It took me a bit longer than I had anticipated but I have finished reading the last couple Rivers of London entries. Well, a novella and a novel; not sure if there's been a comic or short story lately.
Finishing The Masquerades of Spring was slightly bittersweet as my wife and I were supposed to see Ben Aaronovitch at a promotional event for it back in 2024. But she unceremoniously cancelled our trip to the UK and I was unable to get a refund on my ticket to the event. I hope Mr. Aaronovitch put my $15 or whatever it was to good use.
A novella, it is told from the point of view of one Augustus Berrycloth-Young, a British ex-pat residing in New York City during the 1920s who is more than a bit of a dandy. His libertine lifestyle is interrupted when Nightingale shows up seeking help investigating a saxophone with seemingly supernatural powers.
It's a fun trek through the demimonde of 1920s New York. Since Augustus is gay and his lover is black, the story deals with homophobia and racism, though I don't feel that it ever got preachy.
Stone & Sky is a full-length novel and features Peter Grant on summer holiday in Scotland - the Aberdeen area. He's there with his significant other, Beverley Brook, their twins, and his parents to boot. Also enjoying the sights is Nightingale and his latest novice, Abigail Kamara.
Things are going alright with Peter having to keep the twins out of trouble and helping his dad's jazz band with their gigs. Then he gets dragged into an investigation of a murder by the local constabulary where it is discovered that the victim has gills.
Peter's sleuthing yields that the local fae - think selkie, kelpie - have become entangled with a large energy company looking to milk the North Sea oil taps dry.
Another fun entry in the Rivers of London series. Nightingale has a minor role and, in a twist, the narrative is split between accounts by Peter and Abigail. Peter juggles obligations family and Folly while Abigail strikes out on her own, largely. Of course she has the snarky fox Indigo to accompany her. In pursuit of a panther of unknown origins, Abigail encounters Ione and develops a Sapphic fondness for her and learns that there is more to Ione that meets the eye.
I loved the Scottish dialogue and hearing that accent in my mind.
At one point I encountered this text:
After my trip to Birmingham last year, I read this knowing where the Black Country is and what a Brummie is. Travel really does broaden the mind. A little Londoner prejudice on the part of Aaronovitch? Ha!
Two very fun tales. It was really nice to get caught up in the series. I shall have to see if any new Rivers of London comics have been published in the last few years.
2025 has been quite a ride and it will soon end. The year, at any rate. The ride, perhaps not.
My divorce is likely the biggest event of the year for me. But 2025 has been more, much more, than just the beginning to the legal end of my marriage. Several people have entered or re-entered my life since being served papers. I found myself in the company of people that I would never have thought I'd be spending time with and have experienced quite a bit this year that was new and/or unexpected.
There were countless final things done with my wife and first times without her. Traditions were laid to rest and new ones born. Many new places, many new people. Some adventure was had in the UK, majesty in Concord.
A modest look back at 2025 in pictures.
HONK! was fantastic and Boston has become an annual trip for me. I love this Trump's Cthulhuy coif.
A most unexpected find on a hike.
Thanksgiving this year was the first in 20 years or so that I didn't spend with my wife. Instead I spent the day at the homes of two kind and generous people. At one I got to see Piper's brother, Gibson.
While there I sampled a luscious mango turmeric ginger tart. Or was it a torte?
It was simply delicious and I befriended its maker. I now have someone to visit should I find myself in Evanston.
2025 was the year I attended my first Chicago International Puppet Festival. It was fantastic!
Back in October I moved out of our marital residence and over to Eken Park where I found that one of my neighbors was rather fond of Halloween.
My wife and I visited the Northside Lounge. Despite some awkward moments, we managed to have a decent time. I like the contrast in this rather spare photograph.
Our last trip together was to Milwaukee in May where we caught both nights of The Magnetic Fields. It was also the last time that we managed to spend any significant time together in something resembling harmony.
I made multiple trips to the lovely Morton Forest, a real treasure.
In a seemingly never ending parade of attempts to spend as little time at home as possible, I finally made a visit to The Cat's Brew.
My friend who lives just a couple blocks away has a neighbor with this wonderful greenhouse.
It's been great living so close to this friend as we now see each other fairly frequently and Piper has a new caretaker for times when I am out of town.
My trip to Boston saw me visit Walden Pond where I experienced the sublime.
While in England, I ran into this statue of Lucifer rather cunningly placed just outside the Ozzy Osbourne exhibit.
The same museum also had a really cool exhibit about disabled people of color.
At another museum I got to stand before a steam engine from 1799 that was designed and/or built by James Watt himself. A piece of the Industrial Revolution that transformed the world. It still works. Amazing!
There were some nice pubs over in the UK.
Inside the Craven Arms looked like Sherlock Holmes' drawing room.
While I continue to get used to my new digs and still need to buy bookshelves, I do not miss my wife's clutter which occupied so much of our home.
Earlier this month I made a return trip to the Christkindlmarkt in downtown Chicago.
I may have a marzipan addiction.
Chicago TARDIS was a blast again this year. My wife and I began attending in 2009 and, although she stopped going last year, it was this year that made me really feel like the tradition that we built together was truly over and now I had to make my own.
I attended a panel hosted by the indelible Tony Whitt.
My downstairs neighbor has a dog whom I caught staring at me one day.
My neighbor is a nice lady. She waves when either of us drive by the other. If the aromas from her kitchen are any indicator, she's also a fine cook. I am still getting acclimated to having downstairs neighbors as it has been a while since I've had any. But, if I am to have one, she is a good choice.
2025 may have marked the second anniversary of Grabby's death but she's never too far from my thoughts.
At some point the decline and fall of my marriage so preoccupied my mind that I failed to keep up with Andrew Cartmel's The Vinyl Detective series. Forsooth!
Once I became conscious of the situation I set out to rectify it by putting in an order for the 2 latest entries in the series. Many thanks to Mystery to Me.
They arrived in time for my UK trip and I brought them with me.
I managed to finish Noise Floor while across The Pond. As always, it was a very fun read. It sees TVD and his partner Nevada being hired to find Lambert Ramkin, a.k.a. Imperium Dart, an EDM god from the 90s who has gone missing and his wives are very concerned. As always, Tinkler is ably assisting his friends when not making lewd comments.
The dialogue is fast-paced and witty as usual. Plus the retro-faux-rave scene gave me 90s flashbacks.
Underscore was no less fun. Here, TVD & Nevada are hired to find a rare soundtrack album to a giallo classic called Murder in London and Bikini of Blood and The Black Dog Murders, et al. The seeker is the granddaughter of composer Loretto Loconsole.
Plenty of banter about wine and coffee, Tinkler is in fine form, and the Swingin' Sixties sounds like it was a hoot. Not a whole lot of Agatha here as she is busy elsewhere much of the time, though her driving skills are utilized in a life or death situation as usual. As with Noise Floor, Nevada takes the lead more often than in previous books. I think. It's been a while since I've read the predecessors.
In addition to The Vinyl Detective, I also enlisted Mystery To Me to help me catch up on the Rivers of London series by Andrew Cartmel's pal, Ben Aaronovitch. I have so far received the latest entry in that series, the novel, Stone and Sky, which came out this summer, but I am still waiting on the novella from last year, The Masquerades of Spring.
While in Birmingham I had my first visit to a Waterstones, which I gather is a bit like their Barnes & Noble. I found exactly what I was looking for, a history of the city.
