Published: August 2013
Pages: 440
Summary
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..
My thoughts
This was so much fun and entirely not what I expected in such a good way! This book has humour, spooky ghosts, mysteries to be solved and emotionally heavy at points. I’m a sensitive soul so a few instances it was rather gut-punching.
Of the first few hauntings I investigated with Lockwood & Co. I intend to say little, in part to protect the identity of the victims, in part because of the gruesome nature of the incidents, but mainly because, in a variety of ingenious ways, we succeeded in messing them all up.
The ghost-busting trio!
The interactions between Lucy, Lockwood and George are so lovely. Classic silliness you would see between siblings but with a fundamental tone of protection. They are each other’s family. There’s no one else looking out for them, they only have each other. It’s a serious aspect that always goes unsaid between our characters but it’s also good to see them have fun and jab at each other as kids do.
Amongst all this there is some very good world building. The prominent feature of this world is the Problem, where ghosts come out once the sun goes down. Some of those ghosts are just floating, barely there whilst others are dangerous. Our trio were born with gifts which they use to help their clients rid themselves of ghost issues. It’s a really interesting world to be in.
Saying that, there are quite a few dark themes throughout this book and our characters are really put to the test. This isn’t just about ghosts, this is about telling human stories and unravelling their past. Some of those stories are troubling but I really enjoyed unravelling the mysteries with our characters and giving a voice back to the dead.
Smart, Witty and Funny
“Well, when you’re being held at gunpoint by a geriatric madman in a metal skirt, you’ve kind of hit rock bottom anyway. It can’t really get much worse.”
I love a bit of well placed humour in my books. I think it’s why I enjoyed The Thursday Murder Club because I just love a bit of banter. It helps break up the more serious aspects of this story and it does help bring these characters together.
I also really enjoyed that we read this story from Lucy’s perspective, it’s as if she’s reading the story back to someone so we learn everything at the same pace as her. It also helps add insight to Lucy’s backstory and what she’s been through. The flipside of that is that we don’t know much about Lockwood or George besides what they tell her. But this is a long series and I am excited to read on and learn about them. I almost feel like I’m the one that’s joined their team!
“What a great article,” Lockwood said, for the twentieth time that day. “Couldn’t have been better.”
“They spelled my name wrong,” I pointed out.
“They didn’t mention me at all,” George said.
“Well, in all the essentials, I mean.” Lockwood grinned round at us.”
Although one of the things I love most about this book also makes me feel the saddest, and that is how young these kids are. In this world of ghosts for those born with gifts to see or communicate with the dead they are most powerful in their younger years. The older one gets the more they lose their grip on their gifts and they fade.
The world in this book relies so heavily on children and young adults. They are put into very dangerous situations that it feels rather apocalyptic that this has become the norm. The burden that the young bear is a heavy one.
His name was Sam McCarthy. For the record, he’d been twelve years old.
I love these characters so much, I grew so fond of them but it hurts me that these young kids are running around with terrifying ghosts with no one looking out for them. And I know it’s all fictional but still, I think I imagine my own children and it leaves a little mark on me. But I’ve always been a very emotionally driven reader..
I wasn’t pretty, but as my mother once said, prettiness wasn’t my profession.
Would I recommend?
I totally would. It was a really fun and enjoyable read. A good balance of character development, mystery and some light ghost spookiness. I usually jump at my own shadow but this was just enough spookiness for me. I will definitely be picking up book two!