Jackaby

June 30, 2014
Toss together an alternate 19th-century New England city, a strong tradition of Sherlockian pastiche, and one seriously ugly hat, and this lighthearted and assured debut emerges, all action and quirk. In the best Doyle tradition, the first-person narrator is pragmatic yet naïve Abigail Rook, native of Britain and seeker of adventure. Thwarted in Ukraine, she catches ship for the U.S. and lands in New Fiddleham, penniless and with few employable skills. This matters not to R.F. Jackaby, the peculiar stranger with the awful hat, who is more interested in the kobold (household spirit) Abigail has unknowingly picked up on her travels. Jackaby is a detective in need of an unflappable assistant—literally, as his last one “is temporarily waterfowl.” Abigail’s keen eye for detail and complete ignorance of the paranormal make her observations invaluable to him, and she’s soon caught up in the eccentric mayhem that is Jackaby’s workaday world. Ritter is also capable of tenderness and pathos, as his description of a suffering banshee demonstrates, leaving room for development in any future cases Abigail may chronicle. Ages 12–up. Agent: Lucy Carson, Friedrich Agency.

Narrator Nicola Barber introduces listeners to Ritter's paranormal investigative team, R.F. Jackaby and his new assistant, Abigail Rook. They dog the footsteps of a serial killer who racks up an unsettling number of victims. In a race against time, Jackaby pits his encyclopedic knowledge against the killer's insatiable need for blood. Barber's narration illuminates Ritter's motley characters--from the enigmatic Jackaby to a banshee and a hospitable ghost. The personality that Barber creates for Jackaby is not entirely successful. While her decision to have Jackaby elongate his words and emphasize certain syllables is memorable, it may not accurately represent Jackaby's eerie prescience. Muddy production quality further distracts from this intriguing series opener. C.A. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine