In the latest installment of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, Peter Grant has taken a job at a tech startup based at Old Street’s ‘silicon roundabout’. He’s soon caught up in a secret that’s a dangerous mixture of artificial intelligence, magic and technology.

False Value is the eighth in the main series of novels, which have so far been interspersed with two novellas, six volumes in the graphic novel series, and a range of short stories. In False Value I enjoyed spending more time with genius loci Beverley Brook as Peter approaches fatherhood, and meeting the cast of new supporting characters. I do hope future books catch up with Stephen again, and maybe explore the secret world of the New York Public Library. It felt like both might be a tease of more to come!

I was up north for work a few months ago, had a bit of a wait for my train so decided to pop into the Waterstones for a ‘quick look’. Came out with these two shiny, new signed hardbacks from Ben Aaronovitch and Andrew Hunter Murray.

Of course I tested out the glow-in-the-dark cover that night, which may have helped sway me towards buying the physical book. That and the fact it was signed – how could I resist?

The neighbour’s cat – known by many names, including Snow, Snowball, Mr Ball, and Woody – snuck into our house for a nap on the bed, so he featured in the photoshoot too.

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Another pleasant surprise was the short story at the end of the book, ‘A Dedicated Follower of Fashion’, which is exclusive to the Waterstones special edition. Set in the 1960s, it follows a drug dealer living in a squat in Earlsfield next to the River Wandle. It was a fantastic addition, giving a snippet of life in this world during a different time.