Jackaby by William Ritter

Jackaby
Author: William Ritter
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Publication Date: September 16, 2014
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Review:
I consider myself a bit of a Sherlock Holmes buff. I’ve read all of the original Holmes stories and many other novels from the Victorian Detective Lit era so I was really excited to dive in to Jackaby which was pitched as Doctor Who meets Sherlock (two of my favorite shows). Unfortunately, Jackaby ending up falling flat.

Abigail Rook is a new arrival in New Fiddleham, New England. She leaves the comfort and safety of her wealthy family to strike off on her own and become an explorer. I admired that about her but it failed to endear her to me. After reading an entire book written from her perspective I felt like I didn’t know her at all. I actually felt like the reader got a better glimpse of Jackaby than Abigail and what I saw of Jackaby I didn’t really care for.

Jackaby was meant to be a paranormal Sherlock Holmes but I found him lacking. He felt more like a caricature of the original Holmes than his own person. I wanted to see more flair and pizzazz instead Jackaby was constantly running from place to place with seemingly no rhyme or reason.

What I love about Holmes is that he has an arrogant air which he backs up with facts and observations. Jackaby solved mysteries in much the same way as Holmes but I felt like his conclusions were always told and painstakingly explained rather than presenting the facts and letting the reader riddle it out for themselves.

Overall, I think if I hadn’t read all of the original Sherlock Holmes stories and a plethora of Holmes-esque spinoffs I might have enjoyed Jackaby. Instead, the story was fighting an uphill battle to stand out from its considerable competition and it failed to do so.

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Jackaby by William Ritter