4.5 stars for this super fun, creepy and fast-paced book. This may say it's a Middle Grade book, and certainly it could be given to a kid 9 and up, but don't be deceived by that everyone will enjoy Lockwood & Co!

Why only 4.5 stars?
The reason for my deduction of 0.5 stars is perhaps going to sound petty to some; but it's a real pet peeve of mine. Jonathan Stroud is British and The Screaming Staircase is set in London. So can someone explain to me why, in the copy I read, the temperatures are in Fahrenheit?! Almost everywhere in the world (including here in Canada) we use Celsius. No child in the UK would use Fahrenheit. I am assuming, much like changes made to Harry Potter, that the publisher decided to change the Celsius to Fahrenheit to market to children in the USA. Now, you're thinking to yourself, but Mel how many times can they possibly mention the temperature? A lot!! As one of the main indicators of 'visitors' (aka ghosts or spirits) is that the temperature drops it is mentioned a few dozen times.
Now I realize this is clearly not Stroud's choice. However, instead of changing the scale used what about putting a conversion chart at the beginning or end of the book. Maybe we can teach the USA children about Celsius instead of forcing the rest of the world to manage the metric used by one country. This is a classic example of publishing houses catering to the USA and stuffing everyone else into that category (especially us Canadians). Okay, rant over.

So many questions!
Overall Stroud is a genius. He takes a simple idea, the world is plagued by visitors that are a menace and can kill people with ghost touch, and creates an intricate world around it. Only children can see the manifestations and so they are the best equipped to fight these menaces and clear places of the visitors. Obviously this comes with it's own set of morale questions. What age is too young to start? When things go wrong is the child responsible? Is it worth the sacrifice of youth to battle the visitors?
These questions are more are handled exquisitely in The Screaming Staircase. I'm so sad it's such a quick read as I didn't want to leave the world yet. I'll be ordering the next couple in this series immediately! I'm also going to be purchasing this series for my 13-year-old nephew for the holidays as I know he will love the creepiness. What kid doesn't want to read about a 'red room' which fills with ghost plasma that looks like blood, a staircase where the screaming incapacities you, a ghost so unhappy she kills current residents of the home? And these are only examples of some of the things are three lead characters encounter.

Bring on the sarcasm and fun!
The other thing that is amazing about Stroud is that he is able to write kids books that are sarcastic and funny. Alongside all that creepiness and atmosphere our three lead kids are able to poke fun at each other and fight over the silliest things (who gets the last cookie); just like normal children do. Without a doubt the humour in The Screaming Staircase is critical to breaking some of the tension and scariness that comes along with the story itself.

Am I a child or an adult?
Most of all what I love is Stroud's handling of the conflicts and emotions that come from children playing at being adults. As the eldest child with two younger siblings in my family (one of whom has Type 1 diabetes) I remember a lot of moments as a kid where I felt I had to pretend to be more adult than I was. Even when it wasn't, I often felt like it was my responsibility to handle situations. As Lockwood & Co. has no 'adult supervisors' you see them struggle with this paradigm a lot. When can they show weakness? How do they convince adults they are competent and capable? And at what point is it okay to just collapse and let someone else take care of things.
There are no easy answers to these questions but Stroud does an excellent job of helping readers understand that it's okay to show weakness and to reinforce that we ALL have weaknesses. It's less about what that weakness is and more about how we compensate for it. That by surrounding ourselves with people who we trust and will help us we can be both strong and weak as needed.

Buy it for everyone!
I think this will be my go-to book/series to buy for anyone over the age of 10 for the next while. I look forward to buying multiple copies for kids (including my nephew)! While there is a lot of substance in this book, it still feels like a break as the language is simple and easy to follow. Do yourself, or those around you a favour and pick this gem up!

Teenage ghostbusters in London and in a Haunted Mansion ...

with lots of tea, fright and all kinds of otherworldly creatures. Scary, funny, tense and exciting in equal parts from beginning to end.
What more do you need to celebrate Halloween?

Normally I give a wide berth to ghost or horror stories on all levels, be they adult or even middle-grade, but the fact that the book was written by Jonathan Stroud was irresistible.

He is a brilliant writer - I knew that already while reading his Bartimaeus-trilogy, but it was some time ago and this book was a great reminder.

He presents us with great characters, an intriguing plot and awesome world-building.
Although the when was never really specified, I kept imagining this alternate London/Britain in all the glory of Victorian steampunk. Granted it wasn't, but the mind of a bookreader is a curious place and it just insisted.

A great book through and through and I will go on with reading the rest of the series.

Amazing, fun, clever, with a dash of scary this book has just about everything the middle grade reader could ask for in a book devoted to a certain type of ghostbusters located in an alt-world England over-run by ghosts. What is that certain type of ghostbuster? A child, or more precisely, a middle grader with good wits, is definitely the ideal rescuer for the people besieged by spirits who won’t go gentle into that good night. For Lockwood & Co., no adults are even required as supervisors (!) which does cause several odd glances and possible poor outcomes. But it will surely delight readers in this first in a series. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley and I loved every minute of the story.

Have you ever heard of a screaming staircase? I haven't. Lucy Carlyle hopes to get hired by Lockwood &Co. Lockwood & Co. is a ghost hunting firm. For some reason, ghosts have become a serious problem in England, causing firms that offer getting rid of the ghosts. Lucy is a sensitive which is very helpful when it comes to ghost hunting. She can talk to/with ghosts. When Lockwood hires her, she discovers they don't have an adult supervisor which is unusual. The ghost hunters are as a rule children and/or teenagers with the ability to do ghost hunting not the adults. They are hired by the owner of a home that needs a ghost removed. They removed the ghost but got the house on fire. They are fined a hughe amount of money which they don't have. They are rescued by a gentleman to remove ghosts from his property - the Combe Carey Hall known for centuries as being haunted. Most people do not survive the hall including the owner. He offers to pay Lockwood the money he needs to pay off the bill plus more. Lockwood doesn't hesitate and takes the job. Will they survive Come Carey Hall?

This delightful scarey story is full of action and mystery. There are several ghastlies but also a lot of times I found myself laughing. It's a book that kept me captive to the end and now I need the next book in the series to read!

The Screaming Staircase starts off with Anthony and Lucy on a job. During this job, several things happen. Lucy almost couldn’t hold the ghost back with her rapier. Anthony finds a skeleton in the wall of the house and the house catches on fire. After a harrowing jump, the agents land in s shrub and were saved. After that incident, there was no business. That was when a wealthy patron asks them to spend the night of one of the most haunted houses in England. They need to not only survive the night but find the Source of the haunting. Something no one has been able to do.

The second major storyline has to do with the skeleton in the wall. Known as Annabel Ward, the ghost is attached to a necklace that Lucy took from the skeleton that was in the house. Lucy had gotten enough information from the ghost to figure out that she was murdered. But there is so much more to the story than what anyone knows.

I don’t know if I liked Lucy. Her character rubbed me the wrong way. I did feel bad for her at how her life started and what drove her to London. There was something about her that poked at me. Eh, I don’t know. She was a very talented Listener and she has other talents. Talents that only hinted at in the book.

I thought Anthony was too much of a risk taker and oh boy was he a smooth talker. He was a risk taker and he didn’t talk plans through with his team. He also failed to support his team on a few occasions. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I didn’t like him but he annoyed me as much as Lucy did.

I do have a few complaints about The Screaming Staircase. I felt that the beginning of the book was very jumpy. It went from present day back to Lucy’s past and then jumped to the present again. I also wish that The Problem was explained sooner in the book. I felt that having the explanation after Lucy and Anthony had already gone on the mission didn’t work. It was like closing the barn door after the cows got out.

The end of the book was very good. All the plotlines were wrapped up in ways that made me happy as a reader. I was surprised at who Annie’s killer was and the real motives for the agency being at the manor. I can’t wait to read book 2. What I also liked was the glossary at the end of the book.

I gave The Screaming Staircase a 3 rating for several reasons. While I liked the book, I felt that the dry British humor and terminology would be lost on tweens/young teens. Also, being a middle-grade book, I felt that the suicide references were a bit much. As was the description of some of the murder scenes. As an adult, I love reading these in books. But as a mother of a child in the age range that the book is marketed too, not so much.

I did find The Screaming Staircase very well written with an engaging plot and characters that were fleshed out. Just what I stated above made me give the book the rating I did.

Will I reread: Maybe

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Tween

Why: While The Screaming Staircase was written for middle grade, I feel that discretion should be used if you are going to let your tween/early teen read it There are several references to suicide and several scenes where murder is reenacted. It might be a bit much for younger children.

I would like to thank Jonathan Stroud, Disney Book Group, Disney-Hyperion and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Screaming Staircase

All opinions stated in this review of The Screaming Staircase are mine

I received no compensation for this review

**I received a free copy of this book and volunteered to review it**

Jonathan Stroud continues to cement himself as one of my favourite writers. I fell in love with his dry wit and snarktastic humour as an adolescent when I first devoured his Bartimaeus series, and now I get it again in The Screaming Staircase -- even though I'd wager I'm older than the target audience for this series. I think this speaks to how well the book is crafted: the world is intriguing, the characters delightful, and the plot is riotous (if not haunted) fun. It's great to get yet another enjoyable, witty adventure from someone who knows how to write them, and write them well.

I loved this Middle Grade paranormal story. It’s one of my favorite books of the year – which is saying something when you consider this is book 105. It’s a joy to read a book with two young men and a girl that’s not a love triangle (there’s no romance in this at all, though I suppose you could read some of it as an awkward attraction between Lucy and Lockwood). I will say for a MG book there is a lot of good horror and suspense in this. Stroud also deftly navigates the common complaint of ‘what rational adult allows young teens get away with this much danger,’ and he keeps it grounded in the mythology surrounding ghost hunting: namely that kids are more sensitive to hauntings and it lessens as we age.

The world Lockwood & Co. exists in has a Problem. Ghosts are haunting everywhere and getting worse all the time. Cold iron and silver keeps them quiet. The touch of a ghost is often fatal. Ghost hunting teams, like the all-mighty Fittes company use young kids to sense and destroy ghosts while former agents, provided they survived the ghost hunting -which most don’t - end up as supervisors to the new youngsters.

Lucy’s abilities – which are strong in hearing ghosts and getting psychic impressions – are her way out of rural poverty but her supervisor basically has lost his nerve and terrible things happen, leaving her to run off to London where she joins up with Lockwood & Co. The company is really just Lockwood, a young man who is strong in ghost sight and has a Sherlock Holmes vibe and George who is less good at sensing ghosts but is aces at research. To her shock, there are no adult supervisors.

When a big case goes sideways, they could lose everything, their home, their license but they are on the trail of a fifty year old mystery. Who killed Anne Ward and turned her into such a nasty ghost? If they can solve that, the good press might save them. And in a way it does, they are offered an insane amount of money to find the Source of the haunting at one of the most viciously haunted mansions in England, one that cost the Fittes agency three members thirty years ago. A former priory where the monks turned to satanism and host many murders and suicides there after, no one has successfully cleared the house. If they even show up, Fairfax, the owner will obliterate their debts and if they succeed they’ll be a wealthy agency to reckon with, not to mention the reputation it would earn them. If they don’t succeed, at best they run off in disgrace, at worst, they’re dead.

It’s tightly plotted with great characters. Lucy (it’s her pov) is a strong female lead but not perfect. She makes mistakes, some serious ones. They all do. They’re imperfectly human and I loved them. I can’t wait to read more. My only really quibbles are that Stroud hits the George is fat bell a few too many times. We get it; he’s chunky. And that I couldn’t figure out what time period this was supposed to be. For the longest time I though it was early twentieth century then maybe the 50s or 60s. There’s no real high tech but then we have energy drinks. So nebulous alternative history it is.

I was given a copy to review via Netgalley so thanks for that. It in no way influenced my review.

A great start to a series and a novel premise: an unknown cause has created a ghost "invasion" which is actively dangerous to the living. A whole containment and disposal industry has evolved, but only children and young people can be its agents in the field. In one stroke, Stroud has brilliantly created a situation that's a natural setting for adventure, a Holmesian atmosphere of mystery and murder, and protagonists with whom young readers will instantly identify. A winner.

I have been wanting to read this series for some time and am so excited that I finally got the chance. Stroud has created a fun and realistic world shrouded in mystery. Even though the “Problem” is never fully explained, it does not bother the reader and adds more of a mystical feeling to the book. I hope that we will one day learn the cause, but do not mind so much if we don’t. His characters were greatly described with wonderful personality quirks and small mysteries of their own. Lucy grows from a young girl with nothing to lose to a brave young lady with everything she could ask for. I look forward to finishing the books and waiting for more in the future!

Ahoy there me mateys! I absolutely loved the author's Bartimaeus trilogy + 1. I could gush about these books all day but I am on tight schedule so another day mehaps. I hadn't known about this series for some unknown and presumably silly reason so when NetGalley offered me the chance to read the first book I of course said Aye!! It is listed as a middle-grade but bah! I don't put age limits on things.

This was the perfect read for the beginning of Spooktober. Ghosts! The story is set in England where several decades ago the Problem began. Paranormal phenomenon became widespread. The catch is that only children and young adults can see and deal with the unsavories. Society has adapted and agencies have sprung up to deal with the problems.

Lucy Carlyle is one such ghost hunter. She has traveled to London to find work at a new agency. However her past is getting in the way and so she ends up working for a bottom of the barrel agency run by Lockwood. It is an agency run by teens with no adult supervision. Mistakes and chaos abound. Lockwood & Co. mess up big time and discover an unsolved murder mystery case. With the firm in peril, the agency gets a chance at redemption with one of the most haunted houses around. Will they survive?

That was one of the items I liked best - that ye can learn from and improve upon past mistakes. I also loved the relationships between the three ghost hunters, the wonderful atmospheric writing, the sophisticated world building, and the engrossing storyline. I had to know what happened next. While the murder mystery villain was extremely predictable I still had fun watching the case unfold. And the haunted house was just plain awesome. I actually got tingles. I highly recommend this one for readers of any age.

Side note: Apparently the fifth and final book of this series was just released in September! I think I may try to read the other four this month if I can track them down. Challenge accepted! ::brandishes cutlass:: Arrrr!

Check out me other crew members effusive reviews:

Bentley @ bookbastion

Hannah Greendale @ goodreads

The author’s website has this to say about the novel:

When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in . . .

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by spectres, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humour and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again . . .

To visit the author’s website go to:

Jonathan Stroud - Author

To buy the book go to:

the screaming staircase - Book

To add to Goodreads go to:

Yer Ports for Plunder List

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for me honest musings. Arrrrr!

I read some of his other books, so I wanted to pick up this one. It was very well written, and I found the right engaging. I think that I don't like it as much as his other books, but it was still OK.

The Screaming Staircase is a wonderful start to what promises to be a dynamic series. Fans of Harry Potter and Dianna Wynne Jones will love delving into a fantastical London where ghosts exist and children are best equipped to fight them.

A big thanks to Jonathan Stroud, Hyperion Books, and Netgalley for the free copy of this book (the first in the series) for an unbiased review.

I include this book in the same category as The Spook's Apprentice. First person narrative gives the reader the feel of hands-on involvement with ghost hunting. I appreciated how all the facets easily came together in the end.

I am inspired to pick up Book Two in the series. I loved the dynamic between the adolescent detectives. Lockwood is a piece of work. So many secrets he's hiding, and I want to know them.

Glad to know Stroud wasn't a one hit wonder with the Bartimaus trilogy.'that was an excellent fantasy series for both young and old. No reason why Lockwood and Co cannot follow in its footsteps.

Great Characters, World Building, Ghosts, Mystery, and Deadpan Humor

There are lots of YA Sherlock Holmes knockoffs - Young Sherlock, Sherlock Jr., Sherlock and Watson - the Musical!. But they are often weighed down by the need to conform to the Holmes canon, shoehorning themselves into the already received Holmes world. This book takes on a Holmesian vibe, but otherwise moves in its own world.

Our hero, Lockwood, is clever, restrained, bemused by what he observes, and stern. Our narrator, Lucy, is his Watson, and both faithfully reports the action and comes up strong at all the right moments. The third member of the team, George, is something of a third wheel in this first book, and feels more like a Mrs. Hudson. The upshot is that this is a team that a reader could follow from adventure to adventure and book to book, without ever tiring of their personalities, their style, and their easy camaraderie.

On top of all that, these characters operate in a beautifully and imaginatively conceived world of ghosts and ghost eliminators. Stroud doesn't huff and puff building this world that exists after the arising of "The Problem", an influx of restless and dangerous ghosts. He just sets the world spinning and fills us in and elaborates as the story requires. This alternate world becomes both exotic and perfectly natural, and there is no sense that it has been in any fashion "created". It seems no more foreign or unnatural than does any "Victorian" era mystery.

And the ghosts have style and presence and character. No mere wisps, they have weight and presence. The ghost hunters engage in high adventure, but we also learn the more mundane details of preparing for a mission. In that the books are reminiscent of the Spook's Apprentice books, that entailed both high drama and the workaday aspects of spook hunting. I enjoyed that groundedness.

On top of all that, there is a good deal of humor. Lockwood is a master of the deadpan throwaway line, and all of the characters can deliver, or take, a sly insult or jibe or passing amusing observation. The humor here is witty, knowing, and restrained, which is how I like my adventurers.

The upshot is that this is a richly imagined, nicely plotted, and briskly paced adventure featuring appealing heroes and interesting villains. Can't ask for much more than that.

(Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

Dark and creepy paranormal suspense

I am deliberately NOT going to give away all the juicy details of this story. This is an excellent book and very well worth the read. This is a “review”, not a school book report.

When I saw that this book was written by Jonathan Stroud, writer of the Bartemaeus series, I was super excited. I KNEW this would be a great book, and I was right.

I love the book cover. It is colorful, a bit whimsical, yet every bit spooky and creepy. The illustrations inside are dark and eerie and fit the story perfectly. Stroud's books always have such awesome book covers.

This book is a ghost hunter, paranormal, suspense, thriller, mystery, with a bit of other world Fantasy thrown in. I say Fantasy because Stroud has built this alternative world, set in London (England), where “the problem” of ghosts has become an epidemic. The time period is a bit of a challenge. It must be current or near future because descriptions of 50 year old pictures and the people's formal attire sounds correct for 50 years ago from today.

In this “other world” London, ghosts have become a huge, very dangerous, even deadly problem (no pun intended). Psychic Investigation Agencies and all things related have become a hugely prosperous industry. Adults can't see or hear ghosts – only certain children can. The task of eradicating ghosts is performed by the children who have special psychic/sensitive abilities.

Excellent story with very well developed characters. Our 3 characters are: Anthony Lockwood is an early teen boy and the owner of Lockwood & Co, a psychic investigation agency. He has the ability to see ghosts and “death glows”. George Cubbins, who often seems to be the outcast, is more of the nerdy/geek researcher of the group. As his character develops through the story, we see how essential his character is to the plot. Lucy Carlyle is our main character and is a strong protagonist, although at times, her character seems a bit reserved. The story is told from Lucy's point of view. Lucy has been able to “feel” a psychic connection with ghosts since she was 6 years old, and has worked as a ghost hunter since age 8.

In the story, we follow these 3 children in their work of investigating paranormal activity and the dangerous task of eliminating ghosts. There are moments that are very dark and scary, the suspense has you sitting on the edge of your seat, heart racing – trying to read faster – trying to get to the big thing that goes bump in the night. Except in this book, it's never just a little thing that goes bump in the night! In this book you'll have anything from dead men hanging themselves from trees, house fires, angry, aggressive and restless souls.
Echos of the past.... echos of hidden things...

There are several more books in the Lockwood & Co. series, and I'll be adding those to my library very soon :-)
The Whispering Skull, The Hollow Boy, The Creeping Shadow, The Empty Grave, and short story “The Dagger in The Desk”

Thank you Disney-Hyperion Books and the author Jonathan Stroud for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is just as good the second time around as the first--and that's not true of many books. Stroud has created a fascinating world peopled with teens who are trying to save a world of grownups from some very cranky spirits. The banter between Lockwood and Lucy is delightful.

If you're looking for an exciting book for reluctant readers, look no further. Lockwood & Co will appeal to those kids who enjoy ghosts and spooks and the kids who enjoy more traditional mysteries. Excellent read!

Need a good scare? This book is spoooooky - a great, updated version of a mystery/ghost story. Just don't try to go to sleep after reading, this one gets your heart racing!

Lockwood & Co. The Screaming Staircase is a very creepy tale from Jonathan Stroud. Lucy Carlyle is a ghost-hunting agent for Lockwood & Co. in an alternate world London where terrifying ghosts have taken over the night. In an effort to solve a 50-year-old murder, Lucy and Anthony Lockwood end up putting their agency in huge debt. Now they must spend a night in a very haunted house in order to save their jobs. You definitely want to read this one with the lights on. The ending wasn't entirely surprising to me, but the suspense and tension-filled atmosphere were spectacular. I would definitely pick up more books in this series.

What is Lockwood & Co., a trio of young Spirit fighters in London named Lockwood, George and Lucy? They live in a large house with lots of quirky spaces and no adults!

This is a time when no one goes out after dark. When there are strange sightings or confrontations by Poltergeists or other Spirits, people call on agents to get rid of the Visitors. Some people call on Lockwood & Co.

This is a fun mystery full of lots of surprises. If you like mysteries you will love this book.