The Creeping Shadow

* UK edition
* US edition

***The Creeping Shadow*** is the fourth book of the *Lockwood & Co.* series‏‎, published on the 13th of September 2016.

## Blurb

Lucy has left Lockwood & Co. A freelance operative, she is hiring herself out to other agencies – agencies that might value her ever-improving skills.

But now Lockwood needs her help.

Penelope Fittes, leader of the well-renowned Fittes Agency wants Lockwood & Co. – and only them – to locate and remove the 'Source' for the legendary Brixton Cannibal.

It's a tough assignment. Made worse by the tensions between Lucy and the other agents – even the skull is treating her like a jilted lover!

What will it take to reunite the team? Black marketeers, an informant ghost, a Spirit Cape that transports the wearer, and mysteries involving their closest rivals may just do the trick.

But not all is at it seems. And it's not long before a shocking revelation rocks Lockwood & Co. to its very core...

## Plot

### I: Two Heads

Lucy is now a freelancer, working as a consultant psychic agent, assisted with the constant cryptic and sarcastic scull. When the source of her recent case, burned in the furnaces before her eyes is rumored to have surfaced in an underground auction, she starts doubting who she can trust. An unexpected visit puts the icing on the cake.

### II: The Ealing Cannibal

At the request of Penelope Fittes, the team investigate the house of the Ealing Cannibal, under the supervision of Quill Kipps, and shadowed by the suppressed emotions and past history of the group

### III: Lost and Found

When the Skull in the jar gets stolen, and she narrowly avoids death, Lucy returns to the only safe place she has left: Lockwood & Co. With the help of some old items from Lockwood family’s collection, they decide to infiltrate an illegal auction in a haunted metro station. Meanwhile, a boy from Aldbury seeks the agencies help against the unusually high number of hauntings plaguing his town… lead by a “creeping shadow” which he claims can raise the spirits of the dead with him.

### IV: The Cursed Village

Seeking to catch two birds with one stone, Lockwood & co accepts the Aldbury job: investigating the creeping shadow and breaking into Rotwell’s laboratory which happens to be nearby, despite a personal visit from Rotwell himself. The team splits into two, fighting the Visitors of the town. Kipps regains his ability to see ghosts thanks to a pair of googles, much to his enjoyment.

### V: The Iron Chain

The time has come to break into the research laboratory. However, nothing could prepare them for what they find inside… and on the other side.

### VI: An Unexpected Visitor

In the aftermath of the Rotwell incident, and the personal congratulations of Penelope Fittes, the skull reveals information with grave implications.

## Trivia

* In the *Lockwood & Co.* series‏‎, the audiobook for *The Creeping Shadow* was the first to consecutively have the same narrator (Emily Bevan) with its predecessor.

## External links

* *The Creeping Shadow* - Official excerpt (chapter 1)

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *The Creeping Shadow* (paperback) - Penguin Random House
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *The Creeping Shadow* - Disney Publishing Worldwide
3. ↑ *The Creeping Shadow* - Penguin Random House