PRAISE FOR

“Fresh, original, and a wonderful read. I loved it.”

—CHARLAINE HARRIS

“Midnight Riot is what would happen if Harry Potter grew up and joined the Fuzz. A hilarious, keenly imagined caper.”

—DIANA GABALDON

“Filled with detail and imagination, a consummate story of real policing in a vividly real world intersecting the decidedly unreal. The quality of this achievement stands out, making Aaronovitch a name to watch.”

—PETER F. HAMILTON

“An invocation to everything that is hidden, haunted, and forgotten in London, Midnight Riot is a ghost story with teeth. Aaronovitch crafts a tale with more twists than a foggy back alley, and I guarantee you’ll stay up all night reading.”

—CAITLIN KITTREDGE,
author of the Black London series

“A witty and inventive twist to urban fantasy. Hooked me with its charm. Reeled me in with its creepy violence. Wouldn’t let go until the last page.”

—MARIO ACEVEDO,
author of Werewolf Smackdown

Other Books by This Author

BY BEN AARONOVITCH

Midnight Riot
Moon Over Soho

Title Page

Copyright

Moon Over Soho is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2011 by Ben Aaronovitch
Simultaneously published in Great Britain under the same title.

Published in the United States by Del Rey, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

DEL REY is a registered trademark and the Del Rey colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

eISBN: 978-0-345-52460-7

Cover illustration: Wes Youssi/M80 Design

v3.1

Dedication

For Karifa, because every father
yearns to be a hero for his son

Contents

Contents

Cover

Other Books by This Author

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Epigraph

Chapter 1 - Body and Soul

Chapter 2 - The Spice of Life

Chapter 3 - A Long Drink of the Blues

Chapter 4 - One-Tenth of My Ashes

Chapter 5 - The Night Gate

Chapter 6 - The Empress of Pleasure

Chapter 7 - Almost Like Being in Love

Chapter 8 - Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Chapter 9 - The Forcing House

Chapter 10 - Funland

Chapter 11 - These Foolish Things

Chapter 12 - It Don’t Mean a Thing

Chapter 13 - Autumn Leaves

Chapter 14 - I Woke up this Morning

Historical Note

Acknowledgments

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

THANKS to everyone from the last book plus the staff of the Metropolitan Archive and Sarah for sneaking me into the Groucho.

Epigraph

Men have died for this music. You can’t get more serious than that.

—Dizzy Gillespie

Chapter 1 - Body and Soul