Grade 6–10—Left to survive on his own in the pestilent and crime-ridden city of Urbs Umida after the disappearance of his father (a suspected murderer), Pin Carpue's trustworthy nature earns him employment as a corpse watcher, assuring his skittish employer that the dead are truly dead. But Pin's seemingly straightforward job becomes more complicated when he is drugged at his post and subsequently witnesses two cloaked figures raise the body in his care for a final communication with a loved one. A series of coincidences leads Pin to seek lodging in the same boarding house occupied by these mysterious individuals—a bone magician named Benedict Pantagus and his troubled assistant, Juno—who also present their corpse-raising spectacle at the city's most notorious tavern. Lonely Pin is soon drawn to Juno and the secrets of her herbs. He strikes a deal with her that they will leave the abominable city together if he is able to divine the secret of bone magic. In tantalizing subplots involving a series of murders, a caged Beast, a dashing phrenologist, a potato-throwing dwarf, and a hideous journalist, Higgins explores the question of spectacle and what constitutes an honest wage. The cast of unusual characters and their interrelated stories carry readers along swiftly to an ending that begs for a sequel. Budding fans of Poe or Dickens will be entranced by this atmospheric novel.—_Jayne Damron, Farmington Community Library, MI_
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This “paraquel”—meaning it takes place in the same world, but follows a different thread—to Higgins’ excellent Black Book of Secrets (2007) drips with the same lightly fantastical, heavily Dickensian atmosphere. Young Pin Carpue works as a corpse watcher, standing guard in the morgue for three days to ensure that the deceased really are dead and not just  sleeping. There, he encounters a “bone magician” and his pretty young assistant, who claim they can briefly animate the dead so that the living may ask them questions. All the while a madman killer roams the grimy streets, spreading fear among the populace. While the bone magician conceit might not be as clever a device as the secret pawnbroker from her first book, there is still no end of picaresque charms, creepy turns, and beguiling cast members (most hilariously the poetry-reciting dwarf who turns to potato-throwing when he discovers it’s a more viable line of work). More stories from this unique world are likely on the way, though there’s no telling in what direction they’ll bend. Grades 5-8. --Ian Chipman