THE WHISPERING SKULL, by Jonathan Stroud

The story: When a haunted relic is unearthed in a local cemetery, it's business as usual for Lockwood & Company...at first. But when the thieves who steal it from the coffin end up quite literally scared to death, it's up to agents Lockwood, George and Lucy to track it down before anyone else looks into the mirror, goes insane, and ends up dead. Can they trust the clues only Lucy can hear coming from the whispering skull?

June Cleaver's ratings: Language: PG-13; Violence PG-13; Sexual content G; Nudity G; Substance Abuse PG; magic and the occult PG-13; GLBT content G; adult themes (murder, possession by demons) PG-13; overall rating PG-13.

Liz's comments: I really liked the first volume in this series (The Screaming Staircase) and also enjoyed this one, although maybe not as much. On the plus side, the author didn't have to spend as much time on world-building as he did in volume 1, so this one is perhaps a little more accessible to the casual reader. Conveniently, there's a glossary in the back in case anyone gets too confused by the arcane ghostly terminology. Ghostly and creepy, and not for the faint of heart! (But also not enough to give you too many bad dreams, either.)