Beastly Bones by William Ritter

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Title: Beastly Bones (Jackaby #2)

Author: William Ritter
Publisher: Algonquin Young Readers
Publication Date: 22 September 2015
Number of Pages: 295

What Goodreads has to say:

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, members of a particularly vicious species of shape-shifters disguise themselves as a litter of kittens. A day later, their owner is found murdered, with a single mysterious puncture wound to her neck. Then, in nearby Gad's Valley, dinosaur bones from a recent dig go missing, and an unidentifiable beast attacks animals and people, leaving their mangled bodies behind. Policeman Charlie Cane, exiled from New Fiddleham to the valley, calls on Abigail for help, and soon Abigail and Jackaby are on the hunt for a thief, a monster, and a murderer.

What I have to say:

Really, I'd just like to say: thank you, William Ritter. 

It's like you wrote this book with me in mind - it has everything I love in it:

New England, for starters: 1890s New England - quaint, Romantic, and slightly creepy at night. 

A very complicated ghost.

A young feminist with a sharp mind and a thirst for adventure.

An odd detective/scientist with an eye for the supernatural.

A shapeshifter.

The dinosaur skeleton find of the century.

And dragons.

Not to mention warring paleontologists, a burly trapper with a love for magical creatures (think Hagrid), a spunky female journalist, and plenty of unexplained phenomena. 

But mainly dinosaurs.

I zipped through this book, completely captivated from Chapter One to the last page. Not only is it atmospheric, entertaining, and suspenseful; it's also beautiful. 

Several months ago, I attended a William Ritter book-signing and heard him read several passages from Beastly Bones out loud to his audience. Incidentally, he has the best reading voice and I would totally buy an audiobook of him reading the Jackaby books. Among the excerpts he read at that book-signing, the most striking in my mind was the following, which comes when Abigail Rook, the story's protagonist, finds herself conflicted by her desire to be a successful investigator, and her growing love for a young policeman (the shapeshifter mentioned above). She's received two opposing strains of advice from two different parties, and now feels like she can't take a definite step in either direction. With a great deal of awkwardness, she asks her employer, Detective Jackaby, for advice:

"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."

 I blinked. 

"Also, if I hear any more nonsense about your allowing other people to decide where you're going in your own life, I will seriously reconsider your employment. You were hired for your mind, Miss Rook. I won't have an assistant incapable of thinking for herself." 

"Yes, sir," I said. "Thank you, sir."

Another thing I love is humor; and William Ritter has the best sense of humor. This book is hilarious:

The entry [Jackaby pointed to] briefly explained that an unidentified miscreant had broken into a shoemaker's shop three times in the past week.

 "Please tell me you're kidding, sir. It says the cobbler couldn't even find anything stolen. That's annoying, but it's not a case." 

"...Do you know who else is known for slipping into shoemakers' shops and not taking anything?"

"Please, sir. Don't say elves."

"Elves!"

Beastly Bones is also romantic:

"I'm going to kiss you now," I said. "That's going to happen." [This is my favorite line.]

 And intense:

"He wrenched me off my feet, and the world spun for a moment as the two of us tumbled into Lamb's trench. My axe bounced out of my hands, and the cold earth and smell of loose soil filled my senses for several seconds as Jackaby pressed me into the dirt. From above us came a rumbling, belching noise, and then a muffled hacking cough. Jackaby's hold on my back lightened as he rose to peer over the edge of the deep furrow. I slid up tentatively to join him."

Recommended for fans of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Who, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Grimm, and Harry Potter (if that doesn't cover you, I'm not really sure what you're doing on this blog, but hey, don't leave), Beastly Bones is a fantastical adventure that you won't soon forget. Also dinosaurs.

A word to those of you who aren't familiar with this series yet: Beastly Bones is the second novel in William Ritter's Jackaby trilogy (currently a trilogy, anyway). The first book is Jackaby; if you haven't read it, you're in for a treat. While I think you could get off OK reading Beastly Bones without having read Jackaby, I definitely recommend reading the books in order. Recently, Ritter has released the third book in the Jackaby series: Ghostly Echoes. Here's to hoping it will be as awesome as the first two - though I have no doubt it will be.

 
I freaking love these covers.



Until tomorrow.