Lockwood and Co. are still not getting a lot of jobs and Lockwood gets angry at Kipps so he challenges him to a wager. The next time they are on a job together whichever team loses has put an add in the paper about losing.

They soon get their chance at the wager but it happens to be a bit more dangerous than either team realized and will soon have to work together to survive.

It has some spooky moments but I don't think it would be to scary for any young reader.

Jonathan Stroud is back with a sequel to the Screaming Staircase!

Lockwood & Co. may have survived their most notorious case, but they are still being pushed out by the bigger agencies. When the Kipps and his team at the Fittes agency takes over their case for the umpteenth time, Lockwood challenges them to a contest: the next time they're in direct competition the loser has to admit defeat publicly.
But their next case attracts more trouble than expected, and the team is starting to fracture from the stress. And on top of all of the fighting, Lucy is starting to get distracted from the voice in the ghost jar. Can the team manage
to defeat Kipps when they're at odds?