"You must think it strange that I'm digging up my grandfather."
"Not at all. I'm sure many young men dig up their grandfathers."

Thomas Timewell is sixteen and a gentleman. When he meets a body-snatcher called Plenitude, his whole life changes. He is pursued by cutthroats, a tattooed gypsy with a meat cleaver, and even the Grim Reaper. More disturbing still, Thomas has to spend an evening with the worst novelist in the world.

A black comedy set in England in 1828, The Life of a Teenage Body-Snatcher shows what terrible events can occur when you try to do the right thing. 'Never a good idea', as Thomas' mother would say.