Abigail Kamara should not be left to her own devices. She's not like her brother Paul who is terminally ill and needs looking after. She's just very good at getting into trouble. Just ask her cousin, DC Peter Grant. The second Peter's mom started bragging about her son doing magic Abigail demanded that he teach her. In an attempt to fob her off he said she'd need to get a GCSE A level in Latin. More fool him if he thinks she's not going to hold him to that, she's already in Latin club. She used to imagine her life out there, away from home, on some lonely road, but now she knows about magic, now she imagines seeing in the dark and running with foxes. Now she imagines finding a cure for Paul. When not being the bane of her teachers existence she's always on the lookout for the uncanny as a way to pass the time and impress Peter. There have been a recent spate of disappearances around Hampstead Heath and Abigail thinks they're rather sus. The entire nation is gripped by two white girls missing in Herefordshire and yet in London they can't be bothered with children missing on their own manor. This needs to be looked into, especially something Abigail thinks is extra sus, an old classmate of hers she hadn't seen for years invites her to a "happening" on the Heath. She's stood up but she meets Simon, who was also invited by someone he barely knew who also didn't show. At loose ends Simon and Abigail start to hang out. As Abigail comes to the realization that she's stuck with Simon she lets him help with her investigation. One that gets even stranger when it's revealed the the missing kids have all returned home with no memory of where they were. The most important piece of information is where are the kids going, thankfully Abigail has a skulk of talking foxes who have labeled her as a "person of interest" and are willing to help her with her operation; they're very big on the spy speak. And she needs each and every one of them to monitor the perimeter of the Heath. Which is how she gets her big break. The kids are all going into a house. But when Abigail enters, unlike the other kids, the house doesn't want to let her go. This conundrum is up to her to solve, without the help of the Folly, but oddly with the help of Simon's mom. Simon's mom is well connected, the foxes would be impressed.

While this is a standalone novella it is also technically a companion book to Foxglove Summer. Here we see Abigail in a similar situation to what Peter was dealing with in Herefordshire, missing children. While there are probably millions of stories about missing children what's interesting is seeing how one author handles the same subject in two very different ways. One was successful, the other was not. This book is damn near perfection. The bones of the story are a solid haunting of a house. The inside of the house is different pockets of time and it forces those whom it's lured inside to replay moments from it's past. It's not the most original of concepts, even Angel did a similar story in the season three episode "Waiting in the Wings," which I think was predominately written so that Angel and Cordelia could make out thus acting on years of pent up sexual frustration without them actually becoming an item. Yet Ben Aaronovitch writes his story so cleverly, so perfectly, that you feel like it's the first time you've head a haunted house story like it. What's more, the way that Abigail is trying to dissect the pockets of time while being forced to be a participate is fascinating. She actually appreciates these memories she is being shown while at the same time trying to find the source of the haunting. Abigail is just an amazing character with so much depth. What I personally connected to was the melancholy that is at the heart of her life, the fact that one day her brother Paul is going to die. Since the age of five his world has been getting smaller and smaller and I think that's why she pushes herself beyond her comfort zone. She wants to experience everything, even if it's the ghostly memories that a house gives her. Ben Aaronovitch understands the kind of suffering that a family with chronic illness endures. The hope that is almost worse than the bone deep pain of lifelong trauma. He wrote this book at the beginning of the pandemic and I think it influenced the story in an elegiac way. If you doubt me just read the section wherein Abigail is reading Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man to her brother. As she makes passing reference to that book's conclusion, if you know and love that book like I do, your heart will break anew.

Abigail is one of my favorite characters in the Rivers of London series, so I was very pleased that she got her own novella. This stand-alone outing finds our heroine searching for missing kids with the help of a new friend and some talking foxes.

The story is a bit by the numbers, but Abigail's character truly shines here: she's intelligent, resourceful, and has a major distrust of authority figures. I do hope Aaronovitch writes another tale for her.

This is a fun and adventurous read, especially for YA audiences I would say. It is a nice spin off for the popular children's story. Could be fit for a much younger reader than for adults whom it is currently marketed to. Thank you for the ARC NetGalley and the publisher.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.

This is a well written book, with a few well-conceived set pieces, decent plotting, and good pacing. That said, try as I might I found neither the characters nor the overall narrative engaging enough to arouse or hold my curiosity and attention. As a consequence, it doesn't seem fair to write much more of a review, apart from encouraging interested readers to give the book a try.

My introduction to Aaronovitch’s enchanted London was reading Lies Sleeping and What Abigail Did That Summer simultaneously. It wasn’t intentional, but it turned out brilliantly. In the former, police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant investigates an ongoing mystery from the agency’s headquarters, “The Folly.” This is actually well into the series, which I didn’t realize, and there’s a massive amount of backstory, but I found that just hanging out with Peter was vastly entertaining. Really, a summer evening picnic, trying to get the spirit of Old Father Thames to remember where King Arthur left his sword? Delicious fun! Abigail of What Abigail Did That Summer is Peter’s cousin, and her own adventure took place back in 2018. Missing kids, a seriously psychotic haunted house, and a security detail provided by talking foxes were just a few of the marvels. Then Abigail appears in Lies Sleeping as an extraordinarily perceptive student, which makes sense given what she went through years ago. It’s no wonder the magical bosses insisted she receive proper training!

I have been a fan of Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series for a long time. I‘ve been waiting for him to publish a story for Abigail when he began publishing novellas from other characters points of view.

Abigail is just beginning to learn about the magical world around her. It’s fascinating to get another viewpoint on learning about magic for the first time. We got Peter’s story as he learned about magic, but Abigail has a very different focus when confronted with magic.

She’s curious and powerful, and willing to do a lot to do what she thinks is right. Without Peter acting as a mentor in this story, and Nightingale really only showing up for cameos, we get a good sense of Abigail’s process to solving mysteries on her own. The foxes are a fascinating addition, providing even more worldbuilding and insight into the world of magic.

I think the footnotes were supposed to be partially a nod to Sir Terry Pratchett’s works, but they were really hit and miss for me. Otherwise, this was a wonderful addition to the Rivers of London series, that reignited my interest in the series. I’ll definitely be looking for a copy of the audiobook to buy.

This novella is set in the Rivers of London world, but the protagonist is Peter Grant’s teenaged niece Abigail. Peter is missing from this book, but his boss Nightingale makes a few brief appearances. This book won’t really make sense to you if you haven’t read at least the first Rivers of London books. Here, Abigail and a group of talking foxes try to solve the mystery of children who go missing and return with no memories of where they have been.

I don’t know whether the author is planning on writing a spin off series aimed at children, but I am definitely not the right audience for this. I was too old for it when I was 10. Perhaps if you are totally obsessed with the Rivers of London series you might enjoy this book more than I did. I think at this point I am just sticking with the series because I love Kobna Holdbrook-Smith’s narration of the audiobooks. He reads a couple of footnotes in this book, but that wasn’t enough for me and his character was not Peter Grant. Disappointing. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

This is a super fun read. I really enjoyed this one!

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

I very much enjoy this series and was glad to see that Abigail got a novel to herself. I look forward to seeing her character develop and interact with the others in these books.

Teens are going missing but only for a few days before they show up again with no real explanation of where they have been. Abigail is almost enticed into being one of the missing and thus she and her new friend Simon start to investigate. Aided by a group of talking foxes they track down to where the kids are disappearing, but the question becomes “can Abigail save everyone or become trapped as they are?”

While this is the ninth installment of the Rivers of London series it is the first I have read in this series. That said there are things, people and relationships that I am sure were dealt with in prior books but are understandable enough in context that I enjoyed the story and had no problems understanding the setting. I am now eager to read the others in the series and also hope we will see more of Abigail’s adventures.

I've enjoyed all of the Rivers of London books, and I've very much liked the few in which Peter Grant's young cousin, Abigail, appeared. She had a significant role in an earlier book, The Furthest Station, and I hoped at the time that we'd be seeing more of her.

Abigail is particularly intriguing because she has far fewer constraints on her actions that Peter Grant (even though he can be a bit of a wild card!) First, she's a teenager. More importantly, she has no official position, just acting as a sort of unofficial apprentice. In this book, Peter is away dealing with another problem outside London, so when trouble presents itself to her, she doesn't have to consider dumping the problem in Peter's lap - she deals with it herself.

She's a tremendously appealing character - clever and resourceful - and reminds me of the long tradition of young female detectives who cope with problems on their own. While it's clear that she has much to learn, it's also clear that she's competent and clever. It appears that she may be appearing more in these books, and I look forward to that!

Abigail is awesome. I’m a huge Rivers of London fan, and was a little disappointed not to be getting a Peter Grant fix with this latest novella. But Abigail is possibly even more fun than her cousin, and if the hints dropped on the final page are to be believed, she is only going to get better.

If this is your first Rivers book, I suggest going back to the beginning and immersing yourself in the lore of Thomas Nightingale, the Folly, and the whole construct of modern magical London. But if you know the characters and the back story, Abigail’s summer is a wonderful diversion. She has some serious magical talent, and the young energy and strength of character to go with it.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was expecting this to be a short story and it was more like a medium-length story so this was a pleasant surprise. Abigail is a great narrator that didn’t leave me missing Peter and Nightingale as much as I feared. She has a spunky voice and personality that really comes through. Although at time the use of slang really felt forced. I quite enjoyed the footnotes and appreciated the occasional British to American English translations. Overall, I would say that the story was good, but not great. It didn’t suck me in like other books in the series and some details seemed incomplete or like I was missing something (like the storyline for Paul). But certainly worth the read!

Set in the Rivers of London series but with no Peter Grant at all, this stars Abigail working on a missing person case when the missing person has already returned home. Abigail receives a visit from an old friend that now goes to a different school and invites her to a party. Abigail goes to the meeting spot and meets a boy that is also had the same thing happen to him. The old friend of hers had gone missing and was now home but doesn’t remember what happened. During the course of her poking around to find out more information she teams up with the foxes that have that area under surveillance. During the story you find out more about Abigail and her family that fleshes out what we know so far from the short stories that have been previously collected. Nightingale does make a brief appearance in the book but this is really her story from start to finish.


Digital review copy provided by the publisher through Netgalley

I recently started reading the Rivers of London books and was so excited to see a new novella as an ARC via Netgalley and the publisher. And even more excited to have my request granted to view it!
This was a super quick read for me. Abigail was an excellent narrator, and I thoroughly enjoyed her adventures in this novella. While I am completely unfamiliar with the geography of London (this holds me up a bit in the main series' books), I was still able to follow along and relish in this delightful read.
I completely recommend this and the entire Rivers of London series!

Talking fox companions, magic, and a smart girl.

Abigail is a biracial London girl whose uncle works as a wizard on the police force. Using tips she learned from her uncle - magical and investigative skills, Abigail attempts to solve the mystery of missing local teens, with help from a team of talking spy foxes.

I've only read the first book in the Peter Grant series. I plan to eventually read the next one, but haven't gotten there yet. Abigail doesn't show up in that first book, so while I do have a modicum understanding of the alternate London magic system, there was a lot of background here that I wasn't familiar with. Some bare basics are explained, enough for an uninitiated reader to read this as a standalone, but I'm sure I missed several nuances.

As with the Peter Grant books, the alternate London contains lots of creative magics and fantastic world building. This is a good original story, with a confident young female lead.


Abigail is a smarter than average 13 year old girl. A little too precocious, I think, but not impossibly so. She has a very logical way of thinking that comes across in a way that can appeal to both teen and adult readers.

The author attempted to diversify the characters. Abigail is black and faces some racist incidents. There's a good mix of characters of different cultures and skin colors, just like one would expect to find in the cultural melting pot of London. On the other hand, I felt sometimes that the racial identifications were a bit too strong and unnecessary. I often prefer to leave details about minor characters half drawn, so my imagination has room to color it in. Mentioning every character's racial identity and nationality made it feel forced and heavy handed. I did like the diversity at the beginning, but it went too far and came across too strongly. But that was a very minor detraction.

I wasn't so enthused about the plot. It was interesting, but only borderline retained my interest. It could've used more action or suspense... I like the magic system and the world building. The character development was excellent. But I wasn't invested in the plot, and now that I've finished the book, I'm happy to move on and forget about it.

I received a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Barely teen Abigail has a precocious interest in magic, but the Folly won’t yet take her on. So she makes her own trouble/fun, and—with a new friend in tow, plus a fox spy/minder—goes off in search of whatever it is that’s pulling a Pied Piper on local children. Aaronovitch’s mouthy teen was not the best of his voices, but it’s still interesting to see other takes on the magic of his world.

What Abigail Did That Summmer is a spin-off novella in the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Released 18th March 2021 by Subterranean Press, it's 232 page (print edition) and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This series (and indeed the author's oeuvre full stop) is permanently on my must-read list. He's hysterically funny, often profound, clever, and always an engaging read. Since it occurs outside the main series, this novel doesn't have the same continuity as the others, but by the same token, it makes a fine standalone read. Because it's set in Great Britain (London environs), the slang, spelling, and language constructions are British English. I'm not entirely sure if it's because I was provided the North American advance copy for review, but it's full of asides and footnotes for American English explanations and equivalent phrases. I found some of them clever and tongue-in-cheek, but overall they got quite annoying fairly quickly and broke up the flow of the narrative without adding much.

Main character Abigail Kamara (Peter Grant's young cousin and a burgeoning adept at magic - real magic) is funny, wickedly sarcastic, brilliantly intelligent, precocious, and pretty much fed up with the world's rules. I love her attitude from my safe vantage point away from the fallout which follows her every move. Even in the main series, she's always been one of my favourite characters.

This book reads like a young adult novel and doesn't have the same tone as the main series. I'm admittedly in awe of how the author manages to build a really creepy tension at sub-audible levels without resorting to jump-scares. Despite it feeling discontinuous re: the main series, I really enjoyed it and would recommend it to Aaronovitch's staunch fans, fans of urban fantasy, and lovers of non-fuzzy anthropomorphic foxes.

Four and a half stars. Brilliant execution, clean language, very entertaining read.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

This book takes place after Foxglove Summer, in Aaronovich's Rivers of London series. You can thoroughly enjoy this book without having read the Rivers of London series. If you have not, by the end of this book you will want to.

Something weird is happening with young teenagers around Hampstead Heath. Abigail, a 13 year old mixed race Young Person investigates. The story is told through her unique point of view, which is delightful.

The story is lively, the writing excellent, and the characters great.

I was a bit grumbley buttery about Abigail's reference to the police as "the Feds". The UK has a unitary system, not a Federal one. It's a stupid Americanism. Presumably it's a thing 13 year olds were saying at that time?