This is book 7 in the 43 Old Cemetery Road series, however, I was able to read it as a stand alone book and it was enjoyable. The story starts in Spence Mansion, which is a 32 ½ room house in Ghastly, Illinois. Olive Spence built it in 1874 and lived there until she died in 1911. She still lives there as a ghost. Seymour Hope was an orphan who was taken in by Olive and Ignatius B. Grumply. Olive and Ignatius are authors. Ian Grumply is very old and wants to will his castle in Scotland to Ignatius. However, he ends up leaving it to Seymour who travels to Scotland to visit his castle. Macon Deals is a sneaky salesman/developer and he wants to exploit the Loch Ness monster and wants Seymour’s new castle to develop a waterslide. There is also a $10,000 tortoise who plays a rather large part in this story.

This story will be funny and enjoyable for upper elementary and middle school readers. There are lots of puns, word play and the story is told through letters, texts, telegrams, phone messages, newspaper articles, pictures, and conversations with a ghost. It’s rather clever. There is a lot to look at within the pages. It has some Scottish history (which is why I picked it up) and the ghost story is not scary at all. Readers will help Seymour solve the mystery of the tortoise and Ignatius will solve the mystery of why he is so grumpy. It’s a fast paced read with lots of humor and silliness. This would be a great series to add to a school library collection. It would make a good display for global connections (in an IB school library), being a risk-taker, being principled (Seymour realizes lying is not a good idea). Readers will travel to Scotland. Learn new vocabulary like neophobe and neophiliac. I think it will engage both avid and reluctant readers alike. ( )