Lockwood & Co.

The Whispering Skull: Book 2

By: Jonathan Stroud

Narrated by: Katie Lyons

Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

Ghosts and ghouls beware! London’s smallest, shabbiest, and most talented psychic detection agency is back.

Life is never exactly peaceful for Lockwood & Co. Lucy and George are trying to solve the mystery of the talking skull trapped in their ghost jar, while Lockwood is desperate for an exciting new case.

Things seem to be looking up when the team is called to Kensal Green Cemetery to investigate the grave of a sinister Victorian doctor. Strange apparitions have been seen there, and the site must be made safe. As usual, Lockwood is confident; as usual, everything goes wrong - a terrible phantom is unleashed, and a dangerous object is stolen from the coffin.

Lockwood & Co must recover the relic before its power is unleashed, but it’s a race against time. Their obnoxious rivals from the Fittes agency are also on the hunt. And if that’s not bad enough, the skull in the ghost-jar is stirring again.…

The author of the blockbuster Bartimaeus sequence delivers another humorous and chilling instalment in the critically acclaimed Lockwood & Co. series.

©2014 Jonathan Stroud (P)2014 Random House Audiobooks

Critic Reviews

"Stroud is a genius." (Rick Riordan, author of the Percy Jackson series)

Such An Underappreciated Series - so good!

The Whispering Skull continues smoothly from the first book: the Lockwood and Co crew will have a new assignment to solve, rivals to beat, confront the reality that the The Problem is escalating in unexpected ways, and learn more about Anthony Lockwood's family secrets.

Story: Lucy, Lockwood, and George are dismayed to learn they must solve a case with the assistance of Quill Kipps and his eccentric team from Fittes. The investigation involves a Victorian doctor who robbed graveyards in order to plumb the mysteries of life after death. When his corpse is unearthed and then subsequently robbed, both teams will watch the situation reverberate through all levels of society. It will take all their luck and guile to not only solve the case but also to survive it.

Once again, we have a very engaging story that is never straightforward or easy. Our characters grow and learn about themselves and others, and along the way there is plenty of action. Stroud does an excellent job of dropping just enough hints and mysteries to be intrigued but never so much that we have nothing left to discover. Actions by the characters make sense (both what they do right and what they do wrong) and each person who shows up in the book has a very distinct and unique personality.

As with the first book, at the end of The Whispering Skull we are left with tantalizing hints of the story to come. The plot builds organically yet unexpectedly and the book-length story arcs fit seamlessly into a series-long set of mysteries. From the clues, it looks like Stroud will eventually tackle the root of The Problem and we'll learn what started it and now escalated the return of The Visitors. It will be interesting to see if George's skull will be at the heart of the mystery.

In all, greatly looking forward to the next book in the series.

Terrific sequel to Screaming Staircase

If you enjoy Garth Nix, you will love Jonathan Stroud. My two teenagers are delighted by these funny, creative, scary stories. I enjoy them too!

Talk about a cliff hanger

No spoilers but I can't wait for more in the series. The characters are interesting and you can relate to them, the plots are in some ways predictable but that's half the fun (also I'm 37).

Stroud strikes again Stand by to be spooked

This is another magnificent book by Jonathan Stroud. It is spooky, gripping and funny. There are twist and turns, clues and answers. The unanswered question, what is Lockwood hiding. The book is let down by Katie Lyon's performance. She sounds the same as as Miranda Raison to start with but has none of the subtlety or range. When Lockwood, Lucy and George are talking it is impossible to tell who is speaking. She does a passable chirpy cockney which she uses liberally but that is as far as it goes. As a Whispering Skull she is laughable. An excellent book let down by a poor choice of narrator,

Compelling Story

Really enjoyed the first book and this one even more, great narration, however have just downloaded the 3rd book only to find yet another narrator 😡 now a northern accent. Please don't keep changing narrators it's so disconcerting

Fantastic Fantasy!

If you could sum up Lockwood & Co. in three words, what would they be?

Imaginative,compelling, well-read

What other book might you compare Lockwood & Co. to, and why?

Bartomeus trilogy

What does Katie Lyons bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

Her voice and reading personalises the character

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

too numerous to enumerate!

Any additional comments?

Makes a long car journey fly by.

Great teen/young adult book

Loved it and the narrator really brought it all to life. So what happens next?

VOTE WITH YOUR EARS!

This story is excellent! However, the reader is not. I bought this audio book because the reader of the first in this series of books, "The Screaming Staircase", is excellent. Boy was I disappointed with the reader of "The Whispering Skull".
Recommendation: Buy this audio book only when they have got someone else to record it.

Great story, OK narration

Narrator was fine but I listened to this right after first one and unless narrator specified who was speaking the voices of three main characters sounded the same. Unlike book 1 where narrator crafted three distinct persons, especially for George.

Totally brilliant

Totally brilliant
Well worth a listen. Download the other books in the series they're great

Loved the narrator in the first and second audio

I absolutely love the reading in this book, not fond of the reader in the after books, in the series.

Brilliant.

A brilliant sequel to the first book. My personal favourite in the series; with a nice mix of grim humour and heart-racing action, The Whispering Skull is definitely worth a read.