The Chrestomanci books are collectively named for a powerful enchanter and British government official in a world parallel to ours, who supervises the use of magic—or the Chrestomanci, an office that requires a powerful enchanter and is responsible for supervising.

Gammer, the head of the Pinhoe clan, has ostensibly gone mad, but Marianne doesn't believe that she's completely 'round the twist.

She's sure that Gammer's the one sending plagues to the Farleighs, a related clan that also wishes to stay out of the sights of the "Big Man".

Until recently, the Farleighs and the Pinhoes had been working together, but it seems that Gammer has started a war, and it'll be hard to keep their operations under wraps for long.

He also meets the man who was bootboy at the Castle when the current Chrestomanci was a lad, Jason, and helps him and his new wife choose a house.

An egg that is sure to arouse the interest of the "Big Man" up at the castle – something the rest of the Pinhoe clan, and Gammer in particular, doesn't want at all.

Joe Pinhoe: Marianne's brother is sent to work as a bootboy (and spy) up at Chrestomanci Castle.

He likes to fix up contraptions using magic and machinery, and he and Roger try to turn it into a lucrative business scheme.

He makes quite good friends with Joe Pinhoe, and together create a flying machine, which they work on in secret.

'Chrestomanci' is the title of the post held by a nine-lived enchanter who keeps order in the magical realms.

[4] In 2009 it was a finalist for the Pacific Northwest Library Association Young Reader's Choice Awards in the intermediate division.