The Madness Underneath (Shades of London #2) by Maureen Johnson

I came across The Madness Underneath on a recent trip to the local library and had to get it!   I loved the first book in the series and just had to see what happened next.  Here is the cover and the Goodreads blurb:

After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Devereaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance to get back to her friends. But Rory’s brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she’s become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades—the city’s secret ghost-fighting police—are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it’s too late.

In this follow-up to the Edgar Award-nominated THE NAME OF THE STAR, Maureen Johnson adds another layer of spectacularly gruesome details to the streets of London that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

This book definitely has the feel of a middle book.  Middle books in a trilogy have a tendency to be the book where all hell breaks loose and you want to throw the book at the wall and/or pull out all of your hair.  Really.  Everything is falling apart for Rory since the Ripper's attack.  She has a huge scar and she's a terminus.  But she can't contact Stephan, Callum or Boo.  She's stuck in Bristol at her parents' house, watching TV and feeling alone.  When she does get to go back to school, she doesn't feel the same way about Jerome as she did.  She is so far behind that it feels hopeless.  Deaths are happening near the school again and she is sure that it is ghost related.  But Stephan is keeping her at arms length.  What else can go wrong?!  Lots of things, apparently.  This book kept me reading right up to the end.  It make me laugh, made me sad for Rory and the ending made me want to set fire to the rain.  It left me wondering how much longer we have to wait for the third book.

You can click here to find the Shades of London series on Goodreads.  Maureen Johnson can be found on her website, Twitter and her blog.  The Madness Underneath earns 4 Fairies from me for being a great middle book in this series that pulls you in and ruins your day.