Lockwood & Co
#174.38 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 5 books Status Complete 2013–2017 Reading commitment Medium Jonathan Stroud Last reviewed 2026-08-29
Overview
A completed 5-book supernatural-fantasy sequence following a small, independent London ghost-hunting agency during a decades-long haunting epidemic. Separate from this author's other work catalogued in this database. Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co. (2013-2017) is set in an alternate Britain under nightly curfew, where only children and teenagers can perceive and fight the malevolent "Visitors" that have plagued the country for fifty years, and follows Lucy Carlyle as she joins the smallest, most reckless of London's ghost-hunting agencies. The series blends detective-fiction plotting with horror and dry comic banter, and closed with The Empty Grave (2017) after five novels. It was adapted into a Netflix live-action series in 2023, expanding the property's reach well beyond its original readership, though the show was cancelled after one season. Stroud is also known for the unrelated Bartimaeus sequence, not part of this universe.
Urban fantasy · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (5 works) counts toward ranking
Lockwood & Co Jonathan Stroud
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Screaming Staircase | 2013 | 1 | core | 4.25 (78,462 ratings) |
 | The Whispering Skull | 2014 | 2 | core | 4.33 (45,589 ratings) |
 | The Hollow Boy | 2015 | 3 | core | 4.38 (38,036 ratings) |
 | The Creeping Shadow | 2016 | 4 | core | 4.52 (33,174 ratings) |
 | The Empty Grave | 2017 | 5 | core | 4.62 (30,993 ratings) |
A completed 5-book YA supernatural-fantasy sequence, separate from Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus Sequence, following a small London ghost-hunting agency during a decades-long haunting epidemic.
Quick answers
- How many books are in Lockwood & Co? Lockwood & Co's Core Canon is 5 books.
- What is the reading order for Lockwood & Co? Publication order, starting with The Screaming Staircase. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is Lockwood & Co finished? Complete (2013–2017).
- How much reading does Lockwood & Co take? Medium reading commitment (estimated from 5 Core Canon books · ~2,142 pages).
- How is Lockwood & Co ranked? #17 in this site's official ranking, based on 226,254 reader ratings across 5 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #17?
Ranked #17 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.38 across 5 core books.
- Backed by 226k reader ratings.
- 0.04 behind #16, La Horde du Contrevent.
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Top-tier rated · 5 books · Complete · 226k ratings · Ranks #17 overall
Good choice if you want a moderate-length urban fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (5 Core Canon books)
- The Screaming Staircase (2013)
- The Whispering Skull (2014)
- The Hollow Boy (2015)
- The Creeping Shadow (2016)
- The Empty Grave (2017)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- Edgar Award (Best Juvenile Mystery), 2014: won: The Screaming Staircase
You might also like
Suggestions computed from what Lockwood & Co and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- Legendborn Urban fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.27
- Precious Stone Trilogy Urban fantasy / Romantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.27
- The Bartimaeus Sequence Urban fantasy / Comic fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.14
- Penryn & the End of Days Urban fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · Medium commitment · 4.10
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.38 across 226,254 ratings on 5 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit Lockwood & Co (Jonathan Stroud) accepted 2026-08-29
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-08-29
Rule: All five novels form one continuous sequence and are Core Canon; no Expanded Canon material exists for this universe.