The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud comes after his earlier spectacular novel, The Creeping Shadow. The Empty Grave is the last book in the series, and it follows Lucy and her encounter with ghosts. Lucy works with her colleagues at Lockwood and Company. The company's primary objective is to investigate the obscurity of ghosts threatening the lives of innocent people in London.
The novel opens with Lucy and her friends sneaking into the well-protected Fittes Mausoleum, where Marissa is buried. Marissa was once a renowned female physic in London. The authorities forbid any person to visit the mausoleum of the Fittes because they want to preserve the history of ghost investigators. However, Lucy and her friends are determined to sneak into the mausoleum to uncover the origin of ghost incursions in Britain. When the team lucratively tiptoes into the mausoleum, they find Marissa's coffin with a missing corpse.
After leaving the Fittes Mausoleum, Lucy and her team face two major challenges. The first challenge Lucy's company faces is stiff competition from Penelope Fittes. The other challenge is that Mr. Fairfax works with enemies to kill the three members of Lockwood and Company. To counter these challenges, Lucy and her friends combine efforts with friendly ghosts such as the skull and eerie to remain competitive and powerful. The story ends when Lucy and her team win court cases against Penelope Fittes. In addition, Lucy uses the Annabel ghost to kill Mr. Fairfax.
