Moon Over Soho - Zeno Agency Ltd.

MOON OVER Romania…

Posted on Tuesday, September 25th, 2018

MOON OVER SOHO, the second novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s critically-acclaimed, best-selling Peter Grant series, is coming soon in Romania! Due to be published by Editura Herg Benet as SOHO ÎN LUMINA LUNII in November, the cover’s above and here’s the synopsis…

Cântecul. Asta remarcă întâi de toate polițistul și ucenicul vrăjitor Peter Grant atunci când examinează trupul lui Cyrus Wilkins, cântăreț de jazz în timpul liber și contabil pentru restul vieții, care aparent a murit de acat de cord în timp ce cânta pe scena Club 666 din cartierul Soho al Londrei. Ritmul vechilor melodii de jazz se ridică din corpul său ‒ un semn clar că ceva la moartea bărbatului nu este natural, ci supranatural.

Trup și suflet. Asta este și ceea ce riscă Peter Grant pentru a investiga o serie de decese similare din zona Soho. Cu ajutorul ofițerului său superior, Inspector Șef Thomas Nightingale, ultimul vrăjitor din Anglia, și cu asistența frumoasei fane a lumii jazz-ului Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter descoperă o primejdie magică letală ‒ una care conduce la treptele propriei case și la o promisiune uitată a unui tânăr muzician: talentatul cântăreț de trompetă Richard „Lord“ Grant ‒ altfel cunoscut ca dragul tată al lui Peter.

Herg Benet have also published the first book in the series, RIVERS OF LONDON, as RÂURILE DIN LONDRA.

MOON OVER SOHO is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey, and widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant — my father — who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

Here, also, are some of the various translation covers…

And here are just a handful of the reviews the novel has received since it was first published…

‘The excitement and entertainment hasn’t stopped in the slightest… this book once again blew my mind, and kept me reading well into the late night/early morning. You needn’t pick up RIVERS OF LONDON, Aaronovitch’s first in this series, but you’d regret it by the time you got to the end of MOON OVER SOHO and found out how good it was.’ — Fantasy Book Review

‘… as funny as it is fantastic… [The plot] hops along happily to a toe-tapping time signature, with a sweet solo here and an awesome cacophony of noise there… vast amounts of fun…’ — Speculative Scotsman

‘MOON OVER SOHO is very good. Ben Aaronovitch continues the successful formula of RIVERS OF LONDON in bringing to the surface the endearing minutae of a city that he clearly adores. He also demonstrates the “real world” problems of a ritual magician trying to have some sort of ‘normal’ life… Grant continues to observe his world(s) in a detached way – a narrative voice that lends itself well to dry humor (and fits less neatly with the book’s few over-the-top action scenes). Mr. Aaronovitch is, in short, writing the best contemporary occult detective series on the shelf today, and that’s by a substantial margin.’ — Pornokitsch

‘A fantastic follow-up to MIDNIGHT RIOT. Aaronovitch does a great job of bringing even minor characters to life. One of Grant’s fellow cops, Leslie, plays a minor role throughout the story – but her involvement is an emotional cornerstone that brings a surprisingly bittersweet element into play… MOON OVER SOHO is an excellent addition to the paranormal police genre.’ — Examiner

Peter Grant gets a new set of new jackets…

Posted on Monday, May 14th, 2018

A couple of weeks ago, the cover for the highly-anticipated LIES SLEEPING was unveiled. You may, however, have missed that all of Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant novels (and the novella) have been re-jacketed! Above you can see all eight of the UK covers, in chronological order. We think you’ll agree that they’re rather nice, and they look great all together!

Ben’s Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz., and currently includes: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES, FOXGLOVE SUMMER, THE FURTHEST STATION (the novella), THE HANGING TREE and LIES SLEEPING. Ben has also been writing the Rivers of London comic series (with Andrew Cartmel), published by Titan Comics.

MOON OVER… Spain

Posted on Friday, May 4th, 2018

The second novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant series, MOON OVER SOHO, is out now in Spain! Published by Oz Editorial as LA LUNA SOBRE EL SOHO, here’s the synopsis…

Vuelve Peter Grant, el detective más mágico de Scotland Yard

Cyrus Wilkins, bajista de jazz por las noches y contable de día, sufre un ataque al corazón durante una actuación en el Club 606 del Soho. Cuando el detective de Scotland Yard y aprendiz de mago Peter Grant examina su cadáver, no puede evitar fijarse en la canción que emerge del cuerpo de la víctima… un claro indicio de que una fuerza sobrenatural acabó con su vida. Con la ayuda de su padre, el famoso trompetista Lord Grant; el inspector Nightingale, el último mago de Inglaterra; y la hermosa y misteriosa aficionada al jazz Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter tratará de acabar con una magia muy poderosa que amenaza la vida en el célebre y pintoresco barrio del Soho.

Oz Editorial have also recently published the first book in the series, RIVERS OF LONDON, as RÍOS DE LONDRES.

MOON OVER SOHO is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Del Rey, and has also been published widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant — my father — who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

Gollancz has published all of the novels in the series so far, as well as the first novella (pictured below in chronological order). The first three books are published in the US by Del Rey, the fourth onwards by DAW Books, and the novella by Subterranean Press. The cover for the highly-anticipated seventh novel, LIES SLEEPING, was unveiled earlier this week.

A Spanish MOON OVER SOHO…

Posted on Thursday, March 22nd, 2018

We’re very happy to report that Ben Aaronovitch‘s second Peter Grant novel, MOON OVER SOHO is soon be available in Spain! Due to be published in May 2018 by Oz Editorial as LA LUNA SOBRE EL SOHO, here’s the synopsis…

Cuando examina el cadáver de Cyrus Wilkins, bajista de jazz por las noche y contable de día, muerto de un ataque al corazón durante una actuación en el Club 606 del Soho, el detective de Scotland Yard y aprendiz de mago Peter Grant no puede evitar fijarse en la canción que emerge del cuerpo. Está claro que la muerte de Cyrus tuvo causas sobrenaturales. Con la ayuda del inspector jefe Thomas Nightinghale, el último mago de Inglaterra, y de la hermosa aficionada al jazz Simone Fitzwilliam, Peter descubrirá una amenaza muy real que lo llevará hasta su padre, el trompetista Richard «Lord» Grant.

The first novel in the series, RIVERS OF LONDON, was first published in Spain in 2012, and was re-issued by Oz Editorial in October 2017, as RÍOS DE LONDRES. The series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and widely in translation (you can find out more information about the various international editions of Ben’s novels on his author page). Here’s the English-language synopsis for MOON OVER SOHO…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant — my father — who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

Ben’s next novel, LIES SLEEPING, is due out in November 2018 (to be published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by DAW Books)! We’ll have a cover to share with you hopefully soon, so keep checking back for more news!

First two Peter Grant novels available in Czech audio!

Posted on Friday, January 26th, 2018

Great news! The first two novels in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant series are now available in Czech audio editions! Produced by Tympanum, and narrated by Tomáš Kobr, the novels are published as ŘEKY LONDÝNA (RIVERS OF LONDON) and MĚSÍC NAD SOHO (MOON OVER SOHO), here’s the synopsis for the first book…

Jedna z nejúspěšnějších městských fantasy uplynulého desetiletí vás zavede do Londýna, ve kterém u policie slouží čarodějové a po ulicích se prohánějí zlovolní duchové či božstva na válečné stezce.

Jmenuji se Peter Grant. Ještě nedávno jsem byl obyčejný četnický zelenáč v řadách londýnské Metropolitní policie. Jedné noci jsem se ale při vyšetřování jisté vraždy pokusil získat svědeckou výpověď od muže, který byl sice mrtvý, ale jinak znepokojivě výřečný, což mi zajistilo pozornost vrchního inspektora Nightingalea, posledního čaroděje Anglie. A právě tehdy začal můj příběh.

Nyní jsem policejní detektiv a čarodějův učeň, první učedník za padesát let, a můj svět už není zdaleka tak jednoduchý, jak býval.

The print editions of the novels are published in Czech by Argo. The series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey (1-3) and DAW Books (4-6). The English-language audiobooks are published by Orion Audio, and are narrated by the superb Kobna Holdbook-Smith. The series has also been published widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis for the first novel…

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.

WHISPERS UNDERGROUND heard in Poland…

Posted on Friday, October 27th, 2017

Ben Aaronovitch‘s WHISPERS UNDERGROUND is out now in Poland! The third novel in the author’s best-selling, critically-acclaimed Peter Grant series, is published by MAG as SZEPTY POD ZIEMIĄ. Here’s the synopsis…

Nazywam się Peter Grant i jestem detektywem posterunkowym w potężnej armii sprawiedliwości znanej jako policja londyńska (tudzież psiarnia). Szkolę się także na czarodzieja, jestem pierwszym takim uczniem od pięćdziesięciu lat. Oficjalnie pracuję w wydziale do zwalczania przestępstw gospodarczych i innych, w jednostce dziewiątej, znanej też jako Szaleństwo i jako jednostka, o której grzeczni, dobrze wychowani gliniarze nie rozmawiają w kulturalnym towarzystwie.

Od poniedziałku mam okazję zająć się prawdziwą policyjną robotą. Niezidentyfikowana Ofiara została zadźgana na torach metra przy stacji Baker Street. Obecność magii niewykluczona.

Niezidentyfikowana Ofiara okazuje się synem amerykańskiego senatora i zanim zdążysz powiedzieć „międzynarodowy incydent” do sprawy posterunkowego detektywa Granta dołącza agentka FBI Kimberley Reynolds.

A w ciemnych tunelach londyńskiego metra, pośród pogrzebanych rzek i wiktoriańskich rynsztoków niesie się szept o zemście zza grobu.

Najnowsza sprawa posterunkowego detektywa Granta zaraz się wtoczy na śliskie tory…

Also available from MAG today, new editions of the first two novels in the series: RIVERS OF LONDON and MOON OVER SOHO, published as RZEKI LONDYNU and KSIĘŻYC NAD SOHO, respectively.

These three novels are published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey. Here’s the English-language synopsis for WHISPERS UNDERGROUND…

A WHOLE NEW REASON TO MIND THE GAP

It begins with a dead body at the far end of Baker Street tube station, all that remains of American exchange student James Gallagher — and the victim’s wealthy, politically powerful family is understandably eager to get to the bottom of the gruesome murder. The trouble is, the bottom — if it exists at all — is deeper and more unnatural than anyone suspects… except, that is, for London constable and sorcerer’s apprentice Peter Grant. With Inspector Nightingale, the last registered wizard in England, tied up in the hunt for the rogue magician known as “the Faceless Man,” it’s up to Peter to plumb the haunted depths of the oldest, largest, and — as of now — deadliest subway system in the world.

At least he won’t be alone. No, the FBI has sent over a crack agent to help. She’s young, ambitious, beautiful… and a born-again Christian apt to view any magic as the work of the devil. Oh yeah — that’s going to go well.

Gollancz has published all six of the novels in the Peter Grant series to date, as well as the new novella, THE FURTHEST STATION. DAW Books has published books 4-6 in North America, and Subterranean Press publishes the novella.

Peter Grant gets some new Polish jackets…

Posted on Tuesday, October 17th, 2017

Above you can see the cover for the upcoming Polish edition of Ben Aaronovitch‘s WHISPERS UNDERGROUND. Due to be published by MAG, here’s the synopsis…

Nazywam się Peter Grant i jestem detektywem posterunkowym w potężnej armii sprawiedliwości znanej jako policja londyńska (tudzież psiarnia). Szkolę się także na czarodzieja, jestem pierwszym takim uczniem od pięćdziesięciu lat. Oficjalnie pracuję w wydziale do zwalczania przestępstw gospodarczych i innych, w jednostce dziewiątej, znanej też jako Szaleństwo i jako jednostka, o której grzeczni, dobrze wychowani gliniarze nie rozmawiają w kulturalnym towarzystwie.

Od poniedziałku mam okazję zająć się prawdziwą policyjną robotą. Niezidentyfikowana Ofiara została zadźgana na torach metra przy stacji Baker Street. Obecność magii niewykluczona.

Niezidentyfikowana Ofiara okazuje się synem amerykańskiego senatora i zanim zdążysz powiedzieć „międzynarodowy incydent” do sprawy posterunkowego detektywa Granta dołącza agentka FBI Kimberley Reynolds.

A w ciemnych tunelach londyńskiego metra, pośród pogrzebanych rzek i wiktoriańskich rynsztoków niesie się szept o zemście zza grobu.

Najnowsza sprawa posterunkowego detektywa Granta zaraz się wtoczy na śliskie tory…

The first two novels in the series — RIVERS OF LONDON and MOON OVER SOHO — have already been published in Poland (also by MAG), but will also receive new covers, to match the style of the third book…

The Peter Grant series is published in the UK by Gollancz, and currently includes six novels and one novella. Ben has also written, with Andrew Cartmel, four comic series featuring the characters and set in the world of the series (published by Titan Comics).

Ben Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO out now in Taiwan!

Posted on Tuesday, December 20th, 2016

Ben Aaronovitch‘s MOON OVER SOHO, the second Peter Grant novel, is out now in Taiwan! Published by 馬可孛羅文化事業 as 蘇活月爵士魅影, here’s the synopsis…

蘇活區，倫敦夜晚最熱鬧的地方，同時也是爵士樂發展的中心。在那裡，你可以找到歷史悠久且風格各異的酒吧和俱樂部，樂手們全都嚮往登上此處的表演舞臺，演奏最道地動聽的音樂。

一具被判定為自然死亡的屍體上，彼得·葛蘭特聽見了經典爵士樂曲的魔法殘跡，經調查後發現，過去一段時間大倫敦地區每年至少有三名爵士音樂家在演出後二十四小時內死亡，很可能是有某個術士或鬼魂、精靈之類的存在，正有計畫地殺害倫敦的爵士樂人──幾天後，再次傳來某個長號手暴斃的噩耗。

棘手的死亡事件不只一樁，就在魔法爵士殺手再度犯案的當晚，一名中年男子陰莖遭割裂、失血過多死在俱樂部裡，英國最後一位巫師警官納丁格爾告訴彼得，這是「陰牙」造成的傷口，很可能是某種超自然生物所為。

這下子彼得可頭大了，一個以爵士樂手為目標的魔法殺手，與一個擁有傷人利齒的超自然生物，該從哪個方向展開調查才好？首先，彼得必須找尋爵士樂專家的幫助，而他心底已經有了最佳人選…

馬可孛羅文化事業 also published RIVERS OF LONDON, as 倫敦河惡靈騷動.

MOON OVER SOHO is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey Books, and has been published widely in translation. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant — my father — who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

‘Enormous storytelling gusto… exhilarating and emotionally affecting…’ — SF Reviews

‘The excitement and entertainment hasn’t stopped in the slightest… this book once again blew my mind, and kept me reading well into the late night/early morning. You needn’t pick up RIVERS OF LONDON, Aaronovitch’s first in this series, but you’d regret it by the time you got to the end of MOON OVER SOHO and found out how good it was.’ — Fantasy Book Review

‘As funny as it is fantastic… [The plot] hops along happily to a toe-tapping time signature, with a sweet solo here and an awesome cacophony of noise there… vast amounts of fun…’ — Speculative Scotsman

‘MOON OVER SOHO is a gripping continuation of RIVER OF LONDON’s well executed blend of police-procedural and fantasy with a good splash of horror thrown in. This is urban fantasy done with a loving attention to detail and enlivened by an ever present wit making this series a must-read for anyone who likes their fantasy with a strong edge of realism.’ — SF Book Reviews

‘A fantastic follow-up to MIDNIGHT RIOT. Aaronovitch does a great job of bringing even minor characters to life. One of Grant’s fellow cops, Leslie, plays a minor role throughout the story – but her involvement is an emotional cornerstone that brings a surprisingly bittersweet element into play… MOON OVER SOHO is an excellent addition to the paranormal police genre.’ — Examiner

‘MOON OVER SOHO is very good. Ben Aaronovitch continues the successful formula of RIVERS OF LONDON in bringing to the surface the endearing minutae of a city that he clearly adores. He also demonstrates the “real world” problems of a ritual magician trying to have some sort of ‘normal’ life… Grant continues to observe his world(s) in a detached way – a narrative voice that lends itself well to dry humor (and fits less neatly with the book’s few over-the-top action scenes). Mr. Aaronovitch is, in short, writing the best contemporary occult detective series on the shelf today, and that’s by a substantial margin.’ — Pornokitsch

Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO now available in Czech

Posted on Wednesday, December 9th, 2015

MOON OVER SOHO, the second novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s best-selling and critically-acclaimed Peter Grant series, is now available in Czech! Published by Kosmas as MĚSÍC NAD SOHO, here’s the synopsis…

Jmenuji se Peter Grant. Ještě nedávno jsem byl obyčejný četnický zelenáč v řadách londýnské Metropolitní policie. Jedné noci jsem se ale při vyšetřování vraždy zapletl s duchem, a všiml si mě tak vrchní inspektor Nightingale, poslední čaroděj Anglie. A tak teď stojím jako člen dvoučlenné speciální policejní jednotky v márnici nad tělem zavražděného jazzmana a snažím se získat z jeho mrtvého těla záznam melodie, důležitou stopu ve vyšetřování jeho vraždy. To fakt umím. A nejen to. A tak vím, že v Soho řádí vrah, který má nadpřirozené schopnosti a jedině naše jednotka je schopna ho zastavit.

The novel is published in the UK by Gollancz, and in the US by Del Rey. Here’s the English-language synopsis…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant – my father – who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

The novel has also been published in German, French, Japanese, Russian and more. Details can be found on Ben’s author page, and the all of the covers (to date) are below…

Ben Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO Now in Korean!

Posted on Friday, November 27th, 2015

Ben Aaronovitch‘s second Peter Grant novel, MOON OVER SOHO, is now available in Korean! Published by Hyundae Munhak as 소호의 달, here’s the Korean synopsis…

내 이름은 피터 그랜트. 런던 수도경찰국 엑스파일 부서 폴리 소속. 영국 최후의 공인 마법사인 나이팅게일 경감의 하나뿐인 부하 겸 도제다. 고로 런던 광역시 내의 모든 초자연적 사건이 내 차지고, 최고의 유흥가 소호도 예외는 아니다. 소호 클럽에서 재즈 음악가들이 공연 직후 별 이유 없이 사망하는 일이 잇따라 일어난다. 현장에 남은 마법적 단서는 재즈곡 <바디 앤드 소울>의 선율. 재즈 트럼펫 연주자인 아버지의 도움을 받아가며 이전의 의문사들까지 추적하느라 눈코 뜰 새가 없다. 살인수사반에서는 음경을 물어뜯겨 사망한 남자들 사건에도 수사 협조를 요구해온다. 조사가 진행될수록 뱀파이어, 질에 이빨이 달린 여인, 키메라에 흑마법사의 존재까지 드러나는데… 나, 사건 해결은커녕 이 틈바구니에서 살아남을 수는 있을지…

And the English-language synopsis…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant — my father — who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

MOON OVER SOHO is published in the UK by Gollancz, in the US by Del Rey, and has been widely published in translation in other territories. (Check Ben’s author page for details.) Hyundae Munhak have also published RIVERS OF LONDON in Korean, as 런던의 강들.

New Peter Grant English and German Audio Editions

Posted on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2015

Today, we wanted to draw your attention to a handful of new audio editions of Ben Aaronovitch‘s critically-acclaimed, best-selling Peter Grant series. First, there is a new dual-book audio edition for RIVERS OF LONDON and MOON OVER SOHO available in Germany. Published by GoyaLiT, it collects DIE FLÜSSE VON LONDON and SCHWARZER MOND ÜBER SOHO (cover above). Here’s the German-language synopsis…

Der frischgebackene Police Constable Peter Grant war schon immer irgendwie anders. Als er bemerkt, dass er mit Geistern sprechen kann, wird sein Leben kompliziert. Aufgrund seiner besonderen Fähigkeiten wird er von einem echten Zaubermeister in eine Spezialeinheit der Londoner Polizei aufgenommen, wo er das Zauberhandwerk lernen soll. Während er fleißig übt, wie man Feuerbälle beherrscht, bekommt er es in “Die Flüsse von London” mit den Flussgeistern der Metropole zu tun und muss in “Schwarzer Mond über Soho” unheimliche Morde in der Jazz-Szene aufklären. Klar, dass dabei so Einiges schief läuft und Peter auf die Hilfe seiner reizenden Kollegin Leslie angewiesen ist, um die magischen Turbulenzen in den Griff zu bekommen.

Die gleichnamigen Bücher, aus dem Englischen von Karlheinz Dürr (“Die Flüsse von London”) und Christine Blum (“Schwarzer Mond über Soho”), sind bei dtv erschienen.

The books are narrated by Dietmar Wunder, who narrates all five of the currently-available German audio editions, all published by GoyaLiT. Print editions of the novels are published in Germany by DTV.

In related news, Gollancz has also released a new MP3 CD edition of RIVERS OF LONDON. 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.

The UK audio editions of Ben’s series are narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

Cover: Ben Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO in Hungarian

Posted on Friday, June 5th, 2015

Today, we have the Hungarian cover for Ben Aaronovitch‘s MOON OVER SOHO (above). Published by Gabo as SOHO FELETT A HOLD, it is the second novel in Ben’s best-selling and critically-acclaimed Peter Grant urban fantasy crime series. Here’s the synopsis…

Peter Grant közrendőr hamar rájön, hogy a dzsessz-szaxofonos Cyrus Wilkinson nem szívroham áldozata lett. Valaki vagy valami a londoni Soho utcáit járja, és az a különleges képesség vonzza, amely elválasztja a nagy zenészeket az átlagosaktól…

And, in English (published by Gollancz)…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant – my father – who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

The Peter Grant series currently includes: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES, FOXGLOVE SUMMER and the upcoming THE HANGING TREE. All of the novels are published in the UK by Gollancz, and Del Rey (books 1-3) and DAW Books (books four onwards) in the US. The series has been published widely in translation. In July, Titan Comics will publish the first issue in RIVERS OF LONDON: BODY WORK, a mini-series set between books four and five.

International Edition: Ben Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO in Russian!

Posted on Friday, January 23rd, 2015

MOON OVER SOHO, the second novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Sunday Times-bestselling Peter Grant series is now available in Russian! Published by Фантастика Книжный Клуб as Луна над Сохо, it is out now. Фантастика Книжный Клуб also published a Russian edition of RIVERS OF LONDON (Реки Лондона, Бен Ааронович).

Here’s the English-language synopsis for MOON OVER SOHO…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant – my father – who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

Published in the UK by Gollancz and in the US by Del Rey, MOON OVER SOHO has also been published in German (DTV), French (J’ai Lu), Japanese (Hayakawa), Portuguese and Polish.

If you are in London on Monday (January 26th), Blackwell’s will be hosting Ben Aaronovitch for an evening of SFF discussion. You can find details of that event here.

The Peter Grant series includes: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOMES and FOXGLOVE SUMMER, with more novels on the way! Here are the UK covers for the five available novels…

Cover Reveal: Ben Aaronovitch’s MOON OVER SOHO in Polish!

Posted on Tuesday, September 30th, 2014

We’re delighted to share with you the Polish cover for the second novel in Ben Aaronovitch‘s Peter Grant Series, MOON OVER SOHO! The novel – KSIĘŻYC NAD SOHO – was just published by MAG. Here’s the English-language synopsis for the novel…

Peter Grant is not just a lowly Detective Constable, he’s also apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain: policing will never be the same again!

I was my dad’s vinyl-wallah: I changed his records while he lounged around drinking tea, and that’s how I know my Argo from my Tempo. And it’s why, when Dr Walid called me to the morgue to listen to a corpse, I recognised the tune it was playing. Something violently supernatural had happened to the victim, strong enough to leave its imprint like a wax cylinder recording. Cyrus Wilkinson, part-time jazz saxophonist and full-time accountant, had apparently dropped dead of a heart attack just after finishing a gig in a Soho jazz club. He wasn’t the first.

No one was going to let me exhume corpses to see if they were playing my tune, so it was back to old-fashioned legwork, starting in Soho, the heart of the scene. I didn’t trust the lovely Simone, Cyrus’ ex-lover, professional jazz kitten and as inviting as a Rubens’ portrait, but I needed her help: there were monsters stalking Soho, creatures feeding off that special gift that separates the great musician from someone who can raise a decent tune. What they take is beauty. What they leave behind is sickness, failure and broken lives.

And as I hunted them, my investigation got tangled up in another story: a brilliant trumpet player, Richard ‘Lord’ Grant – my father – who managed to destroy his own career, twice. That’s the thing about policing: most of the time you’re doing it to maintain public order. Occasionally you’re doing it for justice. And maybe once in a career, you’re doing it for revenge.

We shared the Polish cover for RIVERS OF LONDON earlier this year.

The Peter Grant Series includes: RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND, BROKEN HOME, and the upcoming FOXGLOVE SUMMER, all published in the UK by Gollancz.

Upcoming Ben Aaronovitch Event! (Bristol)

Posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2014

This Friday, May 16th, best-selling author Ben Aaronovitch will be taking part in an event hosted by Waterstone’s Bristol.

Murder Most Magical features three of the biggest names in crime/fantasy: alongside Ben, Paul Cornell and Jasper Fforde will be in conversation courtesy of BristolCon. The event is ticketed – tickets are just £3, and are available from the shop.

Ben is, of course, the author of the Sunday Times Bestselling Peter Grant series, published in the UK by Gollancz. The series currently comprises RIVERS OF LONDON, MOON OVER SOHO, WHISPERS UNDERGROUND and BROKEN HOMES, with more novels planned. The series has also been published in the US (by Del Rey and DAW Books), Germany (DTV), France (J’ai Lu), and a number of other territories (more details, here). The next novel in the series, tentatively titled FOXGLOVE SUMMER, is due out later this year – watch this space for more information as-and-when we have it!