Jackaby by William Ritter

Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, 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 it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny.

Doctor Who meets Sherlock in William Ritter’s debut novel, which features a detective of the paranormal as seen through the eyes of his adventurous and intelligent assistant in a tale brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre.



Jackaby by William Ritter
My Rating: ★★ ★
Stand Alone? Idk
Page Count: 299
Recommended For: Quick quirky mystery novels. Fans of Sherlock/Doctor Who, I suppose
Genres: YA, Mystery, Paranormal
Cover Rating: 9/10 !! SO PRETTY. But that model.. erm.. does not look like Jackaby.

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This world is full of dragon-slayers. What we need are a few more people who aren't too proud to listen to a few fish.

—Jackaby, William Ritter 

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Jackaby was a really interesting, quirky read. To me though, it felt a bit unoriginal because it felt like it was trying too hard to be a cross between Sherlock (BBC) and Doctor Who. Mind you, I've never seen Doctor Who (don't kill me), but the similarities to Sherlock were really obvious. First I had this feeling that Jackaby was a mix of Sherlock and the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp's version) because I don't know Doctor Who's personality and I didn't read the blurb... it was kind of a weird, fitting mix actually xD But anyways.

On the blurb, it bluntly states that it's a cross between Sherlock and Doctor Who. This made it feel a bit like fan-fiction instead of a novel. If you've never watched any of those shows though, I think you'll really enjoy it :) (-and you should totally watch Sherlock. I command you!!)

Getting past that issue, it put a nice twist on a classic detective plotline! I loved the paranormal aspect. And it was well descripted as well. You could really easily imagine being along with Abigail in her 'big adventure'. The place this took place was a bit confusing though... because it said in the beginning that it was set in America, but the language and scenery were clearly London :/ Meh.

Characters

I loved Jackaby! He was awesome. Like said before, personally it was like a cross between Johnny Depp's Hatter and BBC's Sherlock. What I would pay to see them both having tea. 

Abigail, our protagonist, was really cool too because she was independent. She wanted adventure, and she got one! With Jackaby of all people. I want!

There isn't really much to say about them though because they felt too similar to the TV shows. In books, I like it when authors put themselves inside the characters, (see my review of Every Ugly Word. That's a really well done book.) but they don't seem emotionally real enough if they're mostly based on someone else's work. 

Overall it was quite nice, but the character issue put me off a bit. There was nothing that made my jaw drop and go WOW, BUT it was still a funny, quirky and just a quick mystery read that I enjoyed loads!

—Miss Oddball€ Over and Out.