A 2015 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults Book
Abigail Rook, newly in the States after a meandering journey that started with her taking her tuition money and leaving school prematurely (and without the knowledge of her parents), finds herself in want of a job. After several inquiries (and several dead ends), she sees a posting for "investigative services - assistant wanted", decides to take a shot at it and soon finds herself in the employ of R.F. Jackaby, detective. Jackaby is prickly, obtuse to the needs of others, but he has a rare ability to see through illusions, which means he sees all manner of supernatural types where others naturally can't. Of course, this puts him at odds with the local police department as he's always butting into their investigations. This time, a reporter close to the police commissioner is brutally murdered, and Jackaby and Abigail are in the thick of it. Can they determine who the killer is before he kills again, even as Inspector Marlowe tries to foil them at every turn?
The description on the inside flap ended with "Doctor Who meets Sherlock," and while I haven't seen enough or know enough about Doctor Who to determine if that's an apt comparison, Jackaby, as a character, definitely has a very Sherlockian feel to him. Abigail is clearly the Watson to his Holmes, but she has a healthy dose of adventuring spirit in her DNA, so she is the perfect counterbalance and compliment to his near-myopic search for the truth. Ritter has also populated his world with plenty of interesting characters, like Jenny, a ghost who lives in Jackaby's house, as well as Douglas, Jackaby's former investigative assistant who got turned into a duck. This book is kind of a romp, if that makes sense, and feels almost like a cozy mystery at times. I really enjoyed it, and kind of liked that it's being set up as a more traditional series, as opposed to a trilogy with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. Jackaby might not completely scratch your Sherlock itch while we wait for more episodes, but it'll at least relieve it for a little while.
(Read as part of YALSA's Hub Reading Challenge.)
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