Lockett & Wilde’s Dreadfully Haunting Mysteries: The Ghosts of the Manor
Lucy Strange and Pam Smy
Walker Books

Matilda Lockett acts as assistant to spirit medium Signora Valentina (in reality her Aunt Evelyn) and Uncle Barnabus (close friend of her aunt).Really no ghosts appear at her aunt’s seances but she manages to convince those who attend that ghosts are actually reaching out from beyond the grave.
When Matilda isn’t pretending to be Edna at the seances she enjoys trying to solve mysteries.
Then one night Matilda thinks perhaps she did actually see something (or someone) during the act: a ghost perhaps? After the show, a woman bursts into their dressing room, introduces herself as Baroness Rosa Beachamp, announces that her home Beauchamp Manor is haunted and that she needs ‘Signora Valentina’s help urgently. Can her aunt pull off a real exorcism, Matilda wonders: apparently the baroness has offered a tidy sum in payment.

When the three arrive, the baroness introduces them to Mr Symmonds who is there to catalogue a collection of paintings in the folly (supposedly the National Gallery are interested in them) asking that they don’t disturb his work. He plays a violin (terribly) to keep ghosts at bay.
There follows a lot of snooping on Matilda’s part, assisted by a ghost boy, Edgar with whom she forms a bond. But what is Mr Symmonds really up to? A mystery needs solving.

There’s a treasure supposedly hidden somewhere. During their stay Matilda sees and hears things that make her worry about her future. How will this all end?

This suspenseful, often humorous tale, with Pam Smy’s atmospheric illustrations, has eeriness aplenty but it’s also about working together, trust, love and the importance of friendship. Just right to curl up with as the nights draw in.