Something Wickedly Weird: The Wooden Mile

11-year-old Stanley Buggles inherits the estate of Candlestick Hall on Crampton Rock, following the death of his ancestor, Admiral Bartholomew Swift. Crampton Rock is cut off from the mainland by a mile long jetty that can be used only at low tide. Stanley travels independently to his newly inherited mansion and is welcomed by the housekeeper, Mrs Corelli. The isolated community harbours dark secrets and, with a host of wickedly weird characters, this gives a ‘Royston Vasey’ feel to Crampton Rock. We have pirates with great names (Bill Timbers and Sharkbait Jones), a fortune-telling fish in a tank, a sweet-shop owner who turns into a werewolf and a hoard of treasure.

The Wooden Mile is one of three Wickedly Weird books, the others being The Icy Hand and The Silver Casket. It’s a lightning fast read for newly independent readers, with illustrations, also by the author, that are reminiscent of Ronald Searle’s Molesworth series from the 1950s. Mould’s illustrations, however, have a considerable menace to them, to emphasize the shady goings on.