A London copper doesn't like to intrude upon a traveller…

“He was from Yorkshire, or somewhere like that, and like many Northerners with issues, he'd moved to London as a cheap alternative to psychotherapy.”

— Ben Aaronovitch

“I left in a hurry before he could change his mind, but I want to make it clear that at no point did I…

— Ben Aaronovitch

The general public have a warped view of the speed at which an investigation proceeds. They like to imagine tense conversations going on behind…

— Ben Aaronovitch

“Something round and dirty and white was resting near my foot. It was a skull. I picked it up. ‘Is that you, Nicholas?’ I…

— Ben Aaronovitch

Coffee arrived and the espresso was excellent, like an aromatic electric fence.

— Ben Aaronovitch

“Fuck me,' I said to Toby. 'We're living in Isengard.”

— Ben Aaronovitch

“Peter Grant,’ I said. ‘Recent arrival, slacker and man of very little fame.”

— Ben Aaronovitch

What do you think you're doing?

— Ben Aaronovitch

“My mum translated this in her head to "witchfinder," which was good because like most West Africans, she considered witchfinding a more respectable profession…

— Ben Aaronovitch

“Right from the start Abigail used to moan and fidget as her hair was relaxed or braided or thermally reconditioned, but her dad was…

— Ben Aaronovitch

“The mark was from the glue that once held a folder into which a library card would have fitted back in the day when…

— Ben Aaronovitch

It's a sad fact of modern life that if you drive long enough, sooner or later you must leave London behind.

— Ben Aaronovitch

This I know for a fact: the reason African women have children is so that there's someone else to do the housework.

— Ben Aaronovitch

“There’s always a secret door,” I said. “That’s why you always need a thief in your party.”

— Ben Aaronovitch

You know, your species [humans] has the most amazing capacity for self-deception, matched only by its ingenuity in trying to destroy itself.

— Ben Aaronovitch