The Whispering Skull

* UK edition
* US edition

***The Whispering Skull*** is the second book of the *Lockwood & Co.* series‏‎.

## Blurb

In the six months since Anthony, Lucy, and George survived a night in the most haunted house in England, Lockwood & Co. hasn't made much progress. Quill Kipps and his team of Fittes agents keep swooping in on Lockwood's investigations. Finally, in a fit of anger, Anthony challenges his rival to a contest: the next time the two agencies compete on a job, the losing side will have to admit defeat in the *Times* newspaper.

Things look up when a new client, Mr. Saunders, hires Lockwood & Co. to be present at the excavation of Edmund Bickerstaff, a Victorian doctor who reportedly tried to communicate with the dead. Saunders needs the coffin sealed with silver to prevent any supernatural trouble. All goes well until George's curiosity attracts a horrible phantom.

Back home at Portland Row, Lockwood accuses George of making too many careless mistakes. Lucy is distracted by urgent whispers coming from the skull in the ghost jar. Then the team is summoned to DEPRAC headquarters. Kipps is there too, much to Lockwood's annoyance. Bickerstaff's coffin was raided and a strange glass object buried with the corpse has vanished. Inspector Barnes believes the relic to be highly dangerous, and he wants it found.

## Plot

### I: The Wimbledon Wraiths

Lucy, Lockwood, and George are investigating a case at a park in Wimbledon.

### II: The Unexpected Grave

Lockwood & Co. are hired by Sweet Dreams Excavation and Clearance to assist with an excavation, but what was thought to be a simple unexpected grave turns out to be much more.

### III: The Missing Mirror

After a successful mission, Lucy, Lockwood and George try to settle down at 35 Portland Row, but are back on the already closed case after a relic is stolen from the casket they excavated. After a conversation with Inspector Barnes, during which they learn that Quill Kipps's team is now also on the case, their investigation leads them to Flo Bones and Winkman's store.

### IV: Dead Men Talking

The investigation continues and leads to a clash of the two agencies at the house of Edmund Bickerstaff, whose body was the one found in the unmarked grave. Things turn violent and quickly dangerous, as powerful manifestations appear.

### V: A Big Night Out

Lockwood & Co. attend a party of the high society, having been invited by Marissa Fittes herself, and steal from the fittes agency during it. After the big party, the three try to intercept an illegal auction of Winkman's and acquire the bone glass, which will likely be sold there.

### VI: Through the Looking Glass

After successfully recovering the Bone Glass, all that remains for Lucy and Lockwood is to patiently wait for Georges return, who had recovered the relic from the Thames. But he isn't coming, and the pair is getting increasingly nervous. What might he be up to?

## TV adaptation

The events of *The Whispering Skull* were adapted as the fourth through eighth episodes of the first season of Netflix's *Lockwood & Co.* TV series: "Sweet Dreams," "Death Is Coming," "You Never Asked," "Mesmerised" and "Not The Eternal."

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *The Whispering Skull* - Penguin Random House
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 *The Whispering Skull* - Disney Publishing Worldwide