I’m looking for a series about a boy who I think solved mysteries after going to live with his grandparents or something. In one I remember him following some tiny grey spiders that led him to a solution, and I think there was a scene in that one or another where he went through a clock.
I also kind of vaguely recall there being black and white line drawings in the books. The boy was sort of stocky-looking and I think he had a Victorianesque name… Edward or something along those lines.
Total shot in the dark, but I wonder if you could be thinking of John Bellair’s character Lewis Barnavelt. Does the title THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS ring a bell? If the drawing were Victorian looking, then it may be the original illustrations done by Edward Gorey. See here http://goreyana.blogspot.com/2009/05/house-with-clock-in-its-walls.html for the original cover. The books were republished with different cover art.
You are thinking of several books by John Bellairs. Most of his protagonists are stocky, nerdy boys who solve creepy supernatural mysteries. Many of the books are illustrated by Edward Gorey. Check out The Curse of the Blue Figurine for the tiny grey spiders. You may also be remembering The House With the Clock in its Walls, whose protagonist is named Lewis Barnavelt. You can find a comprehensive list of the books, their covers and their summaries at the author’s website: http://www.bellairsia.com/the_work/index.html
You might be thinking of a couple of John Bellairs books – “The Curse of the Blue Figurine” (gray spiders) and “The House With the Clock in Its Walls.” In both, boys solve paranormal mysteries with the help of quirky grandfather/uncle types.
Oh, and Edward Gorey – whose “characteristic pen-and-ink drawings often depict vaguely unsettling narrative scenes in Victorian and Edwardian settings” – illustrated both.
This doesn’t quite match, but The House with a Clock in its Walls, by John Bellairs? It’s got clock, stocky, drawings, and living with older non-parents.
This might be “The House with a Clock in its walls” by John Bellairs (there are lots of other books by Bellairs in the same series)
On Amazon.co.uk there is a “look inside” that might help check whether it is the right book. Hope it is!
Yes, that’s the books! WOW! Thank you!!! I’ve been trying to remember these for years.