Jonathan Stroud is the author of four previous books about Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase, The Whispering Skull, The Hollow Boy and The Creeping Shadow. He also penned the internationally bestselling Bartimaeus books: The Amulet of Samarkan, The Golem's Eye, Ptolemy's Gate, and The Ring of Solomon; as well as the novels Heroes of the Valley, The Leap, The Last Siege, and Buried Fire. He lives in England with his wife and three children. You can find Stroud at www.jonathanstroud.com. You can find more of my reviews of Stroud's works here.
Five months after the events in The Creeping Shadow, we join Lockwood, Lucy, George, Holly, and their associate Quill Kipps on a perilous night mission. They have broken into the booby-trapped Fittes Mausoleum, where the body of the legendary psychic heroine Marissa Fittes lies. Or does it? This is just one of the many questions to be answered in Book Five of the Lockwood & Co. series. Will Lockwood ever reveal more about his family's past to Lucy? Has their trip to the Other Side left the two of them changed forever? Will Penelope Fittes succeed in shutting down their agency—and does she threaten something deeper still? The young operatives must survive attacks from foes both spectral and human before they can take on their greatest enemy in a climactic and chaotic battle. And to prevail they will have to rely on some surprising—and shadowy—allies. Nothing is sacred and no one is safe as Lockwood & Co. race to uncover the truth about the Problem in this rousing finale full of danger, laughs, twists, and frights. The revelations just might send you back to Book One to start the series all over again.
Since The Screaming Staircase, I have been dying to know what caused the supernatural Problem that has plagued the London streets and the lives of its young agents. In The Empty Grave, we finally get a whole set of answers. We learn how the Problem originated, what (and who) potentially caused it, and even a potential way to shut it out and end the ghost epidemic for good. Stroud did a brilliant job planting clues for this since the beginning. He made us insanely curious in the first three novels, and then made it the job of the last two novels to bring about peace and closure for the Problem. He doesn't give in to our wants, however—despite Lockwood & Co. uncovering the deepest plots at the heart of their world, the bureaucracy will not allow for anarchy. So while the issue has been resolved, it's been resolved realistically and in a way that reflects hope for the entire world of London. That is what makes the resolution fo the Problem so brilliant—is that it can't and won't be as easily wiped away as we want, and that while we get hints of a happily ever after, it will be one that requires work and healing. That implication must not be lost on us, and in fact is part of the reason why it must feel like such a satisfying ending to begin with.
Stroud expertly balances the action and revenge necessary for this finale with the coy hints and small moments between Lucy and Lockwood that, let's face it, everyone has been dying for. Lucy and Lockwood finally have a chance to open up to one another more during the five month lapse between The Creeping Shadow and The Empty Grave, and Lucy genuinely questions whether their intimacy stems from the shared experience of crossing over to the Other Side, or if it's based off of their genuine feelings towards one another. For fans of Percy Jackson, they'll notice a fun little homage to Percy's and Annabeth's shared experience together, and the answer to Lucy's question is that their intimacy comes from both of those things, but that it can't be fully explored until they solve the mystery that has been weighing on their hearts the entire series. Lucy is too fearful of Lockwood's potential upcoming death to feel motivated to fully connect with him—the Hollow Boy ghost told her that he will sacrifice his life for her, and after the fortune teller tells her the exact same thing, so naturally Lucy would stubbornly keep distancing herself from Lockwood if she thought that would keep him from harm. Similarly, Lockwood is too weighed down by the loss of his parents and his sister, and his subsequent guilt, to feel secure enough to form another deep connection that he could lose. It is only when both Lucy's and Lockwood's anxieties are soothed by the way they end things—when Lockwood survives, and when the team is able to avenge Lockwood's family's deaths—that they have the open door they can run through together. But that doesn't mean the tension between these two characters doesn't exist during the entirety of The Empty Grave (it does), and that makes getting through to the ending a certain kind of agony . . . wondering who will survive, and if they will act on their feelings if they do is certainly motivation to get to the end, despite the fear we have for everyone's lives!
But Lucy and Lockwood aren't the only members of Lockwood & Co. that we've fallen in love with. George is a beloved character, and many readers connect to his academic drive. George's detective skills in The Empty Grave are phenomenal, and it's rewarding to watch him sleuth his way through this finale, knowing how deeply his curiosity has driven him the entire series. Stroud let George grow into this incredible role of being the researcher, and thus a backbone for the rest of the team. Seeing as how George has always been invested in understanding the Problem, this was a natural evolution for his character. Getting to see George finally undertake this risky research and provide much needed answers was so fulfilling, especially after watching him struggle with believing in the confidence in his role way back in The Whispering Skull. Other developments for George included a hinted-at relationship with Flo Bones, the recurring relic-woman character who helps out Lockwood & Co. with various underground tasks, and a plot twist that involved George's research being riskier than anyone of them could have imagined. While there were multiple moments in the book that caused my jaw to drop, the one with George left me absolutely stunned, and goes to show that no one was safe during this mission.
As you could probably tell from before, I am completely obsessed with the ending of The Empty Grave. We do get our happily ever afters—Lockwood & Co. is happy and alive and well, and back in 35 Portland Row; the Skull's ghost has the possibility of returning, as Lucy recovered its Source; Lockwood and Lucy are on the verge of becoming more than just friends; and, of course, they solved the ghost epidemic, which would leave any agent feeling satisfied. My favorite part about this ending, though, is its ambiguity. The skull's ghost could come back, or it could not. The characters are alive and well, but for now. Lockwood and Lucy could get together, but we won't ever get the details as to how or what they say to each other right after Lucy descends the stairs. This is exactly how it should end. Our characters have resolved their problems, both internal and external, and have the energy and space to explore new beginnings and go on new journeys. Had Stroud ended it any differently (maybe Lucy had a chance to accept or decline Lockwood's necklace before the siege; maybe George or Kipps or Lockwood had perished in the final battles), he would have left all of our characters (and thus the readers) with unresolved feelings of grief or confusion or loss. Thankfully for us, though, Stroud is a plotting—and ending—genius, giving us one of the most satisfying series endings ever.
And that is how it all shakes out for our favorite characters from Lockwood & Co.—or is it? In the edition I have, there's a bonus short story titled "The Dagger in the Desk" which I can't wait to read. Or, even better, we can wait with bated breath to get more of Lockwood & Co. in the Netflix TV series Lockwood & Co, releasing sometime soon! Stay tuned for announcements from Netflix and Stroud himself, and in the meantime, for more of my reviews of Stroud's works, you can find them here.
*This review can also be found on my Goodreads page*
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