It scarcely seems possible that it’s three years since I read Malamander – the first of the Eerie-on-Sea Mysteries – and yet here I am sitting down to try to capture my thoughts on this, the fourth and penultimate title. If, like me, you are an enormous fan of this brilliant series, you’ll know that this is going to be a fabulous story before you even pick it up, packed as it is with the author’s trademark humour, plays on words and the sort of familiar friendly characters so wonderfully crafted that you want to add them to your Christmas card list. You’ll also be anticipating a fearsome monster and the return of a certain notorious baddie and you won’t be disappointed in any way. I do not mean to suggest by that that this series is formulaic or repetitive – that would be doing Thomas Taylor a serious disservice, rather I mean that while each book has its own unique identity they are still distinctly part of a whole, with threads from them all flowing into one another beautifully. They are also that extremely rare thing – a sequence of books written for children but equally as loved by adults, as the excitement generated on Twitter by this read being added to the virtual Net Galley shelf this week testified. But enough of my rambling, what can I tell you about it? It is a cold, blustery day when we reacquaint ourselves with Herbie and Vi. Not, as you might expect, within Herbie’s cosy Lost-and-Foundery but at the Eerie-on-Sea railway station – a landmark so insignificant that until now Violet has been unaware of its existence. Accompanying the friends is hotel manager – and Herbie’s nemesis – Mr Mollusc, who is there at his employer Lady Kraken’s request to meet a passenger who is to be a special guest at the Grand Nautilus Hotel. Unimpressed when an old-fashioned steam train finally pulls into the station, Mr Mollusc huffs and puffs when he cannot at first see anyone alight from the train but soon assumes his smarmiest persona when a figure appears from the swirling smoke. The figure of famous local author Sebastian Eels. With Herbie and Vi’s encounters with the amoral Eels fresh in both of their memories, the pair of them head to the Eerie Book Dispensary where they share their fears at the writer’s return with its owner Jenny Hanniver and locals Dr Thalassi and Mrs Fossil. While the two friends cannot think of any good reasons as to why Eels has returned once more, the doctor is more inclined to give him a second chance, annoying and frustrating them both greatly. When Herbie and Vi go to see Lady Kraken in an attempt to find out why Eels has come back, the author himself explains to the three of them that he intends to reopen Festergrimm’s Waxworks – a once popular local tourist attraction – earning Lady Kraken’s approval as she considers how it might boost her trade. Investigating the waxworks with Dr Thalassi and Mrs Fossil, Herbie is scared by one of the old exhibits apparently moving and the doctor warns him and Vi to stay well away from both the attraction and from Eels. Determined to prove that Eels is again up to no good, the pair of them ignore the warning and before long it is clear that moving waxworks are the least of their worries. What is Eels up to? What is causing the waxworks to misbehave? And how are they connected to the story of master clockmaker Ludovic Festergrimm? After the friction that arose between our protagonists in Shadowghast, it is good to see their friendship back to what it was in Books 1 and 2. With huge gaps in the histories of both characters, they have so much in common and complement one another perfectly. While Vi is still – at least on the surface – the braver of the two of them, Herbie knows that much as he would like to, he cannot hide away and say no to everything in life (I laughed out loud at his brilliantly named way of doing so) and steps up time and time again here. It would be unfair of me to tell you whether we are any closer to finding out how Herbie ended up in Eerie-on-Sea or what happened to Vi’s parents but I suspect there are scenes here hidden in plain sight that are crucial to the conclusion and we will kick ourselves when everything is pulled together in Mermedusa. Unlike the titles preceding this, we know that Sebastian Eels is the bad guy from the off and as the story unfolds it becomes clear that what he does here is a stepping stone to something else – something only to be revealed in that concluding book. With so many questions to be answered and threads to be drawn together, I don’t think I have ever wanted the next read in a sequence as much as I want that and I know that I will not be alone in this. A must-read for fans of the books so far and perfect for readers aged nine to ninety-nine, if you have not as yet read Malamander you need to rectify that situation immediately. The most enormous thanks must go to Walker Books and Net Galley for my virtual read in advance of publication on September 1st.

Another great instalment in the Eerie-on-Sea adventures for Herbie, Vi and Clermit the clockwork crab. There's the return of an old villain, a spooky old waxworks with a hidden past and plenty of thrilling action for the intrepid youths. I love this series and can't wait for book 5, Mermedusa, coming soon.

It might be because it was just what I needed for a Sunday afternoon but I think Festergrimm is my favourite visit to Eerie-on-Sea yet. It’s a madcap and often gruesome adventure and while the word dastardly is certainly not misplaced it is also incredibly funny. As a side note, I loved the idea of NOPE-vember and am currently plotting a much-needed NOPE-tember and NOPE-tober too! Can’t wait to catch up with Herbie and Violet again in Mermedusa.

I found the first half of the book extremely generic and was on the verge of deciding not to finish, when all of a sudden the story ark turned around and all of a sudden all these sparkly little moments and the brilliance of Violet, Herbie and Irvine was fully on display and it was a joy to read again.