Jackaby by William Ritter

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Title: Jackaby
Author: William Ritter
Series: Jackaby #1
Published by: HighBridge
Release Date: September 16, 2014
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Nicola Barber
Length: 7 hours and 21 minutes
Genres: Historical, Mystery, Detective, Paranormal, Supernatural
Source: Libby
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Spring
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes ✩ Book Depository ✩ Libro.FM
My rating:

Blurb:

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1890, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary - including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby's assistant.

On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it's an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain the foul deeds are the work of the kind of creature whose very existence the local police seem adamant to deny.

While Abigail finds herself drawn to Jackaby's keen intelligence and his sensitivity to phenomena others barely perceive, her feelings are confused by the presence of Charlie, a handsome young policeman willing to help Jackaby and Abigail on the case. But is Charlie's offer a sincere desire to be of service, or is some darker motive at work.

My Review:

4.5 stars — OK, can I start off by saying that that cover is kind of misleading, and gave me a totally different impression of the book I was going to read?  It kind of reminded me of an earlier Alienist cover, and so I was anticipating being freaked out…and I started getting myself in a bit of a tizzy with some of the supernatural elements, until I realized that this book is actually hella quirky and fun, and while it has action and suspense, it’s NOT that kind of scary.  So my fear tears were totally unnecessary.  (I mean, don’t get me wrong, I like the cover…but it’s not right for the book)

DUDES!  I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did!  I kept listening a bit, and then putting it aside.  But it ended up being right up my alley.

First, the narrator was fantastic.  She had fantastic consistent voices, great pacing, great emotion…just a great performance.  I’ll definitely be listening to the next books as well.

Second, Abigail is hilarious and adorable.  She was a great character to tell the story, b/c while she was “normal”, she was also open and non-judgmental.  I loved how spunky she was, how excitable.  I just…I don’t know, she was so easy to connect with.  I got it when she was wary, and I cheered when she didn’t back down.

And she introduced us to a world of fantastic characters.  I kind of loved that Jackaby wasn’t a love interest, but truly an employer.  I don’t know how it’s possible, but he’s a more loveable Sherlock — super quirky and odd, but also kind of adorable in his own way.  They developed a fun relationship.

Then there’s all the smaller roles — from Charlie to Jenny to Douglas.  They all added so much to the story, and to Abigail’s growth.

And I totally guessed the culprit fairly early on!  I was proud of myself.  I don’t know if that’s because it was easy, or I’m just astute, but I’m going with the latter.  😛

So yeah.  What a fantastic surprise.  God I love when book club books expand my horizons and introduce me to something great!

COYER Community: I buddy read this book with Lillian from Mom With a Reading Problem, and I think we were both initially reluctant and then ended up loving it!  She gave it 4 stars, and you can check out her thoughts here.