This book definitely has that Two Towers "middle book of a trilogy" feeling, but I really enjoyed it. Lyra is twenty now, and a student at Oxford. Her and Pantalaimon have grown painfully apart; they have intense intellectual disagreements about some of the theories and scholars Lyra has been studying, and a deeper emotional disconnect that neither can name. When Pan (out on a risky solo night ramble) witnesses a murder he reports some, but not all, of the information to Lyra. They are drawn into a secretive investigation that puts Lyra in touch with Oakley Street, and Malcolm Polstead, now a professor as well as an Oakley Street agent. Suddenly Lyra is being called in to a meeting with the next Headmaster at Oxford; her rooms are being searched, and confiscated; Pan goes missing; she decides to flee, with only a vague thought of pursuing a rumor to the Middle East. The second half of the book is split between Pan's travels and Lyra's. Both are pursued by enemies but both also encounter astonishing kindness at the hands of strangers. Spoiler, the book ends on quite a cliffhanger. I can't wait to see how this story is going to wrap up!