Betsy Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief at Del Rey has concluded a deal for US rights for the first three titles in Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London series, after an auction conducted by John Berlyne and John Parker at the Zeno Literary Agency. The first two books will be published in Spring 2011.

Rivers of London is a London-based Urban Fantasy focusing on 20-something police constable Peter Grant who finds himself seconded – much to his surprise! – to a secret and arcane branch of the Met specialising in crimes of a supernatural nature, and thus apprenticed to the last wizard in Britain.

“Ben Aaronovitch is a new Del Rey darling,” Mitchell said. “Both male and female readers here were delighted by the character of Peter Grant and Ben’s new take on the urban paranormal genre.”

Aaronovitch is best known as the writer of the classic Dr Who story Remembrance of the Daleks.