When the traveling circus arrives in rural England, Lizzie's palm-reading talent reveals a gang of thieves using a terrifying black hound to rob graves in the local cemetery. Soon Lizzie and her friends find themselves in the middle of a grave-robbing mystery with no end in sight. Now it's up to them to stop the grave robbers before they strike again.

I was lucky enough to get a copy of the first book in this series at Children's Book day. I really enjoyed it, and was pleased that there would be further adventures for the Penny Gaff Gang. So when this story came into the library where I work, I snatched it up. I read it in three days, which for me is good going. Especially since my reading time is often limited to that spent waiting for the bus to work.

Lizzie is a wonderful character. She is down-to-earth and has a good heart. Her friends are all well rounded. They don't just automatically form a Scooby-squad and blindly follow her everywhere. Sometimes, not crossing Ma is more important than going on an adventure with Lizzie, however much they want to support her.

Lockwood doesn't pull punches when giving them obstacles to overcome either. These are not gentle little mysteries. Lizzie has to deal with grave-robbers, and some really nasty seedy aspects of life in 19th century England.

I can't recommend these stories highly enough. ( )