is due to publish the sixth novel in the new year.
