Constable & Toop

September 23, 2013
British author Jones (the Ninja Meerkats series) offers a witty take on Victorian ghost stories that mixes dark humor and satire with an almost traditional boy’s adventure format. Sam Toop is the son of an undertaker, and has, after years of being exposed to the dead, become a “Talker,” who can see and hear ghosts. When an amoral exorcist starts banishing ghosts in London, the places they’d previously haunted become corrupt and eerie to the living, a situation that can only be fixed when a new ghost is trapped there. A ghostly bureaucrat named Lapsewood investigates, and his attempts to fix the problem lands him in ghost prison and leads to Sam’s violent uncle, Jack, being enlisted to help find new ghosts—something he decides is easiest if he creates the ghosts himself. From the often hilarious and inept ghostly bureaucracy to Jack’s grisly murders and the horror of innocent ghosts being banished, Jones casts a wide net. As a result, the novel can ramble, but Jones’s vision and verve give it heaps of charm. Ages 10–14.

August 15, 2013
In this generously plotted, overstuffed ghost story set in Victorian London, "a phantasmagorical wasting disease" known as "Black Rot" is infesting haunted houses, and it's up to a group of unlikely heroes to save the city. Sam Toop, an undertaker's son, is a Talker--he has the ability to communicate with ghosts. Lapsewood is a methodical and conscientious ghost civil servant sent to London to find out what happened to a missing co-worker. As their stories intertwine, they are joined by a large, Dickensian cast of heroes and rogues, both living and dead, each with his or her own agenda. Jones is interested in giving readers more than spooky thrills; his characters have moral heft and are concerned with issues such as culpability, whether people can be considered good if they have done bad things, and the importance of living life to its fullest. He does a good job of explaining the rules of his world and keeping its mythology consistent, and he leavens the material with plenty of humor. For example, he imagines a ghost world with a vast, onerous bureaucracy, a clever notion. The book is not for everyone; the overlong story drags in places, and it requires a level of patience and persistence that not all readers possess. A complex, richly textured tale that will satisfy patient readers. (Fantasy. 10-14)

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Starred review from December 1, 2013

Gr 5-8-Sam Toop can see ghosts. That in itself is a bit of an issue, but the real problem is they can talk to him and are constantly asking for his help in making amends with the living. But a Talker is what Victorian London could use as the Black Rot begins to seep into haunted houses that have lost their ghosts. Mr. Lapsewood, a clerk from the Ghost Bureau and woefully unprepared ghost himself, is sent to investigate in the living world. What he discovers is a much larger plot than he could have imagined and he finds himself working with Rogue ghosts escaping from prison, and coming very close to his death at the mouth of a hellhound. Meanwhile, aristocratic and unconventional Clara believes that a mysterious Reverend Fallowfield is not merely performing parlor tricks in the fancy houses around the city, but performing real, and cruel, exorcisms on unsuspecting ghosts. This might turn out to be the key to the problems of both the spirit and human world, and all of these characters come under one roof to solve them. The characters, particularly of the ghosts, including the Marquis de Sade, are humorous and unique. With the popularity of novels such as Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book (HarperCollins, 2008), this story is sure to tickle the funny bone and satisfy the taste for some gruesome adventure while appealing to both girls and boys. A fun read that includes intrigue, murder, mystery, and a young damsel who rescues them all.-Clare A. Dombrowski, Amesbury Public Library, MA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 1, 2013
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* Young Sam Toop, son of one of the owners of the titular undertaker's shop, has a mystical ability to speak to ghosts. He also has a big problem: his murderous uncle Jack is lying low with Sam and his father. Meanwhile, Lapsewood, a paper-pushing ghost employed by the comically bureaucratic Bureau, which regulates ghost-related matters, has been moved to the housing department (tasked with regulating haunted houses) to find a missing officer in London. Once there, he and his companions discover an even bigger problem: the Rot, a destructive, demonic force that's hungry for ghosts. As Sam and Lapsewood investigate further, they find the truth behind not only the recent proliferation of brand-new ghosts in London but also the sinister source of the Rot. Jones has crafted a menacing, spooky Victorian London full of criminals and unfinished business, which is well balanced by the biting satire and buffoonery of the Bureau. Add to that a cast of fascinating, well-wrought charactersfrom the smarmy and threatening Jack, to the precocious, pot-stirring aspiring journalist Claraand it's a winning combination of macabre atmosphere, whimsical antics, and heartfelt, earnest friendship.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)