Monday, May 13, 2019

Paragraph Review: Ghostly Echoes (William Ritter)

Ghostly Echoes (Jackaby #3)
Title: Ghostly Echoes
Series: Jackaby, Book 3
Author: William Ritter
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Release Date: August 23, 2016
Genre: New Adult Historical Supernatural Mystery
Told: First Person (Abigail), Past Tense
Content Rating: Older Teen (violence and supernatural violence, dead bodies, death, gruesome images)
Format Read: Paperback (trade)
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Summary:

Tread lightly, Miss Rook, warned Mr. Jackaby. It would not do to push Miss Cavanaugh too far or too fast. 

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the investigative services of her fellow residents to solve a decade-old murder--her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny s fiance, who went missing the night she died. But when a new, gruesome murder closely mirrors the events of ten years prior, Abigail and Jackaby realize that Jenny's case isn't so cold after all.

Fantasy and folklore mix with mad science as Abigail's race to unravel the mystery leads her across the cold cobblestones of nineteenth-century New England, down to the mythical underworld, and deep into her colleagues' grim histories to battle the most deadly foe she has ever faced.


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Series: This is the third book in the 4-book Jackaby series. Click on the titles to read my reviews of Book 1: Jackaby and Book 2: Beastly Bones. The books do follow and connect with each other and must be read in order.

The shadowy loose threads of the first two books entangle in this knot-like mystery as deadly history repeats itself and Jackaby finally tackles the case of their beloved resident ghost. This book picks up just a short while after the open end of Book 2, Beastly Bones, and soon sends the team into even darker and more deadly situations than ever before. Abigail's signature voice with its cheeky dialogue, colorful description, and light touch on the gruesome details made for yet another fast and engrossing read that I was reluctant to put down, and the fortitude of her personal growth continues to delight. Quirky Jackaby doesn't disappoint as a steady role of strength and information into the unseen, and as always I enjoyed Charlie in his many applicable forms (hound, protector, boyfriend). The mystery did get a bit convoluted with its many technical and supernatural parts and I didn't quite follow all the reasoning, but the action and intrigue kept me engaged. Although I typically avoid stories involving the fae, I've come this far with Jackaby and after this book's "we're off to save the world" ending I'll definitely be finishing the series with Book 4, The Dire King. Highly recommend this New Adult Alternate History Mystery for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Black Butler, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Scribble Rating
3.5 of 5 Scribbles


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