Jackaby is the first novel in a series by William Ritter about Abigail Rook who has newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job. She 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 it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police–with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane–deny.
Abigail, who has longed for her entire life for adventure while watching her archaeologist father set off on dig after dig leaving her behind, finally finds it while accompanying Jackaby on his “investigations”. She readily accepts all of the things that she had before thought to be impossible and that is what makes her character so thrilling to read about. Before she meets Jackaby she is a girl who longs for opportunity and once she has it she holds on to it fiercely- no matter the cost.
The sequel to Jackaby, Beastly Bones, has recently arrived here at the Palisades Library and I’m sure you will want to read it next after this thrilling novel!