Amongst Our Weapons: Delightful and fulfilling

Amongst Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch

“She looked at me, her eyes wide.
“‘Am I free?’ she said.
“‘Yes,” I said. ‘And no.’” 

Amongst Our Weapons (2022) is my new favorite in Ben Aaronovitch’s RIVERS OF LONDON series, mostly because, at long last, Peter and Beverly’s progeny, the twins, make an appearance. That isn’t the only reason; the plot is good and moves quickly, and the talking foxes recruited by Peter’s young cousin Abigail are in the book just enough to keep it extra entertaining.

The talking foxes aren’t alone in this story about a religious cult and an angel of death, possibly an actual angel. Lesley May, Peter’s former partner turned nemesis, is taking an active interest in the case, and seems, as she often is, to be one step ahead of Peter. In his few quiet moments, when he isn’t with his river goddess wife, Peter tries to persuade his boss Nightingale to bring Britain’s magical police force, housed at the Folly, into the late 20^th century at least, if not the genuine present.

When the book opens, Peter and his new partner Danni Wickford are called to a scene in the London Silver Vaults, where a man’s heart has been burned out of his chest. Before he was murdered, he threatened the shop owner about the platinum ring he insisted his ex-wife had sold there. The ring is one of seven puzzle rings that unfold into astrolabes. The mystery comprises two countries, four hundred years of history, and the possibility that angels are real.

Amongst Our Weapons never loses sight of the dire mystery of the death angel and the platinum astrolabe rings each former cult member owns, but Aaronovitch takes time to share interesting and real historical points of interest, from the Silver Vaults themselves to a discussion of a pair of “stray” German bombs from World War II. On the fictional front, this story delves into the Sons of Wayland, the magical armorers who had a falling out with Nightingale’s team after the War, and supposedly disappeared.

Lesley remains a complicated character, better at magic than Peter, and more violent, definitely a villain, obviously conflicted. It’s interesting that she comments in this book that she knows she can’t be redeemed, as if she’s seeking redemption. She is more than a one-note Moriarty, and Peter’s complex relationship with her plays out exceptionally well in this book. The angel of death is interesting as well, and as Peter uncovered the genesis of that character my feelings about them shifted to sympathy.

Amongst Our Weapons requires some knowledge of the series and the magical systems in play. You can’t start here. For ardent followers of Peter and his colleagues, this is a delightful, fulfilling entry.