Spooksmiths Investigates: The Cinderman

Twelve-year-old twins, Indigo and Rusty, have always lived in village of Greyscar in the house belonging to the family funeral business. They are used to seeing coffins and hearing talk of death, but the only two things they both agree on are, that the other twin is extremely annoying and that they don’t believe in ghosts.

This all changes when Indigo, after stumbling across the entrance to a secret room containing a strange collection of old urns, accidentally releases the Cinderman, a terrifying ash monster. When they wake up the next day, the whole village is covered in a coating of ash and the twins’ family, friends and neighbours all seem to be acting very strangely indeed. An unexpected appearance from a deceased family member explains that the reason they are not affected by the Cinderman’s actions is because they are actually Spooksmiths, continuing an old family tradition and they can now see and communicate with ghosts. The evil spirit released by Indigo, is one of many dangerous beings contained within the secret crypt below the house and they must now race to stop him before sunset, before whole town (and its zombie residents) disappears under the ash forever.

This is a fantastically spooky, hilarious romp of a story with a wonderful array of characters, both alive and dead. Rusty’s intense knowledge of his favourite computer game ‘Battle Beast’ proves to be extremely useful as the twins set off to try to defeat the crazed Cinderman, along with a company of ghosts such as the Blasted Banshee and Chuckles the Phantom Toddler. It is fast paced and thrilling with some excellent edge of your seat moments. As the twins join forces and put aside their previous arguments and differences to discover the importance and power of family, the story also explores the relationships with their friends and their grief at the death of their beloved grandfather.

This debut novel from Atkinson is the first in what promises to be an exciting series of spooky, fun tales and I can’t wait to read the next instalment.