In this, the second book in the Johnny Dixon mystery series, Johnny must find the lost will of Mr. H. Bagwell Glomus, a man of great fortune and sinister witchcraft. Mr. Glomus’s widow is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who finds its hiding place, enough money to help Johnny’s grandmother get the operation she needs. So, Johnny will stop at nothing to find the will.
With his neighbor, Professor Childermass, and his new friend Fergie, Johnny won’t rest until he solves the puzzle. From Boy Scout camp to hotel windows to underground passageways, Johnny races to find the right clues, all the while with the supernatural nipping at his heels…
“The pace is fast and the suspense is compelling. Readers will find themselves quickly caught up.” —Booklist
“Marvelous surprises for everyone except the villians.” —Publishers Weekly
John Bellairs is beloved as a master of Gothic young adult novels and fantasies. His series about the adventures of Lewis Barnavelt and his uncle Jonathan, which includes The House with a Clock in Its Walls, is a classic. He also wrote a series of novels featuring the character Johnny Dixon. Among the titles in that series are The Curse of the Blue Figurine; The Mummy, The Will, and The Crypt; The Spell of the Sorcerer’s Skull; and others. His solo novel The Face in the Frost is also regarded as a fantasy classic, and among his earlier works are St. Fidgeta and Other Parodies and The Pedant and the Shuffly. Bellairs was a prolific writer, publishing more than one dozen novels before his untimely death in 1991.