Cass’ family is next set to travel to Paris, where folks seem to be far more skeptical about the supernatural than they were in Edinburgh. If she thinks this means Paris is freer of ghosts, she learns otherwise in the Catacombs under Paris’ streets.

Back when I read City of Ghosts, I didn’t think I’d have to chance to read Tunnel of Bones before RIP season ended. My library hadn’t even ordered it yet! The order came shortly, however, and I was one of the first on the hold list, and the order went quickly (not always a guarantee). Boom. Tunnel of Bones became my final book for RIP. And what a way to end it! This story was as delightful and spooky as the last, and mixed with my nostalgia for Paris and France from my study abroad twenty years ago (ha!). I got a kick out of the following line, spoken by Cass’ mother:

You can’t go to Paris without seeing the Louvre. It’s simply not allowed.

Ah, alas, I have done this thing. The one weekend we were in Paris, all the museum workers were on strike, so no Louvre, no tours around Notre Dame (crypt, tower, or otherwise), nothing. On the other hand, the Rodin Museum dealt with the strike by opening its doors to the public for free, so I did get to see some incredible work by Rodin and Camille Claudel, which was awesome…

(Les Bourgeois de Calais)

But enough of my tangent. This book was great. The art on the front of my copy depicts the Paris Catacombs, which I’d heard of but somehow never realized what they were. I knew bones were buried there. I didn’t realize the Catacombs were made up of bones. Walls and walls of stylized bones. I had to look up photos online. Now that is an amazing place that I would love to return to Paris to visit. Why didn’t my study abroad class take us there?? Of course, I wouldn’t want to visit Cass’ version of the Catacombs, with ghosts and poltergeists and assorted mayhem. But it was fun to read about!

I look forward to the next book in this series! Hopefully it will release in time for next year’s RIP!