Barnaby Grimes- Curse of the Night Wolf by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Barnaby Grimes is a messenger known as a Tick-Tock Lad. Because, tick-tock, time is money. And he's one of the fastest messengers in London, bypassing street traffic and the resultant delays by using the roofs as his highway. This makes him a high-stacker, and Barnaby learned from the best. But with his mentor's death, he's the jewel in the crown of High-Stackers.

Barnaby knows plenty of people on the streets of his city, which is set up very much like Edwardian/Victorian London, but the death of a cabdriver friend of his, and the attack of a horrible wolf-like creature, sets Barnaby on the trail of a doctor dispensing a free patent medicine to the poor and indigent of the city.

The Doctor appears to be benevolent, treating the problems of those who are usually overlooked by the well to do physicians of Hartley Square. But when another creature appears from those the physician has been treating, Barnaby is certain something isn't right with the medicine this man has been handing out, and he's determined to avenge the death of his coachman friend, Old Benjamin. But when Barnaby falls into the hands of the physician himself, can he keep himself from befalling the same fate?

I loved this book. Much as I enjoyed the Edge Chronicles, written and illustrated by the same team, the Edge Chronicles were rather... out there. This book is much closer to the historical novels that are one of my favorite things to read.

Readers will find much to enjoy in Barnaby, who is quick-witted and an eminently readable narrator. You get the impression that Barnaby's life is filled with adventure, as every passage of time is filled with comments on other adventures not germane to the main story of the book, but which whet your appetite for more tales of this interesting character.

And not only the gothic feeling of the story itself draws you in, but also the art, which has a definite Edward Gorey feel, but not quite as oppressive as some of his art, because the lines here are very fine and clean. The picture of Barnaby on the back cover is wonderful, with Barnaby High-Stacking it over the rooftops in his Chimmneystack (stovepipe) hat, sword-cane in hand and bag of messages slung over his shoulder is just wonderfully evocative, and the art also lends itself well to the horror-filled storyline.

I can't recommend this story and this series, as there are three out currently, highly enough. It's a fun read that will stretch reader's vocabularies in a way that is challenging but fun. The derring-do of the main character will entertain readers for as long as it takes them to finish this rather slim volume, and then leave them hungry for more. Buy it for your kids, and then read it for yourself as well. You won't regret it!