The Jackaby Series: Jackaby, Beastly Bones, Ghostly Echoes & The Dire King

“Follow my lead, Miss Rook,” Jackaby said, rapping on the ornately trimmed door to 1206 Campbell Street. Were my employer a standard private investigator, those might have been simple instructions, but in the time I’ve been his assistant, I’ve found very little about Jackaby to be standard. Following his lead tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality.

— William Ritter, Beastly Bones

William Ritter, author of the Jackaby series, I’m convinced, is an alchemist.  

Taking elements from world mythologies, folklore and classic detective fiction, and then throwing in some paranormal mayhem, glib humour and slap stick, and adding plenty of heart and lots of twists and turns, Ritter created a series that’s whimsical and fun—kind of a cross between Dr. Seuss’ Cat in a Hat, Don Quixote, Percy Jackson and The Olympians and Doctor Who. 

The series has a stellar cast. There’s R.F. Jackaby, a private detective who specializes in unexplained phenomena; and Abigail Rook, Jackaby’s capable and resourceful assistant, who gives us a first-person account of their adventures together. She has, as Jackaby observes, a gift for seeing the ordinary—a gift that complements his gift for seeing the extra-ordinary. And with her mix of strength and sensibility, Abigail provides the perfect counterpoint to Jackaby’s more eccentric and enigmatic persona.  

Rounding out the mystery-solving team are Jenny Cavanaugh (a ghost and the former owner and current inhabitant of the house at 926 Augur Lane) and Charlie Cane (a police officer, shape-shifter and Abigail’s crush).  

This is my review of the books in the Jackaby series: Jackaby, Beastly Bones, Ghostly Echoes and The Dire King. 

Jackaby

It’s New Fiddleham, New England, 1892. 

Inspired by her father’s work in anthropology and paleontology, and frustrated by her mother’s expectations, Abigail runs away to America in search of adventure—and a job. 

After seeing the following posted on a notice board: 

INVESTIGATIVE SERVICES ASSISTANT WANTED 

$8 PER WEEK 

MUST BE LITERATE AND POSSESS A KEEN INTELLECT AND OPEN MIND 

STRONG STOMACH PREFERRED  

INQUIRE AT 926 AUGUR LANE 

DO NOT STARE AT THE FROG 

Abigail she goes to 926 Augur Lane and learns the advertisement was posted by Jackaby. 

But unfortunately she stares at the frog.

(If you stare at the frog, it lets out an “acrid stink” that gradually eases “into full force like a boxer warming up before a fight.”) 

Needing to be at a crime scene and to escape the gassy stench, Jackaby rushes out of the house. Abigail impulsively runs after him and falls headlong into her first case: a series of grisly murders.  

The police believe the murders were perpetrated by an ordinary man. But Jackaby is convinced a malevolent force at work.  

Beastly Bones

While Jackaby looks into some “pervasive, carnivorous shape-shifters” (known as “chameleomorphs”) and the mysterious death of their owner, Abigail turns her attention to another mystery: a bone from a paleontological dig site in nearby Gad’s Valley has gone missing. 

And when a dead woman found near the dig bears the same unusual puncture wound on her neck as the one found on the chameleomorphs’ owner’s neck, Jackaby travels to Gad’s Valley to join Abigail, certain that these two mysteries are somehow tied together.

But the mystery deepens when more bones go missing (that later mysteriously reappear) and they find the mutilated bodies of dead farm animals. Certain that these events are connected, Jackaby works to find the link between these strange events and the beastly bones.  

Ghostly Echoes

Ten years have passed since her murder and Jenny Cavanaugh is finally ready to learn what happened to her fiancé who went missing the night she died. She asks Jackaby and Abigail for help. 

As they dive into the case, there’s a new murder and disappearance that closely mirror those of Jenny’s and her fiancé’s, and Jackaby and Abigail realize Jenny’s cold case is not so cold after all.  

Their investigation leads them a vast conspiracy led by the Dire Council. And although they find who’s responsible for the murders and disappearances, Jackaby and Abigail are no closer to stopping the Dire Council’s end game or identifying its leader. 

The Dire King

The Dire Council’s leader, the Dire King, is getting closer to accomplishing his goal of tearing down the veil between the Earth and the Otherworld.

And it’s causing havoc on both sides of the veil. 

Jackaby and Abigail must call on everyone they know, human or otherwise, to help them defeat the Dire King before it’s too late.

Racing against time to prevent a catastrophic event that could have far-reaching consequences for both the natural and supernatural realms, stopping the Dire King becomes a frenetic, learn-as-you-go endeavour. 

The Dire King is a satisfying end to the Jackaby series. 

The books in this series check a lot of boxes for me: they’re fast-paced and plot-driven (though the pace slows down a bit in Ghostly Echoes (Book 3) for personal revelations); the prose is crisp and descriptive; and the two main protagonists are fully-realized characters. 

There were two things that almost immediately struck me about the series.

First, its humour. Writing humour is tough. Really tough. It’s tough because people have different opinions about what’s funny. It’s influenced by context, culture and our personal (subjective) perspectives. It is risky and can backfire on the joke teller.  

And humour is not just about laughter. It can be used it as a mechanism for transforming characters into relatable, memorable creations. This is what Ritter so skillfully does. Although I’m well out of his target audience age range (YA), he uses slapstick and dark humour (and other comedic styles) in way that engages and resonates with me, while creating memorable characters. It’s one of the reasons I had to stick around for the entire series. 

Second, Ritter, now and again, inserts a well-placed (and sometimes, sly) social commentary in his text. This, of course, lends to quotable quotes. Here are some of my favourites:  

“I have ceased concerning myself with how things look to others, Abigail Rook. I suggest you do the same. In my experience, others are generally wrong.”  (Jackaby)

“Hatun sees a different world than you or I, a far more frightening one, full of far more terrible dangers, and still she chooses to be the hero whom that world needs. She has saved this town and its people from countless monsters countless times. That the battles are usually in her head does not lessen the bravery of it. The hardest battles always are.” (Jackaby)  

“Men’s hearts are easy targets, Abbie. I’m much more interested in winning their respect.” (Beastly Bones) 

“The truth of the matter is that most people are not looking for the truth; they are looking for the comfort of agreement.” (Beastly Bones) 

“So often,” Jackaby said, “people think that when we arrive at a crossroads, we can choose only one path, but—as I have often and articulately postulated—people are stupid. We’re not walking the path. We are the path. We are all of the roads and all of the intersections. Of course you can choose both.” (Beastly Bones) 

“The only paths you can’t travel are the ones you block yourself—so don’t let the fear of failure stop you from trying in the first place.” (Beastly Bones) 

“Miss Rook,” he said, “the greatest figures in history are never the ones who avoid failure, but those who march chin-up through countless failures, one after the next, until they come upon the occasional victory.” He put a hand on my shoulder. “Failure is not the opposite of success—it’s a part of it. And as failures go,” he added with a lopsided grin, “this one was really spectacular, wasn’t it?” (Beastly Bones) 

I also appreciate how the Abigail-Jackaby relationship and the Abigail-Charlie relationship did not become clichés, i.e., they did not become overly sentimental and dominate the story—something that I find all too often happens in YA fiction. Abigail’s relationship with Jackaby is a professional one; the line between mentor-mentee/employer-employee is never blurred. And while Abigail has a romantic interest in Charlie, it doesn’t overshadow the story. She has no intention of subverting her identity or giving up her career for him.  

Each book in the Jackaby series can be read as a standalone. So, reading the books in order is not necessary for the reader to understand what’s going on.  

The Jackaby series is not perfect, but there is much to like about it. The books have a quirky charm that would appeal to fans of Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Who and Percy Jackson and the Olympians. I highly recommend Jackaby, Beastly Bones, Ghostly Echoes and The Dire King to them. 

I loved reading the Jackaby series. Could you tell?  

Here are a couple of elements from the series that really stood out to me, which you might find helpful as you write your successful series. 

1. Plot

• The plot of each book was fairly fast-paced and engaging, with a good mix of action, conflict and resolution.  
• The twists and turns allowed the characters to address themes and issues relevant to their readers and advanced the development of their character arcs. 
• The plot of each book was clear and easy to follow. 

2. Characters

• Each of the main characters had their own distinct traits, backgrounds and arcs.  
• Each of the main characters had secrets and struggled with relatable issues such as identity, relationships and self-discovery; and Ritter allowed them to react to their personal crucibles in authentic ways. 
• The relationships between the characters added depth and nuance to the narrative. 
• There was a strong link between the stories’ themes and character progressions.

3. Voice  

• The series was told from Abigail’s point of view; her voice was authentic, and her story was told from a perspective that did not sound forced or patronizing. 
• The language was appropriate for the audience. 

4. Resolution 

• The individual books in the series did not end on a cliffhanger, and the series as a whole provided a satisfying resolution to the main conflicts and character arcs.  
• The last book brought back some of the characters introduced earlier in the series for a cameo, and introduced a couple of new ones. 

5. Wild Card: Humour 

• See my comments in the Series Review section of this post. 
• The stories were told with a cheeky sense of humor that would appeal to an audience beyond YA. 

Lastly, note the original cover art for the Jackaby series that I’ve posted with this article. Did you notice: 

• the similarities in art, including the typography? 
• the mood the cover art evoked? 
• how the colours in Book 1 are reversed in Book 4?