Rivers of London · #7.5
The October Man
A novella.
A brand new stand-alone novella in the Rivers of London series!
Tobias Winter has been assigned to the Abteilung KDA - the Department for Complex and Unspecific Matters.
Despite the intriguing department name, as Winter explains, dealing with the strange and the supernatural is 'actually 90% paperwork'. But this is a story about the other 10% of the job: the life-threatening danger part.
This is a tale about the Queen of the Harvest, the October Man, and the little-known time the vineyard around Trier started to eat people...
Winter may be P. C. Peter Grant's German counterpart, but surviving this investigation is entirely down to him...
The series
At first glance, it’s a murder on a rainy London night. A rookie cop on patrol. A crime scene like any other. But then the witness turns out to be a ghost—and suddenly, everything ordinary fractures.
Read full series description
This is the entry point into Rivers of London, a genre-defying urban fantasy series where the fog-choked streets of London hum with hidden currents of magic, myth, and mystery. Beneath the scaffolding and CCTV, gods dwell in riverbanks, ancient spells linger in dusty basements, and the supernatural isn't just real—it’s part of the paperwork.
What begins with Peter Grant, a probationary constable with a knack for noticing things he shouldn’t, quickly unravels into something stranger and much deeper: a secret unit within the Metropolitan Police devoted to investigating crimes that don’t quite obey the laws of physics. As Peter is reluctantly inducted into the world of magic under the tutelage of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale—a man who remembers World War II a little too clearly—he finds himself juggling crime scenes with ley lines, rogue spirits, and arcane bureaucracy.
The brilliance of this series lies not in flashy spellcraft or epic battles, but in the fusion of crisp procedural logic with the eerie, often chaotic energy of urban folklore. The city isn’t just a setting—it’s a living, breathing entity, brimming with personality, grime, and ghosts. Every corner holds a secret; every case unearths a new layer of the strange architecture that holds London together.
With its dry humor, sharp dialogue, and a protagonist who’s equal parts sarcastic and sincere, the series strikes a tone that’s wry, grounded, and delightfully unpredictable. It’s a world where jazz music can animate the dead, a Victorian townhouse might eat your cat, and river spirits squabble like extended family at a pub.
Over the years, the Rivers of London books have earned a cult following, spawning novellas, graphic novels, and even a tabletop RPG—not just for their imaginative scope, but for their clever pacing, richly diverse cast, and the way they balance the magical with the maddeningly mundane.
This isn’t just another magical London. This is the London—bizarre, bureaucratic, and steeped in secrets you’ll wish you never uncovered.
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#5.5 · 2017The Furthest Station 
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2020Tales from the Folly: A Rivers of London Short Story Collection Be the first reviewer
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