✨ jami ✨'s Reviews > The Screaming Staircase

well this was totally freaking spooky and scary 👻 Ghost hunting, mansion hauntings, screaming staircases, murder and a trio of best friends? This book really does have it all. All the Good Stuff

“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.”

I'm shocked you people all read this as children because some parts of this are genuinely terrifying. Don't know if it was the book itself, or the spooky voices the author put on to voice the ghosts, but I, for one, had the chills.

The Screaming Staircase is the first book in a ghost hunting series - we're introduced to The Problem, an invasion of ghosts and other ghoulies in London. Enter: The Agencies, companies run by adults that use children to investigate hauntings. Only children can sense ghosts and our protagonist Lucy Carlyle is particularly susceptible to hearing their voices. When she joins Lockwood & Co, the only independent Agency run by children in London, she has to help her new friends and colleagues Anthony Lockwood and George Cubbins investigate not only the murder of a young woman, but also the most haunted building in London. Their reputation as an agency is on the line, and so are their lives.

This book had so many elements I love, just in general but especially in middle grade. Strong friendships between the main characters, hilarious banter, and plenty of action. I listened to the whole middle of this book in one day because I was so drawn in by the action.

I think what I loved most though was the agency given to the children. Especially since this is middle grade, the focus on the children being capable and talented and not needing adults to interfere was my favourite. The focus on the plight of the children and how they were exploited by their agencies was one of my favourite themes of this book, and it's especially important considering this is middle grade.

But I definitely think what was most memorable about this book was the characters. Lucy, George and Anthony are such fun protagonists to follow, and kind of reminded me of the Golden Trio. Each had a very unique voice and characteristics, and they were also quite fleshed out. Lucy especially was a fun female protagonist for me, she was so quick witted and talented!

Finally, the world building was very well done. Without being cumbersome the world was explained and there was so much interesting backstory and history, like the legendary Fitz's, or the development of the agencies, and how The Problem started at all. I think the worldbuilding was very detailed and complex, and managed to be so without feeling like it was all being dumped on me. Very well done.

Since I listened on audio, I should mention the narrator of the audiobook did an AWESOME job. The voices she used for each character were unique and easy to follow, plus the ghost voices were so spooky. I think she definitely managed to make it atmospheric and it was very easy to visualise which I liked.

I will definitely continue this series, though I kinda wanna read one in physical form to see how everything is freakin spelt haha. But this series is definitely as fun and action packed as everyone said! The characters are great and I really want to follow their development and growth as a team, and to see those dynamics change and develop. Plus, the Anthony/Lucy ship must rise ?? This book just set up the whole series really nicely and I'm sure the books will get better and better

If you're looking for something a bit spooky with good worldbuilding, lots of action and characters who will actually make you laugh out loud go no further !