"Things in Jars" by Jess Kidd: A Captivating Novel of Mystery and Intrigue

HelenP: Loved this book, such a talented author. Very atmospheric and dark at times. Loved the character Ruby, the deceased boxer wearing a topper and unlaced boots haunting Bridie. I have enjoyed all Jess Kidds books without exception. Quote from the child's nanny in the book "you'll be regretting that my tulip" but you won't be regretting reading this brilliant story.

United Kingdom on Sep 30, 2023

Dbld: Bridie was quite the investigator and her methods were very intriguing. The book itself was hard to put down. It was disturbing and sad and compelling. The ghost, Rudy Doyle, followed her around and was my favorite character. He loved her so. And then there was Investigator Rose who admired her greatly and was fortunately alive. So he had the edge. But Bridie loved Ruby. very sad and tragic but the main character of this novel was Christabel. Was she a child? Was she a human being? Where did she come from? The story is fantastical and strange and eerie. Bridie was hired to find her and bring her home after she was kidnapped. But during her investigation, the past intrudes upon her world. A monster is back from the dead, and a female serial killer is at large and wreaking havoc. This was a strange and twisting tale and it took me too long to read it and the ending left me puzzled. And sad too in a way. I don't know how I thought it would end, there was no real way for it to be tied up in a bow but I just expected more.

United States on Sep 29, 2023

Dragonfly13: This was the third book I’ve read by Jess Kidd and have found I’ve enjoyed each one. It’s nice to be able to get lost in a story when your world is busy.

United States on Jul 18, 2023

penbroke: The story line was good, characters likable and interesting. The book needed to be tighten up.

United States on Jan 31, 2023

Lo in NJ: The title of this novel does not do it justice. It takes place in the mid 1800s, in London, and the Irish heroine Bridie assists police with difficult cases; she has keen observation powers. The characters are quirky and utterly lovable. The writing is clever and humorous. Bridie’s love interest is a pugilist ghost, Ruby, who accompanies her in her solving the case of the kidnapping of a child of a paranormal nature. I look forward to reading more by this author. PS loved the audio too, fantastic.

United States on Nov 19, 2022

Catherine Shannon: Everything I love in a book. A great victorian detective story with a cracking female protagonist and a side helping of folklore and the super natural.

Bridie Devine, the most formidable female detective of her time is employed by the peculiar Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick to locate his missing daughter. Along with her captivating 7ft female housekeeper Cora, they find themselves immersed deep in the male dominated dark and shady world of medical curiosities.

The story bounces back and forth between the investigation and Bridies colourful, if somewhat gruesome childhood. As the book progresses the two timelines intertwine perfectly and the result is well established, deep rooted characters.

What I loved…..

Sarcastic dry humour
“But the list is long and includes many adverse reactions, from sweating of the eyeballs to sensitivity to accordion music.”

The story is full of these seemly off the cuff funny descriptives and I found myself enjoying the lines so much I had to reread them before moving on.

There is a beautiful use of prose and I often took a breath to just admire the bewitching language
“As with all terrible, wondrous...

United Kingdom on Apr 20, 2021

Kindle Customer: There is so much to praise in this listen/novel: ideas, characterisations, fiendish juxtapositions and a believable, gothic world. It was good to spend time with this novel. I like its use of words with the poetic wafts of twentieth century poets. The main character reminds of an older Elizabeth Barnabus, from Rod Duncan’s ‘Gas-lit series, and so will please many. And I so much like the character creation and depiction of Ruby. The plot moves quickly, dipping between times. I was unsure about the rush of short chapters toward the end. I especially liked a puzzle that was set at the start and was moved by what I took as the resolve and release. I think that the book’s editors might have exerted a little more discipline over the text generally and in instances, for example: “The passengers have paid three times over, that buys hush.” Chapter 16; and, “They paid three times over, up front. That buys hush…” Chapter 14. There is no need for this. That said I have purchased Kidd’s ‘The Hoarder’ which I look forward to reading it.

United Kingdom on May 09, 2020

lisaleo (Lisa Yount): Bridie Devine, a young woman living on the edge of poverty in mid-nineteenth-century London, is a detective of sorts; exactly what that consists of, beyond her present assignment, is never made very clear. She’s been hired to find Christabel, the apparently kidnapped young child of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick—who, she learns, has kept his daughter locked up and hidden from everyone. It soon becomes clear that Christabel is very unusual indeed, sure to appeal to collectors who see freaks of nature as potential “things in jars” to be kept for their secret amusement, and that she is a danger to others as well as being at risk herself. Ties slowly appear between Christabel’s kidnapping and Bridie’s own childhood, when she was “sold for a guinea” to a wealthy doctor. She’s assisted in her investigation by Cora, her seven-foot-tall housemaid, whom she rescued from a circus, and by the ghost of charismatic Irish boxer Ruby Doyle.

The story is both fun and touching, and the characters are interesting and complex, but the book’s best feature is the sheer beauty of Kidd’s writing. A sample:

“The servants slumbered on. The housekeeper, tidy bedded, neat...

United States on Apr 07, 2020

Char Louise: I’ve read Jess Kidd’s other two books and love her quirky, cross-genre style. This book has a different feel to her others, but I think it’s her best yet. The characters were vivid and Dickensian, the Victorian era was perfectly captured with its blend of science and medicine, folklore and superstition. The genre, as always with Kidd’s novels, is hard to pinpoint; it’s a historical novel, but also a crime novel and a supernatural novel, although it’s left to the reader to determine how much they want to believe the elements of folklore: is Ruby really there as a ghost, or is he a hallucination brought on by whatever Bridie smokes constantly? Is Christabel really a merrow, or just an unusual, unloved child? I also liked the way that the mystery cleverly intersected with Bridie’s own past and own enemies. I loved Bridie's dry humour and the way she plays with conventions of gender and identity, especially with all her disguises.

I did feel that the characterisation in the book was stronger than the plot though. Often characters were introduced in a vivid, entertaining and humorous way, but only to play some small role in the plot and were then never seen again....

United Kingdom on Jan 03, 2020

Where the Books Go: In depth ★★★★½

Jess Kidd's novels have been on my radar for quite a while, so I was thrilled to receive a review copy of Things in Jars. The novel follows female investigator Bridie Devine, as she takes on the case of finding a missing child in 1860s London. Woven with supernatural magical realism, Kidd tells a tale that feels utterly complete - every element perfectly in its place - making this the work of a master storyteller. Readers should note passages describing assault, animal cruelty, surgical procedures and cannibalism, which may be triggering.

When an unusual child with sharp teeth, pale skin and an affinity for the water disappears from a baronet's house, Bridie Devine is called on to investigate. She is accompanied by the recently deceased, tattooed boxer Ruby Doyle, whose connection to Bridie's past forms its own mystery, and Cora Butter, a 7 foot tall housemaid Bridie rescued from a freak show. As readers, we witness the kidnapping, so know full well who the perpetrators are, but this doesn't stop the mystery from being thrilling at all. Partly, this comes from the way Bridie's unusual upbringing starts to be revealed, and to entangle with the...

Australia on Jul 04, 2019