Constable and Toop [Paperback]

Gareth P. Jones, winner of the Blue Peter Award for The Considine Curse, newest book Constable and Toop is categorised as 'funny, historical, gruesome and scary' i.e. just what kids want and has very Gothic looking artwork on the cover of a Victorian undertakers frontage by artist Aron Wiesenfeld.
This book is funny before you have even started because the author 'praise for' section usually from worthy book critics and national newspapers is full of comments from 'the ghost of' classic Victorian authors- very clever, and suggests early on Jones own reading and influences on the style of writing used. The prologue starts us straight into a murder of which we will learn the relevance of later on and then we are into the parallel 1884 stories.
There is Lapsewood, whom we soon realise is a ghost, working in The Bureau to the afterlife where he processes dispatch documents. It's gruesome alright, with all the different deaths of the characters described; bayonet wounds from The Crimea and hangings in Newgate. There's Colonel Penhaligan, the boss of the ghost world and his beautiful secretary Alice Biggins (great Victorian sounding names.) There are 'Prowlers' who go on haunting missions to the physical world and 'Enforcers' who bring 'Rogue' ghosts into line. It's the Mission Impossible office of the ghost world- should you wish to accept the task or Rent-A-Ghost. There's the comedy of the polter-licenses and Opacity permission forms and this runs parallel to the more serious Victorian drama story of Sam Toop.
Young Sam Toop, undertaker's son whose mother is dead lives over the funeral parlour with his father - a real Dickensian set-up, and has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts. Temporarily harbouring his criminal uncle from the police, he finds his uncle also has the ability to communicate. The uncle's role in the story becomes more troublesome as stories of 'The Kitchen Killer' start to get around.
Set at the time of Jack The Ripper it is a book packed full of characters. Based on the name of a real undertakers in south London, the importance of mourning in the Victorian culture, the number of ghost stories and the vivid details of murders in the newspapers at the time were all things that the author drew on for inspiration. Researching the book, the streets of London became more useful than he had initially realised, seeing plaques and signs, visiting Victorian theatres, pubs and churches as well as museums which all contribute to creating a suitably Gothic atmosphere for this very enjoyable and entertaining book.

You know how sometimes you see something in a bookshop that catches your eye? You decide to buy it on a whim? You begin reading and you fall in love? Constable & Toop is that book.

Beautifully written, wonderful characters, mesmerizing storytelling - it's all there. Everything about this book is just what I wanted it to be. I loved all the characters, yet I despite the richness of them I never struggled to follow what was happening. With each new chapter I got pulled further into Sam and Lapsewood's adventure.

This book has pretty much everything you could ask for. At times I was laughing out loud (particularly during General Colt's conversations) then I was worried and sometimes I was so wrapped up in the world building that I forgot what was happening around me.

I'm not sure why I picked this up but I'm so glad I did.
Maybe some wise ghost was guiding me ;)

Constable & Toop is intelligent, special and brilliant.

Want a chilling book to read for Halloween? Then Constable and Toop is right up your dark alley. Having read Jones' brilliant The Considine Curse I knew to expect something a little bit whackier than the norm and I wasn't disappointed. As the previous reviewer stated, Constable and Toop isn't for the faint-hearted. There are scary bits and sinister dark goings-on. It's perfect, in other words, for the high-level reader aged between 9 and 12 who coped with the Dementors in Harry Potter.
The book is set in 1884 when Queen Victoria was half way through her reign.Constable and Toop, an undertaker's in Honor Oak on the outskirts of London, is home to Sam Toop, one of the main characters. Sam helps his father and Mr Costable with the funerals, acting as the 'mute' who walks wordlessly with the procession. But Sam has a secret. Walking with him, all too often, is the ghost of the dead person, who stares mournfully at those he's left behind. These restless ghosts sometimes ask Sam to do them a favour. Sam doesn't mind the ghosts so much. It's favours for the living, like his creepy Uncle Jack, he can't abide...

Constable and Toop is a real page turner that would suit fans of Derek Landy and Terry Pratchett.