Today is launch day for a brilliant novel, The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency by Peter Oxley. There’s demons and Victoriana and so much more but rather than prattle on myself, why don’t I share the book blurb with you instead?
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London, 1868. The streets are haunted by thieves, murderers… and demons from beyond the Aether.
Spencer and Bart are the city’s most incompetent crooks, and they are in deep trouble. Hunted by both police and their fellow criminals, they are forced to consider the unthinkable —going straight.
Forming The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency, they think their troubles are behind them, but they soon find themselves caught up in a web far more dangerous than they could ever imagine, pitched against demons, criminals and evil magicians.
The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency is the new novel from Peter Oxley, the author of the Infernal Aether series. If you like dark gothic adventures with a light-hearted twist, then you’ll love The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency.
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If the author’s name sounds familiar that’s because he’s one of the co-creators of Burning Chair Publishing and I’ve interviewed him on this blog before. Peter kindly let me read an ARC of his latest novel and I have to say it’s a keeper – exciting, funny, and scary too. You can find my book review over on Instagram.
So to mark the publication of The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency, I had a wee chat with Peter. Here’s what we talked about.
Congratulations on the release of your latest novel, Peter. How does it feel to have the Great Big Demon Hunting Agency published and out in the big wide world?
Really great – mainly because it’s taken waaay too long for me to get this book out! It’s been a long time in the writing, mainly because I’ve been so focused over the past few years on editing and producing other authors’ books in our Burning Chair stable. So this book has been like a neglected child – always sat there, half-finished, giving me doe eyes while I spent all my time on all of the other stuff I had to do. While working on other peoples’ stuff is really rewarding, it’s been tough – as you’ll know, us writers don’t just want to write, we NEED to write. So I made a decision last year to be a bit more selfish with my time and actually follow through on all these stories that have been backing up in my own head. So it’s even more of a relief than usual to get back in the saddle and chuck something of my own out there for the first time in years!
I’m sure it’s been worth the wait but for readers of your previous novels, how does GBDHA link to your Infernal Aether series?
The book was born out of the original Infernal Aether series and in particular two very minor characters who dipped in and out of the stories – London’s least competent criminals, Spencer and Bart. I had a lot of fun writing them at the time, but had to pare back their involvement in those books as they were too much of a distraction to the main storylines. So I cut them out of much of my original books, but they kept niggling at me until I gave in and wrote them their own story. It’s set in the same universe and after the events of the Infernal Aether – so we’re plunged into a Victorian London which is overrun with demons, golems and evil magicians. But GBDHA is very much its own story and is intentionally a lot lighter in tone than the darker and more gothic Infernal Aether series. But it’s fully intended to standalone as a story, so you don’t need to have read the Infernal Aether books to enjoy this one!
Will there be more GBDHA novels? What are you working on next?
100% yes – advance reader feedback’s been really great, and I’ve got plenty of ideas for where to take these characters next. I’m determined to not leave it so long until the next ones come out! So I’m already working on book 2 in the series, aiming to get that one out on the shelves later this year. The next story takes them out of London and the plan is to see them chasing demons around the Victorian countryside – I say that’s the plan, even though it’s plotted and I’ve started writing, as my books tend take on a life of their own as I write them, so who knows what the final story will be like!
Exciting stuff! I’ll keep an eye out for book 2. Thanks for talking to me, Peter and good luck with your book launch.
If you’re interested in buying The Great Big Demon Hunting Agency or finding out more about its author, here are all the links: