Beastly Bones

I read the first book in the series back when it was first released. I loved it but never got around to finishing the series. That is, until I had finally caught up on review copies for February and found myself looking for something new to read. There are so many books I could have chosen during this time – other series I have been meaning to finish, books that have been languishing on my shelves for over a decade. Yet, the Jackaby series is exactly what I needed at that point in time.

The series never takes itself too seriously. It is as raucous and bizarre as the synopsis indicates. At the same time, it is very much a story with heart. Jackaby is more than the odd detective with rare skills. He has a hidden soft side that you show more don’t really understand until the end of the second novel. Abigail has spunk, which is something you realize almost immediately but which never fails to impress throughout the series. Even better, every once in a while there would be a sentence so in keeping with some of the brouhaha in today’s society that I had to stop and marvel at its perfection. I found myself looking forward to these gems even as they continued to surprise me when I finally ran across one.

I went into reading these novels expecting silly fun with great characters and a good mystery. What I got out of them was so much more than that. They are reminders to love and accept one another in spite of or maybe even because of our differences. They are reminders to keep your mind and your heart open and to never fail to help someone in need. They are affirmations that we are more than the boundaries set by others and that we all deserve the chance to grow and shine. While still quirky and highly entertaining, they are also inspiring. Honestly, you cannot get much better than that. show less

"Some girls work in shops or sell flowers. Some girls find husbands and play house. I assist a mad detective in investigating unexplained phenomenon. My name is Abigail Rook, and this is what I do."

I love these rather madcap characters. Jackaby is a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Mulder from X-files [in that not only does he believe he SEES the phenomenon]. Abigail is the every-man (or woman) in this story line, we get to see the world through her eyes. She's intelligent and adventurous, and (yay!) in this installment of the series, we get to learn more about her background and Jackaby's.

As Sherlock has his nemesis, I believe we have just gotten a glimpse of Jackaby's, and I can't wait for the next so we can get a better view of show more him/her. the mystery in this one wasn't as much a mystery as it was an adventure of sorts. While it was fun and I played along, the next one will hopefully solve a mystery that is nearer to home for them, and I'll be there. show less

“Some girls work in shops or sell flowers. Some girls find husbands and play house. I assist a mad detective in investigating unexplained phenomena-like fish that ought to be cats but seem to have forgotten how. My name is Abigail Rook, and this is what I do.”

Abigail and Jackaby are back!

In this second installment of the Jackaby series we find our sassy Ms. Rook in a conundrum. Reconnecting with detective Charlie for a case she’s not only facing a murderer, a thief, and a few mythical monsters thrown between, but also an internal battle of where she stands in her new life and job. Her friend and ghostly housemate Jenny thinks she should forget the adventure and follow her heart to detective Charlie. Then a newcomer appears in the show more form of the headstrong journalist Nelly saying Abigail is Great, and Great women don’t get distracted by the ordinary.

Jackaby is hilarious with his attempts to give advice. He’s still the quick witted detective from the first book, but at times doesn’t know what how to react to girly Abigail’s rants. He takes more of a backseat to Abigail in this book, but I find I’m okay with that. Abigail is a strong, social character while Jackaby runs around like a madman. Most of the time it was like playing a game of “Where’s Waldo?”. Where is Jackaby running off to now?

Hank Hudson is another new character introduced in Beastly Bones. He’s a hunter with an affinity for mystical creatures and even has a pet bird named Rosie that has feathers and a beak strong as metal. He and Jackaby seem to have a long relationship of working together in the past even if Jackaby doesn’t always approve of Hank’s methods.

The plot is all over the place, but in a very good way. It starts off with kittens that aren’t really kittens and in the middle with dinosaur bones that keep getting stolen. We also get to see a glimpse of what Abigail’s father was like and her doing her paleontology magic on the bones.

What really excites me is the mysterious man that pops up ever so often in this book. Could this be a set up to introduce Jackaby’s Moriarty?! We’ll just have to wait for Jackaby #3 to find out.

Overall, Beastly Bones is a whimsical and witty continuation to the Jackaby series and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next book! William Ritter is sure to be getting a large fan-base out of this series! I recommend to the fans of young adult mystery, paranormal, and light romance with strong heroines or Sherlockian re-writes.

www.ReadingBifrost.com show less

"So often, people think that when we arrive at a crossroads, we can choose only one path, but - as I have often and articulately postulated - people are stupid. We're not walking the path. We are the path. We are all of the roads and all of the intersections. Of course you can choose both."

Aaahhh I binged this in one sitting and couldn't be more pleased. This was all the charm of the first book with a bigger dose of adventure and humour and heart. Am I still smiling? I'm still smiling.

Firstly, Beastly Bones picked up the bits of character that the first book had to leave behind: this time, we're playing to Abigail's strengths as the pair examine a suspicious dinosaur skeleton. It was really wonderful to see Abigail's passions actually show more be relevant and for her to be at nearly the same pace as everyone around her. Additionally, we get to meet another one of Jackaby's friends, broadening his weird world of the paranormal. Not to mention Jenny's brief but huge role in the beginning, tying in the sequel with far more promise and anticipation than the first book tied into the second.

Secondly, although I have -40000 interest in dinosaurs, this mystery and the 'magical creatures' focused on in this book were absolutely fascinating. I'm slow and daft with mysteries, okay, yes - but I still want to celebrate just how thrilled and surprised I was once the perpetrator was revealed. Also the creatures it brought in were varied, fun, and most importantly!!relevant all throughout. Most of the creatures in the first book felt like (super charming) throwaway tales to characterize (the equally super charming) Jackaby, but in this one, even the monsters that were only present in anecdotes were very important. Everything had a purpose along with being just plain neat. (I mean, seriously. Cannibalistic shapeshifter monsters, masquerading as kittens that are slowly turning into fish. My dude that was the cutest and scariest image.)

Aaaand last but certainly not least, this cast. Jackaby and Abigail's partnership is just as reliably charming and funny, but this time it got pretty dang sweet as well, so Jackaby's "obliviously earnest" quips weren't the only thing I was left smiling like an idiot at. Even better: still no romantic tension between them! Instead, just the sweetest, most awkward dorks to bring bliss to me and my endless reading frustrations:

Jackaby shook his head. "Miss Rook," he said, "the greatest figures in history are never the ones who avoid failure, but those who march chin-up through countless failures, one after the next, until they come upon the occasional victory." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Failure is not the opposite of success - it's a part of it. And as failures go," he added with a lopsided grin, "this one was really spectacular, wasn't it?"

The fresh batch of supporting cast were pretty neat as well, though I wish they were used a little more. Nice to see Charlie again, and (on the subject of the trapper) it was really nice to have someone else for Jackaby to discuss his wild ideas with instead of just have him doing the tired trope of dodging around the police. No, really, I'm so glad Marlowe was gone.

Now, there was quiiiiiite a drag of wandering back-and-forth in the middle, some characters were woefully two-dimensional, and admittedly dinosaurs aren't my favourite thing so the setting didn't thrill me (but the monster quickly changed focus into one of my ABSOLUTELY FAVOURITE THINGS, SO - ). If those are my biggest complaints though, I think I don't have much to worry about.

All in all, this book was wonderfully fun. My favourite things are still the immense catalogue of monsters, the endearing way they're presented, and just all the fast-paced humour throughout. It's gonna sound hopelessly dorky, but I really do love Jackaby's view on the world and how he navigates everything - along with Abigail's constant, hapless balancing act between logic and just accepting the nonsensical things around her.

(It's still kind of funny to see a very British author write Americans saying some very British things, though.)

"That's nonsense," said Jackaby. "Fortune favours the prepared. Unless you're talking about the Fates, in which case fortune generally favours Zeus. Were you talking about the Fates?" show less

Really enjoying this series. The characters really come to life in my head and the plots in the first two books are creative and refreshing. They don't read as Young Adult. The main characters read more in their twenties to me, especially because of the historical language. Fun, and unpredictable, I eagerly await the next book! Not your usual supernatural mystery!

(Originally reviewed at thelibraryladies.com.)

While I didn’t fall in love with “Jackaby,” the first novel in this series, I was still intrigued enough by the things it had done right (an interesting protagonist, less known supernatural beings, and strong writing) to wish to continue on with the series. Granted, it took a while to get around to this, but I’m glad I finally did! This book brought the same strengths as the last and improved on some of my complaints and concerns as well.

Not long after the events of the first novel, Abigail is still feeling unsure about her role as an apprentice to the paranormal detective Jackaby. She has an established place in the household and has made good friends with the local ghost, Jenny, show more but she still feels like a failure in many regards, simply not having the necessary wealth of expertise to prove herself a useful assistant to Jackaby. So, when a case pops up in the nearby Gad’s Valley concerning a prehistoric dig, Abigail is excited to join up seeing this as an opportunity to put to use her knowledge of and passion for archeology and prove that she does have something to contribute to the team. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Charlie, the handsome policeman/shape-shifter also happens to now live in this area.

As I said, this book doubles down on the strengths it had shown in the first. Many new and fantastic creatures are introduced in this book, some that have a basis in known mythology, but also several others that seem completely new. The shape-shifter kittens, for example, seem to be a unique creation of Ritter’s and one that he fully makes use of. This, too, is something that I very much appreciate about the fantasy elements in this series. Ritter doesn’t simply play lip service to the genre. Even with new creatures like these shape-shifters, Ritter takes the time to develop and extensive history for the beings and to tie them into known history (here we have ties to Darwin and Queen Victoria!) in new and interesting ways. It is clear that while Jackaby has a wealth of knowledge in the paranormal, he is by no means the only person in the world who understands that we walk the earth alongside fantastic beasts.

Another thing I enjoyed from the first book was the supporting characters. We don’t spend as much time at Jackaby’s home in this one as we did in the first, so Jenny’s page time is similarly limited. However, it is clear that Ritter is setting her, and the mystery of her death, up as a focal point for future stories. But in this book we get a whole new set of fun characters. Including a trapper who will hunt anything and who also has a fascination with the supernatural, two dueling archeologists whose snippy interactions were some of the most amusing in the entire book, and the unstoppable Nellie, an independent lady reporter who marches onto the page with her own plan and with no apologies.

The book also improved on the last in a few ways. First, one of my struggles from the first book was with Jackaby himself who I felt came across as a bit “aggressively wacky” and thus not believable as an actual person. Ritter combats this perception in a few ways. For one, Jackaby simply has a bit less page time than he did in the first and I think this was a wise choice. As a character, Jackaby is best served in brief, yet potent, doses. This method still highlights his strengths and interesting quirks, while not distracting from the story itself. Secondly, I enjoyed the more humorous take on Jackaby’s and Abilgail’s relationship, most notably his horror at being drawn into discussions about her romantic entanglements with Charlie.

While the first book did not shy away from the darker aspects of this paranormal world, I felt like the stakes were raised in this book. In the first book, Jenny was introduced as a rather one-dimensional ghost friend for Abigail. Here we begin to see beneath the surface to what must be the true horror of being stuck in the world after death without the ability to move on. Also, the central mystery is not resolved without serious consequences. I was surprised by some of the risks that Ritter took towards the end of the novel.

Lastly, the story sets the stage for an over-arching plot which I think is an excellent decision. It would be all too easy for these books to start to feel a bit procedural with a new paranormal case that is begun and wrapped up in each book. The potential for a “big bad” whose presence can be traced throughout the series is intriguing.

As a sequel, “Beastly Bones” did everything I asked of it: reinforced the series’ strengths and improved upon its weaknesses. I’m more invested in checking out the third than I was this second book, which is always a step in the right direction! show less

The second Jackaby book has proved to be as charming as the first, if even more verbally anachronistic. Never mind all that. As The Housemate quite rightly pointed out, "It's an alternate universe!" Nowhere in ours do we find cranky toads that spew sulphurous smoke from their eyes, and at no point did Darwin decide to keep secret creatures that morph into the animals they prey on. Or as Abigail Rook herself puts it, "Working as his (Jackaby's) assistant tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality."

In this volume the two leave New Fiddleham to investigate the theft of a fossil and the murder of the wife of the man who discovered it. They join officer Charlie Cane, who has changed his name to Charlie Barker (If you show more haven't read the first book, you won't understand why this made me hiccup with laughter.) after leaving New Fiddleham under a cloud of suspicion. Abigail is sweet on Charlie, Charlie is sweet on Abigail, everyone thinks they should just get on with it, including Jackaby who is notoriously obtuse about such things. But before they can, events surrounding the fossil discovery heat up. You have a lot of people telling a lot of lies, dueling paleontologists, an intrepid female reporter who also thinks Abigail should put the moves on Charlie, and a whole lot of cryptozoology going down. In short, it's a Jackaby novel.

These stories are like potato chips. I could read one after another and still want more. They're decently written, funny, fast-paced, but they're not just mind candy. There are decent mysteries at the heart of each one. However, in spite of Jackaby being the eponymous hero, these are actually Abigail's stories. She's a true partner to Jackaby, the emotional heart of each book, and in this one in particular, her expertise drives a good bit of the plot.

I've heard a sad rumor that Jackaby #4, The Dire King, is the final book of the series, and I hope that's not the case. The world Ritter has created is such fun, and filled with so many possibilities that I'm sure he could produce many more adventures. Still, never say never, right? I'll keep hoping he changes his mind. Until then, I have two more to read, and you, dear reader, have a delightful mystery series with which to become acquainted. show less