School Library Journal
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 individuals-a bone magician named Benedict Pantagus and his troubled assistant, Juno-who 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
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)
From the Publisher
Higgins is a mastermind at creating a creepy world where children still maintain some sense of hope.” —VOYA
“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.” —School Library Journal
“This ‘paraquel'—meaning it takes place in the same world, but follows a different thread—to Higgins' excellent Black Book of Secrets (2007) drips with the same lightly fantastical, heavily Dickensian atmosphere…there is still no end of picaresque charms, creepy turns, and beguiling cast members...” —Booklist
“In this standalone companion novel to The Black Book of Secrets, British author Higgins deftly balances the exceedingly harsh circumstances with wry humor, sly commentary on class issues, and a protagonist who has enough wisdom to recognize the fact that his optimism is perhaps misguided but who manages to retain it anyway.” —BCCB
“Set in Urbs Umida, where ‘merely to be born was considered the first step towards dying', The Bone Magician . . . is a deliciously dark Gothic thriller-cum-Holmesian-whodunit, the writing so atmospheric that the fumes from the noxious River Foedus, where the murder victims end up, seem to seep off the page and swirl round the reader.” —The Telegraph, UK
“Young readers with a taste for the macabre will find it deliciously scary.” —The Guardian, UK
“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.” —Kirkus
