Lockwood & Co., Book 2 The Whispering Skull by Jonathan Stroud

Lockwood & Company are ghost hunters.  They protect people from bad ghosts by using tricks of their trade.  So it's real embarrassing when they get to where they are going to gather one in and the other team of investigators gets it first.  It makes Lockwood mad!

Disney-Hyperion and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published September 16th.  If you haven't read the first book in this series, grab that one now so you'll be ready to move on with their new adventure.

I like Lockwood.  He's smart, good looking, and able to do things most of us couldn't.  He'd sacrifice himself to accomplish his goal or protect someone.  Lucy can hear ghosts.  She's also learning how to be a kick-ass ghost hunter and has a crush on Lockwood.  George is their technical side:  he researches old documents to find the ghosts they will send on their way.  He's also a bit of a fruit loop, which makes him fun to read about.  If that's not enough to interest you, they also have a talking skull.  The problem with the skull is that while he can be helpful, he also gets real excited when he thinks they might die!

Lockwood and the other boss have made a bet.  Whoever solves the next case first forces the other to put a new article in the paper about how the winner is the best of all.  Nothing like a challenge...

Mr. Saunders hires Lockwood & Co. to seal the casket of  Edmund Bickerstaff, a Victorian doctor who reportedly tried to communicate with the dead.  He's a powerful spirit and was messing in the wrong world while alive.  He wanted to see the other side and was using souls to give him the power to do so.  All is going well until George gets a bit too close trying to read the casket markings.  When he almost dies there, they should have realized this was a bit too big for just one group to control.

Throw in a magic mirror, a traitor in the project and a ghost free-for-all and you have a real situation that takes a lot of doing to conquer.  You won't be bored.  And at the end of the book, there's a door opened that I'm sure is going to segue into another book in the series.  I'm glad about that!

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

Psychic Detection Agencies are showing up all over town.  Ghosts are suddenly appearing everywhere and none of them are friendly.  If they died unpleasantly in the past, they are back with a vengeance.  Only children can see them and deal with them, and the competition is fierce.

Disney Book Group and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this ebook for review (thank you).  It will be published September 17th, so keep your eye out for it.

Lucy finally finds a job with the Lockwood Agency.  She and Anthony work the cases and George is like their ballast.  He investigates the history of the case they accept, readies the tools they use against the ghosts, and stays out of their way.  They are an unusual agency because they don't have adult supervisors.  Lucy appreciates that because her last supervisor let her whole team die; Lucy was the only survivor.

The first case she goes on with Lockwood almost gets her killed.  A murdered woman doesn't rest easily.  They both make errors on this case and the house burns down.  Their client is not happy with them and wants them to pay for damages.  How can they possibly do that and who will hire them after that?

When a gift horse walks through the door with an offer that is too good to refuse, they take on a case that sounds difficult but not impossible.  He instantly pays off the claim and takes them to the castle that is haunted.  A lot has happened in this castle over the years and the ghosts there are very angry, but it's the human involved that is most dangerous.  Going in is easy, getting out may be impossible...

Happy reading.