ALA Booklist (Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

This "paraquel" aning it takes place in the same world, but follows a different thread 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.

Horn Book (Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2009)

Alone after his father flees a murder charge, Pin Carpue falls in with some hucksters--a phrenologist, a potato-throwing dwarf, and a corpse-raiser. Coincidence and even more curious characters weave intrigue, as Pin survives an attack by the Silver Apple Killer and seeks to clear his father's name in this "paraquel" to The Black Book of Secrets.

Kirkus Reviews

Loosely linked by references and cameos to The Black Book of Secrets (2007), this "paraquel" spins its wheels through the muck-encrusted streets of Urbs Umida, dropping both corpses and more Dickensian-style characters into the mix. Hired by an undertaker for eerie nighttime vigils, young Pin is amazed to see a cadaver supposedly reanimated by magician Benedict Pantagus and his herbalist assistant, Juno. When heavily contrived circumstances throw Pin and Juno together, Pin becomes as determined to discover her secrets as he is to clear the name of his vanished father, who is accused of murder. Meanwhile, journalist (and freak-show escapee) Deodonatus Snoad gleefully chronicles the crimes of the "Silver Apple Killer," who casts electrocuted victims into the evocatively named River Foedus, and the hideous Gluttonous Beast terrifies paying crowds at the bustling Nimble Finger tavern. Higgins introduces a large cast, proceeds to kill part of it off, then closes by freeing the Gluttonous Beast and setting Pin and Juno on the road out of town. Further episodes may bring some plot resolution—but don't bet on it. (Fantasy. 11-13)

School Library Journal (Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2009)

Gr 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 individualsa bone magician named Benedict Pantagus and his troubled assistant, Junowho 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