I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Dire King by William Ritter
Series: Jackaby #4
Published by Algonquin Young Readers on 8/22/17
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 353
Format: Ebook, Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push the earth and the otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve mysteries in New Fiddleham, New England—like who’s created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why the undead are appearing around town.

At the same time, the romance between Abigail and the shape-shifting police detective Charlie Cane deepens, and Jackaby’s resistance to his feelings for the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, Jenny Cavanaugh, begins to give way. But before the four can think about their own futures, they will have to defeat an evil that wants to destroy the future altogether.

Short and Sweet Review

After the events of the last book, the fate of the world is basically in Jackaby and Abigail’s hand. This moment has been building up since the first book, The Dire King is planning on ripping the veil between Earth and the magical realm. All of the things that Abigail and Jackaby have investigated were all leading up to us finding the Dire King, who is an old and powerful evil, who is ready to cause mayhem.

This is my second time reading this series and it was just as enjoyable as the first time. We see characters from past books and I liked seeing the camaraderie between the secondary characters and our main characters. We also see Charlie again and this time his family is also around so we get to see the life he left behind. With Charlie being back we see a little more romance between him and Abigail which was nice but we still had bigger things to worry about. When Jackaby and Abigail learn more about the Dire King, they begin to worry because of the amount of loyal followers he has and if they will even be able to defeat him. The book is filled with action, and some suspense because time is of the most importance with this case. We still get a few comedic moments thanks to Jackaby, which I love because he has a certain element with his delivery.

I don’t want to give any spoilers as this is the fourth and final book of the series. Actually no it’s not we have a book about Abigail coming out. Anyway the ending was great and Abigail has some new abilities, and I love how Jackaby is ready for the next chapter of his life. This is one of my favorite series, I love the mix of supernatural elements with mystery solving. Jackaby and Abigail were great characters and I can’t wait to see what Rook has in store!

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter
Series: Jackaby #3
Published by Algonquin Young Readers on 8/23/16
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 353
Format: Ebook, Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the services of her detective-agency tenants 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 fiancé, 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. Soon Abigail’s race to unravel the mystery leads her down to the mythical underworld and deep into her colleagues’ grim histories to battle the most deadly foe she has ever faced.

Short and Sweet Review

Jenny Cavanaugh the ghost who lives at 926 Augar Lane, is ready for Jackaby to solve the mystery around her murder. Jenny has always tried to avoid talking about her past but now that she’s ready we get glimpses of what her life was like and what she was doing with her fiancé before her murder occurred. I did like learning more about Jenny, we also see how hard doing some of this is for her, she ends up having echoes which is when she gets stuck in her memories and can’t remember where she currently is.

Jenny’s case is an interesting one, before Abigail even met Jackaby, he started to investigate her case but wasn’t able to make progress because Jenny wasn’t ready. Now Jackaby and Abigail are following some leads, but those leads end up taking them in different directions but it always comes back to one central person, who ends up being the cause for a lot of the messes we’ve seen in the last two books. We’ve seen a lot of development and growth from these characters, but especially from Abigail our narrator. Abigail is a lot more confident and willing to take risks to help the ones she cares about the most. We do see Charlie in this book, but there wasn’t a lot of romance mainly because this was supposed to be Jenny’s story. I did enjoy all the twist and turns that the book took and how it was revealed that there was one main villain calling all the shots.

This was a good book, and I’m glad we got to see more of Jenny’s story because it’s been hinted at in past books that her murder was pretty brutal and there haven’t been any clues as to what happened. Seeing how this book ended I’m sure the next book will be full of action now that our group has found its main antagonist and has to work to stop them. I’m excited to see how everything will wrap up!

I received this book for free from Reviewer Purchase in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Beastly Bones by William Ritter
Series: Jackaby #2
Published by Algonquin Young Readers on 9/22/15
Genres: Fantasy & Magic, Historical, Mystery & Detective, Paranormal, Young Adult
Pages: 305
Format: Ebook, Hardcover
Source: Reviewer Purchase
Buy on Amazon

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 vicious shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens, and a day later, their owner is found murdered. Then in nearby Gad’s Valley, bones from a recent dig mysteriously go missing, and an unidentifiable beast starts attacking animals and people, leaving 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.

Short and Sweet Review

Abigail is still working with Jackaby and they’ve been asked to investigate the supernatural. Their day starts off with investigating some shape shifting kittens and a day later the owner of the kittens is found murdered. In a nearby town, Gads Valley dinosaur bones from a recent dig go missing and a beast is attacking the townspeople. Abigail and Jackaby head there to see if they can figure out what is going on in the Valley and report back to Police chief Marlowe and they end up reconnecting with policeman Charlie Cane.

Abigail has already helped Jackaby solve one case and she was still learning about the supernatural world, but in this book we see Abigail shine and put her knowledge of fossils and bones out there. Abigail and Jackaby have a lot on their plates but their main focus is finding the dinosaur bones that have gone missing, but not only that they have to try to avoid the beast that is attacking people and animals. I loved seeing these characters back for the sequel. Jackaby is able to see supernatural things that most don’t and Abigail can catch the details that he misses that are considered normal. I do like their partnership, Abigail is able to keep up with Jackaby and offer her own opinions and he respects them and I love that about them. We also see Charlie and it was great because him and Abigail like each other and I did like seeing the shy nature of their romance. We meet some new characters in this book a couple of paleontologist, Hank a skilled hunter, and Nellie a reporter, each character adds a little something to the plot. There was a big climax at the end and a wrap up, there was a cliffhanger that involves Jenny and what happened in her life.

I’m ready to read the next installment and see where Abigail and Jackaby end up and what new mystery they’ll take on (even though I already have a good idea).