All mayhem and perfect! Rook by William Ritter

This is all mayhem and messi but Abigail is giving it her all!

Synopsis

This standalone adventure set in the world of the  New York Times  bestselling Jackaby series brims with humor, heart, and—of course—a hefty dose of supernatural mayhem.
 
Abigail Rook never intended to be the mortal bridge between the human and supernatural world. But now, the power of the Sight–and all the chaos that comes with seeing the essential truth of everything, every human, fairy, werewolf, enchanted slip of paper, and municipal building, at all times–is hers alone. With this overwhelming new gift, she should be able to solve crimes and help New Fiddleham, New England find calm in its supernatural chaos. 

The only problem? She has no idea what she’s doing.
 
And New Fiddleham isn’t waiting for Abigail to be ready. Local witches and other magical beings are going missing, as tensions between human and supernatural residents curdle into a hatred that could tear the city apart. Abigail’s fiance, Charlie, works alongside her to unravel the magical disappearances, but as a shapeshifter, he’s under threat as well. Then Abigail’s parents appear, ready to take her back to England and marry her off to someone she’s never met. Abigail has no choice but to follow her Sight, her instincts, and any clues she can find to track a culprit who is trying destroy everything she holds dear.

Audiobook Review

5 stars

Narrator: the excellent Nicola Barber

I discovered Jackaby series quite late but on the plus side, was able to gobble all four books in one go! I was so happy when I learned that William Ritter would make another book set in Jackaby’s universe: the paranormal town of New Fiddleham, New England!

Of course now that Jackaby lost his magical ability, his sight, in such dramatic fashion (you have to read the previous books to understand) just for it to be gifted to Abigail Rook, his assistant, William Ritter had to make it about Abigail!

It’s quite the role reversal as now Jackaby is, if not her assistant, her associate! It’s him now that will have to rely on his brain only to help Rook solve the crimes! And I must confess that he is not as gifted as Abigail was…

But then Abigail is not as handy as he was at using her sight to solve mysteries and catch villains either!

This is all mayhem and messy but at least Abigail is giving it her all!

I loved listening to Nicola Barber’s impeccable and very expressive narration of that story full of humor, bravery, mysteries and dangers!

People of New Fiddleham are disappearing, paranormal people that is, and Abigail is still learning to master the Sight, distinguishing auras, guessing who is lying and following trails.

But she’ll do it with gusto, helped somewhat clumsily by Jackaby who also has to find his baring and by the ever loving Charlie and the devoted Jenny, the ghost.

I read someone comparing these to the Scooby Doo gang and they are spot on!

And when her parents suddenly knock at her doorstep, matters get even more complicated as Abigail does not intend telling them the truth! What follows felt like a Vaudeville and was delightful!

What I love above all else is that William Ritter stayed true to that universe. I found the same mix of candor, humor and quirkiness in that book that I had in the previous ones. And that’s a feat!

If you loved Jackaby you are going to adore Rook!

And if you have never read or listened to that series but fancy a cozy, roguish and funny paranormal mystery, go for it, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

I hope we’ll get other books in that series!

Thanks for reading!

Sophie