Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson is a great book and the second in the Shades of London series.  The first book in this series was The Name of the Star and introduced the audience to Rory Deveaux, the main character of the book.  The series is about how Rory moves from Louisiana to the UK where she attends high school at Wexford.  At the time that she moves there, there is a Ripper copycat attacking women in London, striking on the same days and in the same areas that the original Ripper murdered at.  Rory has a near death experience and develops the ability to see ghosts, which leads her to meet the Shades of London, a sort of ghost police.  They decide to hunt down the Ripper copycat, who they believe is a ghost.

SPOILER ALERT:  In the second book, Rory is recovering from her stabbing at her parent’s home in Bristol.  When her therapist suggests that she return to Wexford, she leaps at the chance.  When she gets there, she finds out that two days after the Ripper copycat died, another murder occurred, one that is unrelated.  Rory convinces the Shades of London to investigate it when she develops a theory that the murder was done by a ghost. END SPOILER ALERT.

This is a great series that I would recommend to anyone.  It has suspense and fantasy elements, though the fantasy part, seeing ghosts, is explained in a relatively scientific way.  Also, Rory has a great sense of humor, so the book will make you snort in laughter pretty often.

Book 1:  The Name of the Star

Book 2: Madness Underneath

While there are no upcoming books listed on Fantastic Fiction (www.fantasticfiction.co.uk), the end of the second book can pretty much assure you that there will be a third.