The Death Collector

Richards (the Invisible Detective series) makes a strong showing in this haunting story set in Victorian London, where a 14-year-old pickpocket, a young horologist at the British Museum, and a clergyman's daughter with a taste for theatrics join forces to thwart a mad industrialist's attempts to reanimate the dead. Right from the opening sentence, "Four days after his own funeral, Albert Wilkes came home for tea," the pace never falters. Eddie, George and Liz meet through a plausible course of events, and become involved with the maniacal Mr. Lorimore when a museum clerk is killed, and George takes a scrap of paper from the scene of his friend's death. As the tale progresses, the three teens find in each other a measure of companionship that each had lacked. Richards demonstrates a knack for physical description ("When he spoke, the sound seemed to be amplified by the mass of red hair round his mouth") as well as for conjuring an eerie atmosphere, evoking the smog and stench of industrial London as easily as supernatural beings ("The nightmare creature roared like a train hurtling into a tunnel and clouds of hot breath erupted into the air around Eddie"). Suspense and adventure in abundance make for a thrilling read. Ages 12-18. (July)