The Madness Underneath, by Maureen Johnson (with ARC giveaway!)

I very much enjoyed The Name of the Star, the first book in Maureen Johnson's Shades of London series.  It's the story of a southern girl, Rory, who comes to London for a year in an exclusive boarding school--only to find herself menaced by of a truly creepy killer who is recreating the murders of Jack the Ripper.   Rory begins to realize that there is more to the murders than meets the eye, because it turns out that Rory can see ghosts...and ghosts are involved.  She's not alone in that ability, and is recruited by the small unit (3 young people) of London's police force who are responsible for handling the ghostly crimes of London--but will Rory be able to help them track down the murderer, or will she end up dead herself?  And in the meantime, there's the whole culture shock of life at a British boarding school....

The Madness Underneath (Putnam, Feb. 26 2013)  begins as Rory has more or less recovered physically from the knife wound she got at the end of book one.  Her parents agree to let her return to school....but it's not exactly going to be a peaceful end of term experience for her.  For one thing, she has a new, unique, ability--her touch can dispel ghosts--and since the devices that were able to do this all got destroyed in Book 1, she is the only actual weapon the small police ghost force has to work with.  Her place within that force is uncertain, as Stephan, the leader of that team, is reluctant to recruit her and swear her to a life of secrecy and lies...

But when faced with murderous spirits, and a plot by some very sinister folks indeed to capture Rory and use her for their own ends (this was a slightly odd plot, a bit jarring), there's no way for her to just sit quietly at school and worry about her homework....

Though there are many creepy and exciting goings on, this isn't a book full of non stop action.  I myself like this--non stop action gives me a headache.  Instead, there is lots here about Rory as a person, struggling both with her feelings (toward boys and toward her new ability), and struggling academically.  I must confess I became so worried about her academic struggles that I wanted to flip to the end to see if she flunked out or not.   But then I got interested in the actual plot of ghosts and mysteries and bad guys, and since it was becoming all too clear that Rory was doomed academically, I was able to focus on what was actually Happening.

But oh, Maureen Johnson, why did you have to give me that one full voltage scene of beautiful romantic tension only to snatch it away from me?

Courtesy of the publisher, I have an ARC of The Madness Underneath to give away (US only); please enter by next Wednesday, Feb. 13, at midnight!  It's my first rafflecopter giveaway; I hope it works. Edited to add:  It didn't work.  For one thing, it made me answer the question "What makes you smile" which did Not make me smile and for another it gave extra entries for following rafflecopter on twitter.  So I am going back to --Please enter by leaving a comment that includes some way to reach you!