Four short stories in one book, which are perfect for young readers to read alone or alternatively, are just the right length for bedtime stories. Betsey Biggalow is a fun character for whom things never go quite right, but she always makes the best of things.

Somewhere between Pippi Longstocking and Tracy Beaker, Betsey Biggalow, who stars in these short, pacey stories, is an imaginative and enquiring girl who is sometimes mischievous but always endearing

Out-and-out thriller

I’ve waited with baited breath for the second instalment of Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co novels. At last, The Whispering Skull is here and it is definitely worth the wait.

Stroud delivers another riveting narrative

Rousing adventures for young tomb robbers and delvers into realms better left to the dead

There was a fight between me and my 11-year-old about who got first to Jonathan Stroud's Whispering Skull . . . A blissful read.

As in the first volume there are plenty of heart-stopping moments and a generous dollop of gore, but nothing most teens and confident readers can't handle: in fact, the problem will be to persuade them to put the book down. In short, it's both gross and engrossing!

The Whispering Skull frees Stroud to let his flair for spectacle run riot, resulting in several deftly constructed set-pieces far more akin to true horror than the ghost house antics of the first book.

As in the first instalment, Stroud manages to perfectly balance grisly encounters with gleefully sarcastic humour.

This is quality reading for young and old. Bring on those ghosts, but first hand me my rapier!

There's a dark, macabre air to these books that Stroud handles with an expert touch, perfectly balancing the supernatural with witty repartee and serpentine plots (no one could ever accuse Stroud of dumbing down). After The Screaming Staircase, our trio is back with a second instalment to sort out a seriously creepy talking skull trapped inside a glass jar. Ghost-busting has never been more engrossing.

The spine-tingling performance of Lyons’ narration will keep listeners on the edge of their seat.