When I picked it up, I thought, sadly, that The Creeping Shadow was the fourth and last book in
Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood and Co. series.
Publisher’s Summary: After leaving Lockwood & Co. at the end of The Hollow Boy, Lucy is a freelance operative, hiring herself out to agencies that value her ever-improving skills. One day she is pleasantly surprised by a visit from Lockwood, who tells her he needs a good Listener for a tough assignment. Penelope Fittes, the leader of the giant Fittes Agency wants them–and only them–to locate and remove the Source for the legendary Brixton Cannibal. They succeed in their very dangerous task, but tensions remain high between Lucy and the other agents. Even the skull in the jar talks to her like a jilted lover. What will it take to reunite the team? Black marketeers, an informant ghost, a Spirit Cape that transports the wearer, and mysteries involving Steve Rotwell and Penelope Fittes just may do the trick. But, in a shocking cliffhanger ending, the team learns that someone has been manipulating them all along. . . .
The story line remains strong, and minor characters, especially Holly and George, become more developed. The skull, whose identity I hope to have revealed, is kidnapped. Lucy is drawn back into the fold of Lockwood and Co. And, although the manipulator is who I suspected it would be, the manipulation was not managed the way I had anticipated.
According to Goodreads, the untitled fifth book is due out sometime in 2017.
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