Having gotten caught up on the Rivers of London novellas, it’s time to get around to the next proper novel, Stone & Sky – with Peter Grant and company going to Scotland.
Stone & Sky basically brings most of the characters of The Folly to Scotland – initially with Abigail and Nightingale investigating some sheep killings caused by an oversized panther that appears to be some kind of cryptid, while Peter chaperones his dad and his band (along with his mom, Beverly, and Peter and Beverly’s twins) as they play several gigs in the Aberdeen area. However, this ends up becoming a proper Busman’s Holiday when a potentially fae-related being turns up dead in a Bus Shelter, and the Aberdeen police follow Falcon (Weird Bollocks) protocol and call Peter.
From there, the case runs into government-oil industry collusion and corruption, the Scottish Independence Movement (and a willingness to bend human rights laws to the point of breaking in the name of Scottish self-sufficiency), International Wizards, and the differences between Selkies and Merfolk. In all a pretty normal case for The Folly, though Peter would have preferred a nice quiet vacation.
The perspective shifts between Abigail and Peter, with Peter’s chapters being more conventionally titled, and Abigail’s having the “What Abigail…” structure from her novella. Because I listened to the audiobook, the way this plays out there is that Peter’s chapters are read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, while Abigail’s are read by Shvorne Marks (who also narrated What Abigail Did Last Summer). The split is a little odd, specifically with how character voices are handled. This is less of an issue with, for example, Nightingale (both voices are different, but Nightingale is consciously talking to Abigail differently because her brother recently passed and the trip is meant as something of a distraction combined with bereavement leave). However, it’s more of an issue with Peter’s mother, as Kobna’s narration sticks with a West African accent for her, while Shvorne’s sounds more Caribbean to my ears. It makes for a bit of whiplash going between chapters.
For the characters this is definitely a story about re-establishing their places in the world. Nightingale is now getting to be a grandfatherly figure to Abigail, not only being a magical mentor, but also a life mentor as well – one who can and has seriously fucked up some Tiger Tanks. Peter is now a dad, with the responsibilities that come with that. But he’s also the person responsible for crafting the new shape of what British magical society will be, in England, in the currently United Kingdom, and how that interacts with other countries. Then there’s Abigail as the next generation – she may not be as involved in setting the course as Peter is, but she’s close. If anyone kinda gets short shrift, it’s Beverly. She does take an active role in this investigation, but we never quite get a sense of what she thinks about things. I do hope that if we get another novella with a different POV character, Beverly is next on my list, followed shortly by D.S. Sahra Guleed.
The exploration of the Scottish Demimonde is fun, with a good sense of both the similarities and differences between what we know from London and how things are different in Scotland. I also appreciate how the book conveys the ways that a reliance on an extraction based industry can lead to institutional corruption related to it. It was also fun with the story basically being set Highland adjacent (depending on the map it’s either in the Highlands, or skirts the edges of them), giving a (should this ever get a live action adaptation) scenic locale while also not doing any of the cliches of a rural isolated Highland location.
I loved the book, and I’m both very intrigued about where things go from here (and also really hoping we get a TV series eventually). Also, I really hope Peter gets to meet Tobias Winter soon.
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