Rivers of London author Ben Aaronovitch joins line-up for St Albans Literary Festival

A bestselling author who successfully fuses police procedural drama with supernatural folklore is the latest big name joining the line-up for this summer’s St Albans Literary Festival.

Ben Aaronovitch will be appearing at Waterstones on the evening of Saturday July 9 to discuss his acclaimed supernatural police series Rivers of London, which sees the sixth instalment The Hanging Tree due later this year.

A cult supernatural crime series with one of the most diverse audiences in contemporary publishing, the series follows the adventures of Police Constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant as he tries to maintain law and order amongst the more fantastical members of London’s population.

Storming Sunday Times bestseller lists and accumulating sales of over 500,000 copies to date, the key to the success of the Rivers of London books are their unique blend of police action, supernatural mayhem and threads of London’s fascinating hidden history woven through the very fabric of the plot.

Former Doctor Who and Casualty scriptwriter Ben was a huge success when he appeared in a panel at the first St Albans LitFest in 2014, and this is a fantastic opportunity to see him on his own.

It includes talks and workshops taking place in different sections of St Peter’s and also in the churchyard, using the storyteller’s circle opened there in the summer of 2014, as well as select locations around St Albans city centre.

The festival will be kicking off on Monday July 4 and runs until Sunday July 10, and promises a programme of exciting activities aimed at appealing to both adults and children. Confirmed guests include Human Rights lawyer Anthony Lester QC, graphic novelist Dave Gibbons, crime writers David Mark and Peter Robinson, and historical author Alison Weir, with more to be announced in the coming weeks.

St Albans LitFest will also support any fringe events taking place during the weekend, offering publicity and assistance if any organisation wants to run their own talk.

Run entirely by volunteers, the festival is supported by the Herts Advertiser, and editor Matt Adams said: “What a line-up there is for this year’s festival! Don’t risk disappointment and leave it too late to buy your tickets as many of these events are sure to be sell-outs.”

If you’d like to get involved in the festival, or just want to find out more information as it becomes available, visit the Facebook site or visit the website.

Tickets for all announced events are now available from the LitFest website.