Beastly Bones | Book review

Title: Beastly Bones (Jackaby #2)

Author: William Ritter

Published: September 22nd 2015 by Algonquin Young Readers

Goodreads summary: “I’ve found very little about private detective R. F. Jackaby to be standard in the time I’ve known him. Working as his assistant tends to call for a somewhat flexible relationship with reality.”

In 1892, New Fiddleham, New England, things are never quite what they seem, especially when Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer R. F. Jackaby are called upon to investigate the supernatural.

First, a vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later, their owner is found murdered with a single mysterious puncture wound. Then in nearby Gad’s Valley, now home to the exiled New Fiddleham police detective Charlie Cane, dinosaur bones from a recent dig mysteriously go missing, and an unidentifiable beast starts attacking animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Charlie calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.

REVIEW

I really enjoyed the first book that I found whimsical and peculiar, because of the characters, but also because it was a reimagined Sherlock Holmes’ novel, with paranormal creatures. The second book went to the same way than Jackaby, which was really enjoyable.

The plot focuses on weird shapeshifters that take the form of the creature they are eating.

(and is in fact frowned upon in most societies)

Then, Jackaby and Abigail Rook are investigating missing fossils and a farmer wife’s death in the countryside, where Charlie now lives. The plot was fun to read about and the resolution was amazing, even if I had figured it out at some point *sighs* However, this plot had a hard time grabbing my attention, it was slower toward the middle but it picked right before the end.

New characters were introduced; a trapper and a journalist. The journalist was a very bold women, I was impressed by her character because she wanted to do everything by herself, even if social rules wanted to stop her. Meeting her had a great impact on Abigail, who aspires to be more like her and have control over her life. We didn’t see a lot of character development for the other characters – mainly because Jackaby is so peculiar – I regretted it a little.

There was more romance than in the previous book, but it was still really light, because Abigail didn’t want to need a man, like Nellie said. She took the relationship in her hands and I really enjoyed that about her, even if I don’t know if it’s realistic for that period.

Jenny’s storyline intrigued me and I’m looking forward to learn more about it in the next book. Moreover, the villain Abigail and Jackaby will have to fight against was introduced – I mean we know he exists – which makes me looking forward to read the next book. 

Have you read this book? Are you interested by this series?