It’s been a long three year wait since the last Rivers of London novel and it is so good to be back with Peter Grant, Nightingale, Beverley, Abigail, and the rest of the gang. The Rivers of London series is one of my favorites and if you’re new to this world, it is definitely one that is improved by fully immersing yourself in the complete world - novels, novellas, and graphic novels - from the very beginning.

Stone & Sky kicks off our main cast (plus Peter’s parents, Dr. Walid, and the foxes) heading up to Scotland on a semi-working vacation after receiving reports about a large wild cat causing havoc. The actual mystery, which revolves around some paranormal sea creatures (selkies and mermaids have officially joined the roster of the demi monde), an oil platform, and murder, feels like it takes a major backseat in this story to exploring the world of Scotland and Peter/Abigail’s personal lives. It’s fun getting the gang out of London and the surrounding environs, though why so many of the side characters chose to go with Peter, Nightingale, Bev, etc. doesn’t feel as clear despite the “working vacation” explanation. The underlying mystery starts to get really gripping about half-way through the book and the final showdown from Peter’s POV does not disappoint.

The most interesting facet of this book is that the story is told jointly from Abigail and Peter’s POVs with almost 50% of the book dedicated to each of the characters. In the past, Rivers of London novels are told from Peter’s POV and novellas are interspersed to provide side stories and perspectives from minor characters. In Stone & Sky, however, Abigail takes center stage with Peter and I’m not quite sure I like that fact. As ever, Ben Aaronovich is a master of writing distinct character voices and the narrative voices of Peter and Abigail are so unique, they are easy to distinguish on the page, but after three years of waiting for book 10, I was so ready to jump back in with Peter. I love his dry sense of humor, unflappability, and relationship with Nightingale. In this book, I got half the usual Peter time and almost no Nightingale-Peter interactions as our favorite leader of the Folly spent almost the entire story with Abigail instead. I’ve come to really enjoy Abigail’s perspective in her novellas and previous appearances in the series, but not to the extent that I would give up time with Peter Grant in exchange.

I will also add that this is the first Rivers of London novel that I’ve read on paper (or e-reader as the case may be). Prior to this I’ve always listened to the audiobooks, which are read by the absolutely brilliant Kobna Holdbrook-Smith. I really missed hearing Kobna read this aloud, though I could swear I heard his voice in my head when Peter was at his most Peter-ish. If you’ve never listened to the audiobooks of this series, I highly recommend giving them a try and I can’t wait to listen to this again when it’s released.

Ultimately, I’m giving this book 4 stars (the first below 5 star rating in the series). Peter’s portion gets 5 stars, but with only half the book being Peter’s POV, it loses some points from me. Big thanks to NetGalley and DAW for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC of this book available for my review.

Peter and his family and his co-workers go on vacation to Scotland, but with a bit of a side investigation going on as well. Even after ten books, this series remains fresh and ever so entertaining. I love how the author intertwines Peter's home and family life with the cases that he is working on, and now we've added Abigail and the foxes as regulars to add to the fun factor. This has easily become one of my must-read book series.

I fell in love with the Rivers of London books at book one, at book 10, I don't love it any less. I had been worried about how Peter was going to show up in the series with the kids now, and I'm reassured by this novel. Continuing the adventures with Abigail and the foxes has been exciting. I honestly have no notes except, please write more soon, thank you so much.

I'm huge fan of Rivers of London as surely enjoyed this novel even if it's not in my top 5.
I think there was too much going on, too many subplot and some of them were never solved.
I like Abigail I would have preferred some more Nightingale and Peter. The talking foxes are as lovely as usual and I appreciated the world building and the characters from the demi-monde.
Mr Aaronovitch is not at his best when writing love scenes and I'm still wondering about some anatomical details.
That said, even if it's not set in London, it was a lot of fun and the 20% was up to the best novel in the series
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I am not ordinarily a reader of fantasy novels, but I make an exception for the Rivers of London series. ‘Stone and Sky’ works particularly well because it sets the mythical and wizardry elements in the dour world of Scottish policing. Echoes of John Rebus and Logan McRae abound and add a hard nosed comic element to the supernatural goings on. And there are plenty of those.
‘Stone and Sky’ comes across as the love child of Harry Potter and Primeval. We’re treated to a smorgasbord of eldritch creatures. Wyverns, melanistic leopards, silkies, mermaids and giant gulls with teeth are all summoned and we share Peter’s incredulity as he struggles to make sense of what this is all about. In this respect, he’s helped by Abigail, a welcome recent arrival to the series, who offers an intriguing perspective on the parallel plot that she narrates in roughly half the chapters. Throw in further hilarity courtesy of talking foxes and river goddess twin toddlers and you have a heady, irresistible mixture of disparate elements that coalesce to form a satisfying whole.

Yet another strong addition to the series. Peter, and gang go up to Aberdeen for a holiday and to investigate a cryptid. Events unfold.

The story is told from Peter and Abigail's points of view. Both voices are delightful. I also really enjoyed the descriptions of place. I know nothing about Aberdeen. I found it a bit odd that people would swim in a sea that's so cold that they have to wear wetsuits, but they treated it as normal. So that was an eye opener.

The story is, as usual, great. I have no idea what relationship Abigail's voice has to how the Youth actually speak. We have glimpses of a broader over-arching plot.

Recommend!
Netgalley provided me with an ARC. Providing a review was my choice.

I was really looking forward to Aaronovitch's next book in the Rivers of London series, and this book didn't disappoint. It was great fun watching the "band" get back together again.

The whole gang is on board as Peter Grant (retired cop/apprentice wizard) goes on holiday to Scotland, where he and the crew (Abigail, the foxes, Beverly, Peter's mom and dad, Dr. Walid, and Nightingale) all get mixed up in the mysterious shenanigans of an oil company, mermaids, phantom cats, wyverns, defensive gulls, and the local police, while investigating the mysterious deaths of the local animals.

There is a little more detective work and romance in this one, and not quite so many magical battles and derring-do, but there is nevertheless, still plenty of danger, and suspense, and we get to see how well Abigail can throw down some battle-magic on her own.

I love visiting with all these characters, and their relationships are what drew me to the series, in the first place. There's plenty of that here as we get to see all of these different characters interact with each other, and new people, while wrangling a couple of two-year-olds! Even though there's not a lot of magical fighting, Peter's life still manages to be quite chaotic.

Another great instalment in this fabulous magical detective series. Set in Scotland this time, it introduces new characters alongside the old and weaves two mysteries together. A refreshing addition to the series which I read in a sitting.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.*

The newest instalment in my favourite series about magical detectives, and it lived up to the legacy of the previous books! Set in Scotland, this was a fresh and original mystery with a few entirely new magical encounters and the biggest cast of characters for this series yet (which works because we've met the majority of them before many times). The POV swaps between Peter and Abigail which was refreshing and a great way of combining two separate seeming mysteries. These mysteries were intriguing and well-paced. The climax was thrilling and there were stakes!
I loved getting to see more of Peter and Beverley as a couple and parents. It's woven so easily into the story that it feels natural and very realistic. The twins are hilarious and written well hyperactive two-year-olds. Also, because Abigail was a main character, we got more foxes!

Review: This sure follows the series path without deviation. Same world building with minor character developments.

I had a good time relaxing, as the scene progression and POV shifts are interesting enough to keep the patterned story line moving. Perhaps it is a good thing that Ben stays in a London invaded.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read this early for an honest review.

I was excited for another full length Peter Grant novel, and it was delightful that he shared the telling with Abigail. It’s been awhile since I’ve read the last few books in this series, but it was easy to pick up where they all left off with the twins getting older and them all on a holiday/consultant visit to Scotland. One of the enjoyable things about this series is we keep getting an expanded glimpse of this world and see how the magic part of detective work is handled in countries other than England.

All the main characters worked together to solve this case, which took them all over the country and even out to sea to an oil platform (not rig). It was a solid story in this series, and now I’m left waiting for more.

Peter Grant heads up to Aberdeenshire for a holiday, and maybe a little light investigation of cryptid rumours, with a somewhat implausible proportion of the supporting cast in tow. Except, wouldn't you know it, he's soon entangled in more local mysteries, involving a missing geophysicist and a dead body with gills. My first assumption was that moving the action so far afield was a way of reining things in a little; Peter faces institutional scepticism that doesn't really make sense in London anymore, while Bev, so far from her home river, is noticeably depowered. But really this is more a dash of flavour than a wholesale ratcheting back; you still wouldn't mess with either of them if you had any sense, though handily for the plot, plenty of people don't. And any suspicion that Aaronovitch might be wanting to work with a clearer canvas proves similarly short-lived; for all the reminders that this isn't London, Aberdeen turns out to have plenty of the same mystical factions, and then some, and we still get plenty of hints about some ominous bigger story building in the background. Whether the local colour and oil industry specifics are as recognisable to those who know them as the series' London, I'm not in a position to say, though they certainly felt more solid than the slightly sketchy overseas settings in some of the recent run of shorter books. But, as ever, the big attraction is the voice, or rather, voices, Peter and Abigail fully sharing the narration here to an extent which I don't think we've had before, but which works beautifully, particularly once she finds her own points of local interest.

(Netgalley ARC)

I am a big fan of this series, and have been waiting quite a while to read this next installment. Massive relief- I really liked it. At first, I was unsure about the story taking place so far away from London, London is almost a character in this series. The Rivers of London are definitely characters, hence the name of the series. Once I got over the strangeness of the locale, I really enjoyed it.
Most of the gang has come along for the ride, so if you have a favorite minor character, you will meet up with them again. My only criticism is that we probably did not need Mum and Dad and the Irregulars, they contribute little to the plot, and made the narrative feel a bit overstuffed character-wise. I have to admit, however, that it was really nice to see them again… like I said, a minor criticism.
The plotting and pacing are both really good, with Ben’s distinctive and pitch-perfect blend of real and fantastic; you totally believe that there is a magical police force headquartered in London. The writing is as witty as ever, I laughed out loud quite a few times.
All of the characters have matured and grown into their roles, the story takes place approximately two years after last installment. It is told in both Peter’s and Abigail’s voices, using a sort of parallel narrative structure, which worked really well.
Lots of nice surprises, genuine stakes, bad guys a perfect mix of banal and evil. It is everything I love about Ben Aaronovitch’s writing.
One caution, do not start reading the series with this one-it is not going to work as a stand-alone for you. Go to the beginning, if you like it, then you can look forward to this one.

Stone and Sky is the latest installment in Ben Aaronovitch's The Rivers of London series, bringing back Peter Grant (with his whole family) and Abigail Kamara (with Indigo in tow too) as the main characters. For those who have enjoyed Aaronovitch's recent novellas and short stories, Stone and Sky continues to build out more of this fantastical version of the world. For those who have enjoyed the earlier characters from the series, the newest book marks a comfortable return. Highly enjoyed!

Peter Grant is back again, and this time he’s headed to sunny Scotland…Aberdeen specifically. What is meant to be a nice holiday with the family turns into a collection of weird bollocks happenings—a magical black panther hunt (the animal, not the organization), a murdered merman, and shifty local “fishermen” abound. But the real villain may truly be Big Oil, a mundane but insidious culprit that even normal policing can’t bring to heel. Luckily, Peter’s brought along a host of help, including Nightingale’s newest apprentice, the canny Abigail-who-talks-to-foxes.

Stone & Sky is rather evenly split between Peter and Abigail’s perspectives, which was a smart move because so much was happening throughout Aberdeenshire. I attended university in Aberdeen, so it was a true pleasure seeing it so well-represented in one of my favorite urban fantasy series! The mystery is twisty, the characters colorful, and there’s even some romance in Abigail’s future! But as Peter is often reminded, they do things differently in Scotland, so be prepared for all sorts of hijinks and obstacles in pursuit of keeping the Queen’s peace.

Thanks to DAW for providing me an ARC of Stone & Sky through Netgalley. I will be posting my review on Goodreads about two weeks before the release date. My review is, as always, truthful and unbiased, and I hope it helps introduce readers to new books they will love!

Stone and Sky by Ben Aaronovitch is exactly the kind of book that makes me wish there were more hours in the day so I could devour it in one sitting. If you’re a fan of urban fantasy, wit, and well-crafted world-building, this one has it all—and then some.

Set in Aaronovitch’s ever-expanding world, the story continues to deliver that unique blend of sharp dialogue, magical intrigue, and just the right amount of humor. The main character’s voice is as fresh and self-aware as ever, and the way he navigates the increasingly complicated layers of magic and mystery is just as compelling as the first time I picked up one of his books.

What I love most about Aaronovitch’s writing is how effortlessly he blends the fantastical with the everyday. There’s something both grounded and thrilling about his characters—ordinary people, in extraordinary circumstances, trying to figure it all out while cracking jokes and making bad decisions. It feels real, even when the magic gets absolutely bonkers.

In Stone and Sky, the stakes are high, but the tension is never overwhelming. It’s a fun read that pulls you in with ease, and before you know it, you’re fully invested in the mystery, the characters, and the little twists that Aaronovitch throws your way. The plot moves at a great pace, with plenty of surprises, and the magical system continues to be one of the most creative parts of the series.

I won’t spoil too much, but I will say that the ending left me wanting more—though in the best possible way. This series isn’t just about magic or mysteries; it’s about characters that you come to care about, flaws and all. And I can’t wait to see where Aaronovitch takes us next.