Lockwood & Co

This author currently has no equal when it comes to providing entertainment value of consistently top quality. Mixing magic with the everyday, witty without over-doing it, keeping tension going as one expertly plotted chapter follows another, he never fails to deliver the imaginative goods.  He also writes like a dream, only taking his eye off the literary ball once here with that tired old cliché now surely more than ready for retirement, ‘a mop of unruly hair.’ This present story describes a Britain where wandering ghosts offer a constant threat especially after dark. In response, various Psychic Investigation Agencies have come into being providing protection when a particularly unpleasant spirit has taken up residence too close to comfort. These agencies are staffed by young workers still possessing the requisite sensitivities needed to identify and then eradicate these troublesome Visitors from the dead. One such organisation sees 15-year-old Lucy joining forces with the equally good humoured young Lockwood and his partner George. They deal with malignant forces by making use of a variety of defensive hardware which includes salt-bombs, magnesium flares and iron chains able to resist even the most powerful of spirits. But one mistake could lead to a deadly case of ‘ghost-touch’, and these young people come close to that fate on several occasions before struggling to a happy ending. Eminently readable, this novel would also make a fantastic film with ghostly effects running as a constant background. A second installment is promised next year, and on this form it should be well worth waiting for.