A darkly comic Dickensian ghost story from Blue Peter Award winner Gareth P. Jones: it's not the dead you'll need to worry about!

Funny, gruesome and scary, with the great setting of a funeral parlour, this is an action packed adventure full of the darker and dirtier details of life in Victorian London. -- Julia Eccleshare Lovereading4kids With an appealingly gothic setting, this pacey and exciting mystery perfectly blends comedy with the dark, spooky and supernatural. There are plenty of funny and gruesome moments that will appeal to young readers; but this is also a well-researched, thoughtful and compassionate novel, that takes inspiration from the Victorian preoccupation with mourning and death. Jones skilfully manages a complex series of interlocking storylines and an engaging cast of characters in this witty, action-packed and hugely entertaining ghost story. Booktrust This is a wonderful tale of crime, retribution and spiritualism, set in a richly historical London full of Fagin-like thieves and bent policemen. Jones balances the razor-sharp wit and huge cast of characters with a genuinely gory and chilling underbelly that asks questions about life and death. And is very funny... Daily Mail

Gareth divides his time between writing books, producing TV programmes, spending time with his wife and son, Herbie, and playing the slightly ludicrous number of stringed instruments in his front room. He recently won the Blue Peter Book of the Year Prize 2012 for THE CONSIDINE CURSE. THE CASE OF THE MISSING CATS, the first book in The Dragon Detective Agency series, was nominated for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize. THE THORNTHWAITE INHERITANCE won the Hounslow Junior Book Award, the Calderdale Book Award, Leicester Children's Book Award, Sefton Super Reads, Doncaster Book Award, Rotherham Children's Book Award, and Fantastic Book Award, Lancaster. Follow Gareth at www.garethwrites.co.uk or on twitter: @jonesgarethp