Title: The Beasts of Clawstone Castle
Author: Eva Ibbotson
Date(s) read: February 28 – March 2, 2013
Genre: Middle grade fantasy
Source: Library (Audiobook)

Audiobook Notes
Narrated by: David Tennant
Running Time: 3 hours

Can two children foil an outrageous criminal plot with the help of some of the funniest and maddest ghosts ever invented?

Clawstone Castle is ancient and famous, but its elderly owners have no money. In its great park live a legendary herd of wild white cattle that have roamed there since the days of the Druids, and now their future is threatened. Rollo and Madlyn come to stay with their uncle and aunt and, with the help of a mysterious recluse in the castle library, they collect an impressive team of phantoms who agree to help them turn Clawstone into a tourist attraction. There’s a bloodstained bride, an aristocrat whose chest is permanently gnawed by a rat, a girl who was sawn in half in a circus, a pair of feet without a body, and more. Paying visitors soon pour through the gates. But then a terrible fate befalls the cattle, and the ghosts and the children find themselves facing some very sinister enemies.

I will admit that the only reason I decided to listen to this book was because of the narrator. I am a HUGE fan of David Tennant and this audiobook really hit it home for me that he is an amazing narrator. And I’m not just spouting on about him because I love him, but he’s actually very good at narrating stories!

But I digress!

I love a good middle grade book and this one was no exception. It was fun right from the start. I loved the idea of Madlyn and Rollo going to stay with an uncle they know nothing about because their parents are too busy to take care of them. While that idea is fun on its own (since their uncle really doesn’t come off as a warm soul!), the story gets really good when they decide to make their uncle’s home a tourist attraction by bringing in real, live (er … real, dead?) ghosts for all to see.  Continue reading →