WALKER BOOKS Lockett Wilde The Ghosts of London.

Lockett & Wilde's Dreadfully Haunting Mysteries #2

by Lucy Strange, Pam Smy (Illustrator)

The second gloriously gothic mystery starring supernatural sleuths, Lockett & Wilde - for fans of Lemony Snicket and Murder Most Unladylike.

"All hail Lockett & Wilde!” Lemony Snicket
"A stunningly spooky mystery." Maz Evans
"Wildly funny." Ben Miller
"Funny, spooky and cosy - I loved it!" Andy Stanton

Matilda and Edgar are in London's haunted theatre-land, where Matilda is rehearsing the all-new Signora Valentina show and Edgar is training to become a poltergeist. Spooks are everywhere in this city, and it isn't long before Lockett & Wilde are called upon to investigate strange happenings at a local curiosity shop. Soon they are drawn into the unsolved case of the infamous gold thief, Bullion Bill, and Matilda finds herself investigating the story of her own parents' death. The ghosts of London know the truth, and Lockett & Wilde won't rest until they find it out.

Classic spooky mystery reimagined for fans of cosy crime. You'd have to be DEAD not to love it...

Genres: Middle Grade

Paperback

About the author

Lucy Strange worked as an actor, singer and storyteller before becoming a secondary school English teacher. She now lives and writes in the heart of the Kent countryside with her partner James, their baby boy and a tortoiseshell cat known as Moo.

Our Castle by the Sea is Lucy’s second novel for children, following her critically acclaimed debut, The Secret of Nightingale Wood.

Reviews

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite part in the story is when Matilda Edgar visit a very old shop, with a rare doll, and a replica human skull. So much more exciting ghostly, things will happen next.

Middle grade readers are going to have so much fun reading book 2, The Ghost of London.

I enjoyed reading both books 1 and 2 so I do hope there will be book 3.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd only (sorry, "only" – pardon me for sounding as if they're not wonderful) read a pair of this author's Barrington Stoke titles before picking up this digitally, and therefore hastened back to the first in this series [https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...], only to find it bang on the money for breezy, clever adventures. This first sequel had a lot to live up to. Thankfully it had enough to already feel mighty familiar. OK, I missed the limericks – but I gained a repeat dose of the wacky chapter headings, the semi-wordless chapter was even more wordless, the art still burst into comic strip format at times, the book was still as snappy and engaging as before – and in fact everything was once again most readable.

So, Matilda has gained her ghost friend, and the family's dodgy séance performance is still on the London stage. But ghostly goings-on still need investigating – in this case, at a run-down junk shop. And this time things are a lot closer to home, as a criminal surprisingly close to Matilda's family history is released from jail, and our heroes have to investigate (a) to find out more about her direct ancestors and (b) to sort the ghostly problems out.

Unfortunately, this was fine, but a step down in quality from what had come before. Heck, it even repeats the same shtick, regarding mishearing a ghost's utterances. All told, it seemed unfortunately early in the series – and bear in mind I have no idea how many are planned – to focus on Matilda's family history; the world was wide enough with adventure without tightening in on that aspect of this franchise. There was one "aha, yes – that explains that" beat – which I registered, acknowledged – and then promptly forgot (before remembering, it was the police costume – a minor thing here).

This isn't, however, meant to be a completely negative review – it's just that the series opener was so fresh, so able to deliver the old saws in fresh ways, so lively. This is a fair step down in quality and novelty – perhaps to be expected, somewhat, now we know what's what and who's who and how this world works. But in getting four stars, while it shines as a fun entertainment, it sure does show that lightning seldom strikes the same place twice. My memories of the first book weren't hurt at all – but I knew this was given every chance to really dazzle, and didn't. It's a strong glimmer, instead.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book one of this series was great and book 2 promised to be just as good.
And I bumped this to the top of my TBR pile as soon as I got my hands on a copy.

Matilda and Edgar are in London's haunted theatre-land, where Matilda is rehearsing the all-new Signora Valentina show and Edgar is training to become a poltergeist. Spooks are everywhere in this city, and it isn't long before Lockett & Wilde are called upon to investigate strange happenings at a local curiosity shop. Soon they are drawn into the unsolved case of the infamous gold thief, Bullion Bill, and Matilda finds herself investigating the story of her own parents' death. The ghosts of London know the truth, and Lockett & Wilde won't rest until they find it out.

This was a great read, full of spooks, creeps and frights.
There are so many young readers that are desperate for this kind of book, this spookiness.
This carries on from the first book and ideally this should be read first, but the author has provided a re - cap in the first couple of chapters so it’s easy to catch up.
I do like this series very much and it’s so fresh and different from anything else
I hope there is more to come from this series.

[Maggie Timlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lockett and Wilde are back from the country and living in the theatre in London.
Matilda Lockett begins to investigate the death of her parents, assisted by Edgar Wilde, her best friend who also happened to be a ghost.

I love these stories. They are perfect stories to read in the dark months. The illustrations add so much to the story, and interact with the text so well, it is almost like a reading a graphic novel. These are absolutely wonderful stories in which all the characters are lovable and interesting. These would be perfect for the younger weird readers in your life.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great addition to the series. I thought the pigeons hanging around ghosts was hilarious! And wouldn't surprise me at all! Love that Edgar is improving his ghost skills.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoying this series