Tag: William Ritter

by William Ritter

ISBN 978-1-61620-579-9

“Questions are to the clever mind as coal is to the stoker. I will worry more when we run out of them.”

A decade ago, Jenny Cavanaugh was murdered at 926 Augur Lane, currently the abode of one R.F. Jackaby, and his assistant, Miss Abigail Rook. Jenny still cannot remember who killed her, and efforts to help her remember only push her into ghostly echoes that degrade her soul. But she has asked Jackaby and Abigail to take up the case, even knowing that getting her answers may untether her from the mortal world, her unfinished business finally complete. However, the Seer and his assistant are soon called in on another case. Two scientists have disappeared, and the murder of Mrs. McCaffery bears an eerie resemblance to Jenny’s own death. Either a copycat has emerged, or her killer is still stalking New Fiddleham.

Three volumes into the series, the overarching plot is starting to take shape. The mysterious pale man who has been following Abigail finally steps out of the shadows, only to reveal that he is a small part of a much bigger plan. He also seems to know much more about Jackaby’s past than even his closest confidants. As they investigate Jenny’s murder, it becomes apparent that her death has some connection to the deeper mystery of New Fiddleham. While the action is less fast paced than in Jackaby or Beastly Bones, this makes room for important character development, as we finally learn how Jackaby came to be the Seer.

Ghostly Echoes also sees the introduction of Lydia Lee, who is rescued from a beating in a back alley by Jackaby and Abigail. A tall, broad shouldered woman with a low voice, she is attacked after two men who solicit her services realize that she is not quite what they expected. Interestingly, while Abigail sees what the two men saw, Jackaby, with the Sight, seems to see Lydia entirely as herself. Unfortunately, Lydia has little role to play in the story, and seems to have been introduced more as an object lesson than as a fully realized character. But of course, since this is a series, it is possible that Ritter is bringing her on-stage now because she has a bigger role to play in the fourth and final volume of the series.

Ghostly Echoes leaves the reader with as many questions as answers. The murder of Jenny Cavanaugh is solved, but in uncovering the answers, Jackaby and Abigail have meddled with dark forces that do not willingly suffer interference with their plans. The sense of resolution is incomplete, because it is evident that there is a much larger battle on the horizon.

by William Ritter

ISBN 978-1-61620-353-5

“Monsters are easy, Miss Rook. They’re monsters. But a monster in a suit? That’s basically just a wicked man, and a wicked man is a more dangerous thing by far.”

Boarding school runaway Abigail Rook steps off the Lady Charlotte onto the docks of New Fiddleham with one suitcase to her name, and no job prospects to speak of. In the New England of 1892, there is not much in the way of respectable employment for unaccompanied seventeen-year-old girls. Fortunately for Abigail, there is nothing respectable about R.F. Jackaby, private investigator of supernatural crimes. When Abigail answers his advertisement for an assistant, she finds herself pulled into the investigation of a series of grisly murders. Though the police steadfastly insist on a mundane explanation, Jackaby suspects something more unusual is afoot, but his lack of official standing hampers the investigation.  Given Jackaby’s preternatural preoccupations, Abigail’s grounded perspective and eye for detail prove invaluable as they attempt to track the killer with the surreptitious assistance of Junior Detective Charlie Cane.

In the fall of 2014, Jackaby garnered a lot of buzz thanks to publicists characterizing this title as “Doctor Who meets Sherlock,” a bold claim that appears right on the cover flap of the book. In the Doctor Who meets Sherlock schema, Abigail is simultaneously the Doctor’s companion, and Sherlock’s Watson, creating a written record of her first case with Jackaby. Jackaby certainly has the Doctor’s frenzied energy, and Sherlock’s lack of interest in social graces. He even has a signature chapeau, though his lumpy woolen toque is decidedly less dashing than a deer stalker. Of course, William Ritter didn’t set out to write Wholock, though the story does slyly acknowledge its debt to Arthur Conan Doyle when Abigail asks “you’re like whatshisname, aren’t you?” when Jackaby attempts to deduce where she came from. Despite the aptness of the publicist’s comparison, Jackaby ultimately has to stand on its own after name-checking two big series that are bound to set high expectations among fans.

Jackaby is set in the late nineteenth century, but the historical setting is less than fully realized, mostly providing a largely inconsequential backdrop. The period setting is actually most relevant in terms of the development of Abigail’s character, since she has run away from school and the expectations foisted in her by her gender. Despite a clear intent towards a feminist bent with Abigail’s independent character, Jackaby falls into one of the same traps that frequently ensnares Doctor Who. Any time Abigail is alone with either of the two significant female supporting characters—Jenny and Hatun—it is almost certainly to discuss Jackaby. As in Doctor Who, this makes for a good device for exposing the character of the mysterious Jackaby, but leaves much to be desired in terms of the development of relationships between, and characterization of, female characters.

Fast-paced and plot-driven, Jackaby feels very much like a pilot episode in that the focus is on setting up the conceit and then following the case-of-the-week. The characters have only barely begun to develop, and there is much we still don’t know about them. The mystery isn’t overly difficult, but Jackaby’s charm and witty banter are quite capable of carrying the story along between times. And although the historical setting plays little role, Jackaby’s extraordinary house at 926 Augur Lane has all the character and detail that New Fiddleham lacks. Fortunately, Jackaby is intended to begin a series rather than stand alone, and volume two, Beastly Bones, is scheduled for publication in the fall of 2015.

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