Dear Department of Ghosts: A Case File of Labels, Letters & Loose Ends

When eleven-year-old Toby writes to the Department of Ghosts to report strange happenings, he is surprised when the Department writes back...

Toby diligently sends details about the cold spot under his bed, the wet footprints on his carpet, and a goldfish named Fettuccine who keeps dying and coming back…wrong. But what he gets in return are intake forms, a case number for Archive 13B, and a hapless clerk named Clarence G. Bonesworth, who offers hilariously absurd (but rather unhelpful) advice.

When Toby notices someone—or something—is changing his file, he begins to wonder what is really happening in the Department… and who else may be involved. There are other files at risk, including one for a girl receiving letters in her dead grandmother’s handwriting. Their cases share one chilling detail: the timestamp 3:17 a.m.

Is the Department losing control of its own paperwork? Or is the Archive storing more than just case files?

Presented in a full-color hardcover edition that brings its documents, forms, and case files vividly to life, this cleverly creepy middle-grade mystery is perfect for readers ages 9–13 who love slow-burn hauntings, dark humor, tangled mysteries—and for every kid who knows something is wrong, even when no one believes them.

Open the file. Follow the paper trail. Just remember: once you're in Archive 13B, the Department remembers you, too.