Jonathan Stroud meets Joseph Delaney (with a bit of Dickens). A darkly humorous and utterly gripping story of a time when demons roamed London's underworld

Praise for The Demon Collector: 'Mortlock was a striking debut ... it created a creepy atmosphere that won much praise. The Demon Collector is equally full of well-written suspense but far funnier, with a strong filmic element that fans of Joseph Delaney's Spooks Apprentice and Anthony McGowan's Hellbent will lap up' Amanda Craig, The Times Praise for Mortlock: 'An accomplished page-turner ... lighthanded, scary fun, with some sibling bickering thrown in' SFX 'Mayhew has woven a rich tapestry depicting a series of convincing worlds ... It has a breathtaking pace [and there] are characters we hope to meet again' Children's Book of the Month, The Observer

Jon Mayhew is a man with a dark imagination who has always loved writing and storytelling. An English teacher (to children and teenagers) for 20 years, he now works as a specialist teacher for children with autism. He has four children himself and, when neither teaching nor writing, he plays in ceilidh bands and runs marathons. Jon lives between the ancient cities of Chester and Liverpool. Jon's debut novel, Mortlock, was shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize, nominated for the 2011 Branford Boase Award and has been chosen for Booked Up 2011.