Lockwood stared. “Does he always talk like this?” “No. Usually he’s worse. See what I have to put up with?”

The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud

Five months after the events in THE CREEPING SHADOW, we join Lockwood, Lucy, George, Holly, and their associate Quill Kipps on a perilous night mission: they have broken into the booby-trapped Fittes Mausoleum, where the body of the legendary psychic heroine Marissa Fittes lies. Or does it? This is just one of the many questions to be answered in Book 5 of the Lockwood & Co. series. Will Lockwood ever reveal more about his family's past to Lucy? Will their trip to the Other Side leave Lucy and Lockwood forever changed? Will Penelope Fittes succeed in shutting down their agency forever? The young agents must survive attacks from foes both spectral and human before they can take on their greatest enemy in a climactic and chaotic battle. And to prevail they will have to rely on help from some surprising--and shadowy--allies. Jonathan Stroud once again delivers a rousing adventure full of danger, laughs, twists, and frights. The revelations will send readers back to Book 1 to start the series all over again.

Did I want to reread the whole series over again? You bet I did. And I plan to, once I catch up on some of my other books. (WARNING, AS WITH ALL MY REVIEWS ON SEQUELS THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.)

This book had me up late and night and early in the morning just so I could finish it. I was convinced Lockwood was going to die so put it off forever before reading it, but once I started it I couldn't put it down.

The thing which surprised me most in this book was how much I have come to like Kipps, the Skull, and even Barnes. I felt tricked into liking them, but when Kipps got stabbed and almost died I was on the edge of my seat.

And shall we mention when George almost died? Shall we mention the fact everyone almost died but Lockwood, the one most were worried about? It was like Stroud knew our fear so sneaked in other close calls just to watch us cry in fear.

The ending was everything I hoped it would be and more. Happy but with enough mystery to imagine things going on the way they had always been, mostly. And I still have hope that Skull came back. I don't count him as dead because of the glow in the end. And after all, what is Lockwood and Co. without Skull and his sass?

This series is well done and one of my favorites and I recommend it, spookiness and all.