It’s apparent that Ritter has a way with words, and an inventive imagination. Abigail does have a romantic interest in the novel, but their relationship is very young and very fitting for the time period.įor a first novel, Jackaby is an impressive feat. There isn’t much chemstry there, and I think, had William Ritter tried to force it into the book, it would have felt super awkward. (This can occasionally be true, I promise!) Abigail and Jackaby are both good looking young people, but their relationship is more of the Sherlock-Watson variety-the standard one, not the Johnlock version. Jackaby isn’t a swoon-filled novel, and it’s all the better for it. Additionally, she notices the little things, which makes her an excellent compliment to someone like Jackaby who sees the bigger, weirder picture. In addition, she’s intelligent, street-smart and persuasive, but in a way that makes people like her for real, not because she’s tricked them into it.

It seems that sometimes, adventure finds a young woman-rather than the other way around.Ībigail is a girl who’s not afraid to take risks, even when she’s going against her parents or the “norms” of the period (the 1890s). Soon after arriving, she meets Jackaby, an unusual man with a gift for deduction, a ridiculous knit hat and a very strange way of looking at the world. There, realizing that she wasn’t yet ready to face the proverbial music, she booked passage on a ship to America, and arrived in New England with nothing but a small suitcase and a few coins. The dig fell through, and Abigail was forced to make her own way to Germany to seek passage home. But Abigail wouldn’t be deterred, and so when she spotted a notice about an excursion to the Carpathian Mountains, she took the money her parents had set aside for her college tuition, bought some second-hand trousers, and left a brief note on her way out the door.Īdventure doesn’t alway come easy, however. Looking for dusty bones isn’t the place for a proper young lady, you know. For Abigail Rook, the daughter of a famed paleontologist, adventure was always just out of reach.

There comes a time in every young woman’s life when she feels the need to take off-possibly against her parents’ wishes-and seek adventure. Publishers: More covers like this, please!

The fact that the scene seems like it’s happening in his head. The fact that there’s a boy on the cover, but he’s not trying to mack on a young lady. The mix of matte and gloss on the physical copy. Relationship Status: Partners in Solving Crime Bonus Factors: Hints of Sherlock, Paranormal Creatures

William ritter jackaby series