Lockwood & Co.

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lockwood & Co. is a five-volume, self-contained fantasy book series by Jonathan Stroud . It was published from 2013 to 2017 in one volume each year. The translations were carried out by Katharina Orgaß and Gerald Jung . In the novels, several youths go to an alternative London to tackle the ghost apparitions that have haunted Britain for fifty years.

theme

The book series “Lockwood & Co.” deals with the so-called “problem”. At the beginning of the first book, it has existed for a good 50 years; after death some people return to the world of the living as ghosts. Mostly they are either criminals, people who did not die naturally, or both. The spirits are tied to a source that prevents them from disappearing completely into the hereafter. They are made up of ectoplasm, which is practically the immortal soul of man. When the substance is touched, a living person is afflicted with a ghost. This is expressed by body parts that turn blue and swell. If he is not treated with adrenaline injections quickly enough, the affected person dies.

There were and are ghost apparitions worldwide. Only in this serious form, with many fatal incidents that severely restrict public life, does it occur purely in Great Britain. Initially confined to Kent and later extended to Lodon, the problem spread across the country.

Since the "problem" appeared, agencies have been set up to research and fight individual ghost plagues. Since only children and young people are sensitive enough to ghosts listening to see or feel , whose teams usually consist of several young agents and an adult advisor, usually a former agent who has lost his psychic powers and no longer vorderster Front can take action against the "problem". Agents have different abilities to capture ghosts. Some have the gift of seeing, some the gift of hearing and some the gift of feeling. Each gift can be differently pronounced.

Lockwood & Co. is the only London agency that only works with agents, not consultants. At the same time, it is also the smallest agency in London, which is why Anthony Lockwood and his initially two employees, George Cubbins and Lucy Carlyle, have to fight again and again with prejudices and scornful older competitors.

Novels and Companions

  1. Lockwood & Co. - The Sighing Spiral Staircase: Volume 1 . German by Katharina Orgaß and Gerald Jung. cbj, Munich 2013 ISBN 978-3-570-15617-9 (Original: Lockwood & Co. The Screaming Staircase , 2013), Doubleday , ISBN 978-0-85753-202-2 )
  2. Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Skull: Volume 2 . German by Katharina Orgaß and Gerald Jung. cbj, Munich 2014 ISBN 978-3-570-15710-7 (Original: Lockwood & Co. The Whispering Skull , 2014), Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-85753-266-4 )
  3. Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Mask: Volume 3 . German by Katharina Orgaß and Gerald Jung. cbj, Munich 2015 ISBN 978-3-570-15963-7 (Original: Lockwood & Co. The Hollow Boy , 2015), Doubleday, ISBN 978-1-4847-0968-9 )
  4. Lockwood & Co. - The Flaming Phantom: Volume 4 . German by Katharina Orgaß and Gerald Jung. cbj, Munich 2016 ISBN 978-3-570-15964-4 (Original: Lockwood & Co. The Creeping Shadow , 2016), Doubleday, ISBN 978-0-552-57315-3
  5. Lockwood & Co. - The Horrible Grave: Volume 5 . German by Katharina Orgaß and Gerald Jung. cbt , Munich 2017 ISBN 978-3-570-17462-3 (Original: Lockwood & Co. The Empty Grave , 2017), Disney Hyperion , ISBN 978-1-4847-7872-2

In 2015, the short story "The Dagger in the Desk" was published in the United Kingdom, which was published in 2019 as an eBook with the title "The Cursed Dagger" in German translation. The story was created in 2013 through interaction with children via a website. In it, a caretaker who was missing a hundred years ago and who is now up to mischief as a ghost is driven out of a school. The action takes place in the winter after the first volume.

action

Lockwood & Co. - The Sighing Spiral Staircase

In the first part of the series, Lucy Carlyle applies to the London agency Lockwood & Co., which has been in existence for three months and is at the same time the smallest.Together with Anthony Lockwood and his colleague and deputy George Cubbins, she tries to keep the small agency running by spending the nights ( Ghosts usually appear at night) went to a haunted house to determine the source of the ghost concerned and to seal it, often risking their lives.

In one of these evictions, the team of investigators led by Anthony Lockwood finally had a fatal mishap and a client's house went up in flames. Anthony and his colleague Lucy just got away with their lives. Lucy unconsciously pockets the source of the spirit, the medallion of actress Annie Ward, who was murdered here decades ago. The agency is threatened with large cash payments to the homeowners that would ruin them. To avert this, the three agents have to rush to accept a highly dangerous assignment that takes them to one of the most infamous houses in the country, to Combe Carey Hall. As they spend the night in the old manor house, a life-and-death struggle quickly develops. At the last second they can block the spring, seven monks murdered in a medieval well. The actual plan of their client, Sir John William Fairfax, to let the three agents perish in an understandable way during the operation, thus fails. So he wanted to get to the locket and in particular remove Lucy, who heard the words of the spirit of the murdered woman. His follow-up plan to kill the three agents with his own hands also fails and he is killed, but he can be exposed as the murderer of Annie Ward.

Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Skull

In 1877, Dr. Edmund Bickerstaff uses medieval instructions from seven sources to display a bone mirror with which the view into the afterlife should be possible. He forced one of his followers, Simon Wilberforce, to look into the bone glass, whereupon the latter died. Another of his followers, Mary Dulac, shot him dead shortly after while trying to continue his experiments. Bickerstaff was buried in a sealed iron coffin at Kensal Green Cemetery, along with the bone mirror.

Thanks to their successful work in the case of the Sighing Spiral Staircase , the Lockwood & Co. agency was able to gain a clear reputation. New orders flutter into the house and so the path of the three agents leads them to the Kensal Green cemetery seven months after the assignment in the manor house. There, on behalf of an excavation and cleaning company, an old, iron coffin is to be recovered in one night, which is surrounded by a gruesome aura. The agents manage to drive out the evil spirit that lived in the remains that were hidden in the coffin, but before they can be happy about it, the coffin is looted under mysterious circumstances and the grave goods disappear with the thieves. The hot investigations quickly lead the Lockwood & Co. team into the past of the dead man and the mirror that was stolen from the coffin. Surprisingly, the ancient, whispering skull, which has been in the archives of the agency headquarters since the agency began, also seems to be connected to the case and Lucy tries her best to coax its secrets out of it. The trail leads to the black market dealer Julius Winkman, who wants to auction the bone mirror, which has been responsible for two further deaths up to this point, at a secret auction. Anthony and Lucy can get the artifact. But a short time later it disappears together with George, who is trying to solve the mystery of the bone glass with Albert Joplin from the excavation company in the catacombs of Kensal Green. Before more mischief happens, Lucy can destroy the mirror, but Joplin is killed by Bickerstaff's ghost.

Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Mask

The number of assignments from Anthony Lockwood's agency has increased significantly in recent months. Since the missions often no longer have to be carried out in a team, but individually, a secretary is hired in November with Holly Munro. This always perfect acting and looking woman, who attracts the attention of the two male colleagues, triggers an increasing jealousy in Lucy. In addition, Lucy's more than professional interest in Anthony increases.

At the same time, Lucy tries to explore the possibilities of her ability to communicate with ghosts. This interest was aroused through contact with the skull, a type 3 spirit that she now has with her as an aid for many assignments. During an operation, she elicits the secret of an older man's appearance without violence, which still ties him to the earth. But when the ability tries to use it in a more complicated team assignment at Fiona Wintergarden's house, she puts her life and that of her colleague Anthony at considerable risk.

An unusually strong mass of ghosts in London meanwhile keeps the Chelsea district in suspense. Even in cooperation with the largest agencies, the BEBÜP authority cannot master the problem. Thanks to the emphatic recommendation of the client Wintergarden, it doesn't take long before Lockwood & Co. are also involved. George's tireless research soon leads the team to the heart of the problem, and together with a few unwelcome competitors they finally make their way to the traditional department store Aickmere in the west of the city. As George suspected, this is where the origin of the mass emergence can be found. The team of investigators quickly faces enormous dangers, because a loud argument between Lucy and Holly arouses a poltergeist. Again a struggle for survival breaks out that reveals more than just the source of the affliction. The cellar of a former prison is discovered under the department store. An unknown organization had already obtained secret access to the vault weeks ago and created a ghost gate to the Other Place out of the bones of the inmates , which led to the accumulated ghosts in Chelsea. Anthony and Lucy manage to neutralize the source.

Lucy's gift of communicating with spirits leads to contact in the vault of the prison cellar with an apparition bearing the face of Anthony Lockwood. This mask whispers to her that she will be to blame for Anthony's death in the future. To prevent this, the girl sees only one way out by ending contact with her colleagues. So she quits Lockwood & Co.

Lockwood & Co. - The Flaming Phantom

Lucy is now going her own way and hiring herself as a freelance psychic investigator . A certain success cannot be denied, but she is also plagued by loneliness, because without her former colleagues, Lucy is only the malicious, whispering head to talk to. The three remaining agents from Lockwood & Co., Anthony, George and Holly, are also doing well, and thanks to their successes keep making headlines.

At the end of March, four months after the events in the Aickmere department store, Penelope Fittes, one of the most powerful women in London, approaches the small agency and offers them a new case. Agency boss Anthony Lockwood has no choice but to ask Lucy for help, as this is required. Reluctantly, she finally agrees to work with the Lockwood team on this one occasion. As expected, the quartet manages to successfully close the case.

When Lucy's house is broken into shortly afterwards and the whispering skull is stolen, Lucy goes on a hunt for the thieves. But the young agent becomes the hunted herself and so she seeks refuge with the only allies that remain her, Lockwood & Co. Anthony and his team quickly agree to stand by their former colleague, who can be employed again in the course of the following events. Their investigation leads the team to the countryside, where the apparition-ridden village of Aldbury Castle is hoping to be rescued. They soon succeed in identifying a nearby research laboratory run by the Rotwell agency, which is conducting illegal experiments. It is the follow-up experiment of the bone circle discovered under the department store. Anthony and Lucy secretly explore the world of the dead, the Other Side, through a ghost gate opened by the scientists . On their return a fight ensues in which the owner of the agency, Steve Rotwell, is killed.

As already after their success in the prison vault, Lockwood & Co. are not allowed to disclose their knowledge to the public, the actual processes are covered up by the authorities. What's more, Penelope Fittes faces grave consequences for Lockwood agents if they interfere again. The skull that was present during the visit of the owner of the Fittes agency identifies Penelope as the founder Marissa Fittes, who is actually considered dead.

Lockwood & Co. - The Horrible Grave

Five months after the Aldbury Castle events, members of the Lockwood & Co. agency board the Marissa Fittes mausoleum to seek confirmation of the skull's claim. In fact, in the silver coffin they only find the remains of the bones of the first ghost hunter's personal doctor.

A little later she asks Inspector Barnes to an informal meeting. He urges Anthony and his staff to be cautious, as the Fittes agency and other big companies that make good money on the problem have taken control of London in the background. He could therefore not protect them. This is confirmed when Penelope Fittes invites the representatives of all agencies to come and announces that they will be placed under the supervision of their agency for the next six months.

When George is brutally beaten up on the street after research and only survives by chance, Lockwood & Co. begins the fight against the Fittes agency. They break into the library of the Orpheus Society in St. James's Quarter and get the very rare book Theories of the Occult by Marissa Fittes, which George was looking for. Anthony accidentally discovers the documents from a lecture his parents gave shortly before their death and now suspects that Marissa has something to do with the fatal accident of Celia and Donald.

Since the break-in is discovered, but no official bodies are involved, Lockwood & Co. fear an attack on their agency building. They therefore entrench themselves and, as expected, are attacked by Sir Rupert Gale, the black market dealer Winkman and other dark figures. Despite resistance, the ghost hunters have to use their emergency exit, a ghost gate prepared for an emergency. This is closed behind you, and so you only have the way through the other place to the ghost gate of the agency Fittes. On the way they see how the deceased are prevented with silver fences from leaving the other place through black gates. Since the dead cannot cross the intermediate station to their actual destination, this may have led to the problem in the world of the living.

When Anthony tries to lead his employees out of the Fittes agency building, Rupert Galen and the guards get them involved in a fight. Rupert Galen dies in the process, and Lucy is separated from her group in the turmoil. Determined, she enters the private quarters of Penelope Fittes. In the following conversation it turns out that Penelope has been following Lucy's path in life for a long time, regards her as equal in terms of her abilities and therefore offers her a place at her side. In addition, Penelope reveals herself as Marissa in the body of her granddaughter, whose spirit she has driven from the body. Lucy turns against the company founder. In the fight against Marissa and her ghost, she threatens to be defeated, and even the arriving Anthony can do little about it. Only the skull spirit released from the ghost glass by Lucy brings the change. Marissa dies trying to tear herself and the two teenagers to their deaths with an explosive device. However, the skull is damaged and the skull spirit no longer shows itself.

The members of Lockwood & Co. then have to sign a declaration of secrecy, which conceals essential details of what happened. So Penelope Fittes is portrayed as the culprit while the companies involved are kept out. In addition, it is concealed what exactly the Fittes Agency and the Orpheus Society have done in the other place . The BEBÜP authority begins cleaning up on the other side of the ghost gate. The hope is that this will make the problem go away.

Lockwood & Co. begin the clean-up and renovation work on their residential and office building and, as long as the problem persists, they look forward to their usual professional future.

Lucy receives a sapphire pendant from Anthony, which his father once gave to his mother as a token of his undying affection , and Lucy hangs it around her neck .

Period

Exact year figures for the period of action cannot be made due to contradicting information provided by the author. Since the Fittes agency was founded several years after an event in 1962 and the fiftieth anniversary falls within the trading period, it would have to be in the mid-2010s. However, the anniversary is celebrated on a Saturday, June 19th, and that day won't fall on a Saturday until 2021. Annie Ward was last seen 49 years ago on a Saturday, June 21st, and that would be for the Present mean the year 2018.

Therefore, the period can only generally be described as three calendar years. In the first year Anthony Lockwood founded his agency, in which three months later, around June, Lucy Carlyle is hired. The case from Volume 1 will be resolved at the end of the year. The events from Volume 2 take place in June and Volume 3 in November of the second year of the story. Volume 4 is located at the end of March of the third year. And five months later, the action of Volume 5 begins, which spans a period of two months.

main characters

  • Lucy Joan Carlyle , nickname Luce : Member of Lockwood & Co. and narrator. She is described as confident, stubborn, and a little aggressive. She was born in the fourth decade of the problem as the last of seven daughters of a porter at a train station in a northern English town and is around 15 years old in Volume 3. Her father, who had scarcely looked after his children, died when she was five, but that didn't bother her very much. Even as a small child she noticed her talent for hearing psychic things, which is why she was sent to the local agency when she was just eight years old and was finally employed. But a job at this agency ended fatally for all agents except her, as her boss did not respond to calls for help. After a short break, she decided to look for a new job and applied to several London agencies, but only Lockwood & Co. accepted her. Since then she has lived with George and Lockwood at 35 Portland Row, where she occupies the attic room. Lucy is slim. In November of the second year she is 1.67 m tall, a year later she is 1.71 m tall. Her chin-length hair, which was a little shorter in volume 5, has a walnut brown color that runs through white strands from the time you stay at the other place . She can always be found with a black top, skirt and leggings . At the end of the second volume, she discovers that she can talk to class 3 ghosts and that they understand her. For Lockwood, she feels not only friendship, but more.
  • Anthony John Lockwood : Head of Lockwood & Co. Lucy describes him as charismatic, "lively and energetic". He has "a narrow face, a nose and dark curls". His eyes are lively and dark. He is 15 years old during the events in Volume 3. At his own request he is almost exclusively called Lockwood. Lockwood is always polite and articulate when dealing with clients; when it comes to private matters, however, he is generally very closed to other people. He had a sister named Jessica six years older than him who died of ghost sickness when he was 9 years old. His parents Celia and Donald Lockwood were explorers of the supernatural and investigated spirit cults of other peoples. They died early in a car accident through no fault of their own. Lockwood is also known to live with relatives for a while before training with Nigel "Gravedigger" Sykes - an excellent fencer and, according to Lockwood, the "Curse of Fittes and Rotwell" - and moving back to his parents' house now lives with the other members of Lockwood & Co. His talent relates primarily to seeing the supernatural. Lockwood is tall and slender and almost always wears a long coat over a suit that is a little too small for him.
  • George Cubbins : Member of Lockwood & Co. and officially Lockwood's deputy. Among other things, he is responsible for the research. He usually appears a little unkempt and untidy and has a penchant for cookies and donuts. He is very interested in ghosts, their formation and the afterlife in general and carries out questionable scientific experiments for research purposes. Before joining Lockwood & Co., he worked for the Fittes agency, but was fired from the agency. From there he also has a jar with a skull that is tied to a ghost and that he likes to experiment with. George wears round glasses and is overweight. His hair is reddish-blonde and his eyes are blue. George doesn't get along very well with Lucy at first. George and Flo Bones develop a mutual, obvious affection.
  • The skull : He was last alive as a lanky youth with shaggy hair. After his violent death, his skull was later recovered from the Lambeth sewers. He is a type 3 ghost, so he can have conversations with people with the appropriate talent, only Marissa Fittes and Lucy Carlyle have this talent. After a brief conversation with Marissa, he was locked in a ghost glass that George Cubbins later stole from the Fittes agency. Lucy Carlyle takes the skull with her on many missions as it gives tips and hints that could sometimes lead to her death. She describes him as a depraved character, but develops a close bond with him. Edmund Bickerstaff describes the skull as his former master, but cannot give his own name.
  • Holly Munro : Originally hired as a secretary by Lockwood in Volume 3, but is slowly becoming part of the team as she increasingly actively helps with assignments. She is an "attractive dark-skinned girl", described by Lucy almost jealously as "beautiful" and "slim", with a "complexion (...) as smooth and flawless as coffee-brown marble" and, according to George, "eats too healthy." ". She is 18 years old. Her manners and clothing are always impeccable, and she has a strong tendency to be clean. She used to work for the Rotwell agency in the field for a few years until her entire team was killed in one operation. She then worked in the office as Steve Rotwell's personal secretary. She causes several fits of anger and jealousy in Lucy because of her warm relationship with Lockwood and George, but later they get along well professionally. Holly Monroe is a lesbian.

Secondary characters

  • Quill Kipps : Supervising agent and one of the youngest adult team consultants at the Fittes agency. In Lucy's first adventure, he is estimated to be in his early 20s, which is why he probably no longer has any psychic abilities. He is red-haired, freckled, petite and slim. "His polished shoes sparkled, the skin-tight trousers shone. An expensive sword hung from his gem-adorned hip belt, the fabric of the silver jacket was soft as tiger skin and perfectly matched to the expensive kidskin gloves." He is enemies with Anthony Lockwood and gives the impression that he has known him for a long time. George says he doesn't like Lockwood because he defeated him several years ago in the semifinals of a fencing tournament organized by BEBÜP, although Kipps, who was a few years older, was the clear favorite. Despite the rivalries, he and his team save Lockwood & Co. at the beginning of Volume 2 and then work together several times. After such a case in Volume 4, Kipps quits Fittes and becomes an unofficial partner at Lockwood & Co.
  • Kate Godwin : She is an agent and works on Quill Kipps' team at the Fittes agency. She is a hearing person, just like Lucy, and is described as very unfriendly and "callous". She is good-looking, slim and tight-lipped, "mercilessly ambitious (...) and has even less sense of humor than a pond turtle." Her blond hair is cut short at the back of the head and cut in the front as long, sloping bangs, "like a horse's mane".
  • Inspector Montagu Barnes : An officer from BEBÜP. He is "intelligent, capable and not conspicuously corruptible". He usually wears a rumpled raincoat, ill-fitting suit, and suede melon. "He had a weather-beaten, sorrowful face and a gray mustache that was about the length and girth of a dead hamster." He initially wants to close the agency Lockwood and Co., since they work there without adult consultants, but later gives them various assignments.
  • Florence Bonnard , usually just called Flo Bones : An artifact hunter who searches the Thames silt and is occasionally hired by Lockwood & Co. for information. She is not yet 20, exceptionally dirty and half a head taller than Lucy, and wears an unspeakably filthy and smelly down jacket, a patched, shapeless sweater, ancient, faded jeans and men's rubber boots. Her blonde hair is matted under her broad-brimmed hat. The forehead, face and mouth are wide. She has a snub nose, bright blue eyes and loves liquorice . Like Quill Kipps, she took part in the fencing tournament organized by BEBÜP and defeated Anthony Lockwood in the final. She worked as an apprentice in the Sinclair and Soanes agency . Her employers were killed in an operation, she only barely survived and has changed completely since then.
  • Penelope Fittes : Head of the Fittes agency and granddaughter of the famous agent Marissa Fittes. Lucy describes her as a "very tall, very beautiful woman (...) Her long, shiny black hair fell in loose waves on her shoulders and played around her very attractive, finely chiseled, if somewhat high, cheekbones and an imperious mouth full lips. My first impression was that of a woman who was not much older than me, but in her dark, serious eyes a long-matured sense of power flashed. " They generally shy away from the public. It is later discovered that Marissa Fittes has forcibly taken over her granddaughter's body. Marissa has had contact with a Type 3 spirit named Ezekiel since childhood, who inspired her to experiment with the sources.
  • Sir Rupert Gale : friend of the Fittes family and middleman of Penelope Fittes. Teaches fencing and other martial arts to young agents of the Fittes agency. He is young, has light blonde hair that is cut short and curls around his forehead, and a trimmed mustache. His eyes are blue. He has a smooth, light footed gait.
  • The Winkman family , consisting of Julius and Adelaide and their son Leopold. They own the Bloomsbury antique store on Owl Place, but they mainly act as stolen artifacts. Julius has a stocky, plump figure. Its head is large, has a broad nose, an equally broad mouth and a notched chin. The short, gelled hair is black. He wears a golden pince-nez. Adelaide is in her early 50s, tall, strong, has gray-blue eyes with plucked eyebrows and a teased up hairstyle made of white-blonde hair. She used to work as a butcher. Leopold looks like his father and has piercing blue eyes. In volume 4 he is around 14-15 years old. While the father is in prison, Adelaide and Leopold take over the business. After his release, Julius takes part in the battle for the Lockwood house and dies in the process.

Organizations and agencies

  • BEBÜP : Authority for Research and Control of Paranormal Phenomena.
  • Rotwell Agency : Second oldest agency in London, founded a few months after the Fittes agency. The Rotwell Institute is the agency's research division. Directed by Steve Rotwell until his death. The agency then merges with the Fittes agency.
  • Agency Fittes : oldest and one of the most important agencies in London, which was founded by Marissa Fittes and is now managed by her granddaughter Penelope Fittes.
  • Orpheus Society : The society founded by Marissa Fittes includes inventors, industrialists and philosophers who see themselves as idealists. The goal is inventions and strategies against the problem . The seat is in St. James. Orpheus' lyre was chosen as the logo. Penelope Fittes is the patron.
  • Sweet dreams - excavations and cleanups : A company that takes care of excavations in cemeteries by locating sources of spirits there, digging them up and sealing them. It is led by Paul Sanders and, until his death, by his partner Albert Joplin.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lockwood & Co. - The Sighing Spiral Staircase; German edition; first edition 2013, page 111; Line 6.
  2. ↑ Lockwood & Co. - The Sighing Spiral Staircase; German edition; first edition 2013, page 88; Line 8f.
  3. ↑ Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Mask; German edition; first edition 2015, page 120; Line 28f.
  4. ↑ Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Mask; German edition; first edition 2015, page 132; Line 7
  5. ↑ Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Mask; German edition; first edition 2015, page 91; Line 4f.
  6. ↑ “Something bad has happened to anyone who has to do with Tony. It's been like that forever. Even as a small child. ”- Quill Kipps.
  7. ↑ Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Skull; German edition; first edition 2014, page 31; Line 4f.
  8. ↑ Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Mask; German edition; first edition 2015, page 90; Line 22f
  9. ↑ Lockwood & Co. - The Whispering Skull; German edition; first edition 2014, page 242f.