Lockett & Wilde’s Dreadfully Haunting Mysteries: The Ghosts of the Manor

As soon as I saw this in Publisher’s News I knew I had to ask for it as I love everything I’ve read from Lucy Strange and was obsessed with Thornhill by Pam Smy.

It really didn’t disappoint, a charming middle-grade tale of ghosts and mystery full of humour and warmth.

This is the setup story for what is bound to be a hilarious new series of books with illustrations that weave through the story and hold the book together.

Matilda Lockett, her Aunt Evelyn, and her Uncle Barnabus run a spiritualist show which, though well done is a con, they don’t really contact the ghosts of loved ones, but this backfires on them as at one show they are asked to come to Beuachamp Manor to deal with a haunting…

and this is where the real mystery begins and Matilda discovers something about herself and her family.

Funny and really well-paced with the story switching between text and illustration I just swallowed this down and loved every part of it. Found family, trust, mystery, hauntings, this has it all!

Really looking forward to the next in the series and seeing where that takes us.