Gareth P. Jones 
Constable & Toop 

"Sure to tickle the funny bone and satisfy the taste for some gruesome adventure while appealing to both girls and boys. A fun read." -School Library Journal Something mysterious and terrible is happening throughout Victorian London: Ghosts are disap-pearing. When this reaches the attention of the Ghost Bureau, the diligent but clueless Mr. Lapsewood, a paranormal paper-pusher, is sent to investigate, and what he discovers is grave. The Black Rot has arrived-a voracious spiritual infestation whereby empty haunted houses suck in unsuspecting ghosts and imprison them. Lapsewood’s investigation weaves through the stories of several other memorable characters-living and dead-including an undertaker’s son who can see ghosts, a serial throat-slasher reminiscent of Jack the Ripper, an evangelical exorcist, and many more. The living and dead must work together if they hope to destroy the Black Rot-before it destroys both the ghost and human worlds. "Jones has crafted a menacing, spooky Victorian London full of criminals and unfinished business, which is well balanced by the biting satire and buffoonery of the Bureau. Add to that a cast of fascinating, well-wrought characters-from the smarmy and threatening Jack, to the precocious, pot-stirring aspiring journalist Clara-and it’s a winning combination of macabre atmosphere, whimsical antics, and heartfelt, earnest friendship." -Booklist (starred review)