The Considine Curse

A hair-raising family adventure that will have you howling with enjoyment!

Winner of the Blue Peter Book Award 2012 Fourteen-year-old Mariel returns to England for her grandmother's funeral. It is the first time she has been back since she emigrated with her mother as a baby, and it is the beginning of the uncovering of some really extraordinary truths about the Considine family. Why did Mariel's mum argue with Grandma all those years ago? Why does Amelia wear so much perfume? Why is there a very large cat flap in Louvre House? Why does Gerald seem scared of his brother's appetite? Did Grandma Considine really break her neck falling down the stairs? And most importantly, what is the dark secret that lies at the heart of the family?

Ovid and Lorelli Thornthwaite have been trying to kill each other for so long that neither twin can remember which act of attempted murder came first. But whoever struck first, trying to take each other's lives is simply what they do. Until one day a lawyer arrives at their house to take stock of its contents, and his accompanying son attracts their attention. Soon a new battle evolves - one in which the twins have to work together to solve the mystery of their parents' deaths. Can Lorelli and Ovid overcome their old animosities, and will they ever get to finish that game of chess?

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! Sam Toop lives in a funeral parlour, blessed (or cursed) with an unusual gift. While his father buries the dead, Sam is haunted by their constant demands for attention. Trouble is afoot on the 'other side' - there is a horrible disease that is mysteriously imprisoning ghosts into empty houses in the world of the living. And Sam is caught in the middle - will he be able to bring himself to help? Blue Peter Award winner Gareth P. Jones has woven a darkly comic story, a wonderfully funny adventure that roams the grimy streets of Victorian London.

A lonely girl in contemporary London encounters dark magic in Victorian London London, 1891. When orphans Esther and Tom are caught stealing by Lord Ringmore, little do they realise the peril they are in. Rather than hand them over to the police, the lord employs the children. But what does he really want with them? Blackwood is a man obsessed. He has devoted his life to unearthing the roots of magic. Tormented by the thought of death he knows that only real magic can overcome mortality. He has in his possession a book that contains the secret of true magic, but he cannot unlock its meaning alone. Only Tom and Esther can help him unravel its terrible and dangerous secrets... London, 2013, and a young girl called Amy is about to turn thirteen. She is never happier than in a graveyard where, one day, she notices a gravestone named only 'Esther' with a magpie perched above it who speaks to her. He is called Tom! A spine-chilling tale of magic and illusion, and an induction into the world of sorcery both fair and shady - so beware!

"The dinosaurs are having a party. It starts precisely at three. I'm a boy not a dinosaur. So I'm pleased they invited me. But the dinosaurs are planning to serve a special dish at their party and perhaps all is not as it seems"--

One puzzling mystery. Several slippery suspects. Endless possibilities! Welcome to Haventry, a town where the ordinary and extraordinary collide! With ghosts, werewolves and zombies living side by side, trouble is always brewing. And when a fiendish crime is committed, YOUare the detective in charge of the case. Dr Franklefink's precious Monster Maker has gone missing and there are lots of suspects! Along with your yeti partner, it's up to YOUto find the culprit. Should you trail Bramwell Stoker, the terrifying vampire, or Grundle and Grinola, the mischievous goblin twins? Should you follow up a lead about the cunning witches? Or will investigating the doctor's monstrous son Monty lead you to the thief? YOUdecide! With hundreds of paths to choose from and no dead ends, you'll solve the mystery every time! A fantastically imaginative detective story for readers looking for an interactive adventure.

Told with Gareth's signature wit, humour and thoughtfulness, this story examines the way stories shape our past, present and future Eddie is pretty certain nowhere could be more small-town, more boring, and more inconsequential than his home town of the Wellcome Valley. Unfortunately, he is about to be proved spectacularly wrong. Eddie's problems start with the arrival of Scarlett, a new girl in town who seems rather too confident and mysterious for your average schoolgirl. She attracts trouble (and Eddie) like a magnet, and she's apparently only interested in two very strange things - protecting the town's local crackpot scientist, and telling Eddie absolutely nothing about what on earth is going on. And why is she so interested in Eddie's long-dead mother? Things quickly go from weird to worse for Eddie, as he finds himself right in the middle of a dangerous mystery - one with consequences not just for him and Scarlett, but time itself.