[1][3] The story is set in a version of modern-day London experiencing an event called "the Problem," ghosts which appear throughout the city at nighttime and attack the living.

The agencies are run by those who have passed the ghost-sensitive age, and the agents are the youth with the talents necessary to solve the hauntings, which puts them in danger in the process.

A sinister Problem has occurred in London: all natures of ghosts, haunts, and spectres, who are weakened by iron and salt, are appearing throughout the city, and they are not exactly friendly.

When the brave Lucy Carlyle joins the small but enterprising agency Lockwood & Co., which consists of George Cubbins (researcher), Anthony Lockwood (leader), and Lucy Carlyle (assistant), approximately a month later they are sued for a job gone wrong, resulting in the house of their employer burning down.

[13] However, in September 2017 it was announced that Big Talk Productions had optioned the rights to Lockwood & Co., with plans to adapt it into a television series.