John Bellairs continues to improve as a writer, and the second in the JOHNNY DIXON books. As with previous books, there is a nice mix of mystery and spookiness. This time, Johnny is trying to find a long-lost will left behind by an eccentric millionaire. Of course, things are never easy for poor Johnny, and pretty soon he's in the need of help from The Professor. This book has some genuinely creepy moments, and Bellairs does a nice job of getting into Johnny's thoughts and motivations. Bellairs continues to impress me with his consistency, and I honestly can't believe no movie studio or TV producer hasn't snapped up the rights to Bellairs catalogue -- it seems like such a perfect fit! (Of course, they'd probably screw it up . . . but I'm sure Bellairs' heirs wouldn't mind some money thrown their direction!)


Highly recommended!