Introduction. Claire looked across the fields and saw a tall stone building

Claire looked across the fields and saw a tall stone building. 'An old castle!' she said. 'I must go and see that before I go home again.'

Aunt Min didn't look at the castle. 'It - it's not a nice place to visit,' she said. 'Genny Castle is dangerous.'

'Dangerous?' said Claire. 'Why?'

When Claire's mother and father go away for Christmas, Claire goes to stay with her Aunt Min. Aunt Min lives in the village of Little Genny and near it is an old castle. Claire is very interested in the castle and she wants to know more about it. But the people in the village are afraid of Genny Castle and they won't talk to her about it. Accidents happen there. People die...

Aunt Min says she must stay away, but Claire knows she can't. She must find answers. And soon, she will. Because in the castle something is waiting. And it knows her.

John Escott writes books for students and young people. He was born in a small country town in Somerset, in the south-west of England. Now he lives in Bournemouth, by the sea. He is married and has two children. When he is not writing, he likes walking and he plays music.

He wrote The Ghost of Genny Castle after he saw a real old dark castle: Corfe Castle in Dorset, England. This is near his home town. Corfe Castle is nearly one thousand years old and people there tell a lot of stories about it.

You can also read Detective Work and Money to Burn by John Escott in Penguin Readers.