ROOK

Following the (impermanent) death of her eccentric employer, R.F. Jackaby, Abigail Rook, much to her dismay, inherited his ability to see energy and emotional auras.

In this stand-alone set in the Jackaby series world, Abigail must now take the lead in their supernatural detective work. Most unusually, the New England city of New Fiddleham includes a rift to the supernatural world. Many paranormals—goblins, trolls, elves, fairies, and their like—have moved in, necessitating a Paranormal Division of police, for which Jackaby and Abigail consult. But while Abigail was cloistered for months, training as the new Seer, supernatural crime and human-paranormal tensions soared. Though feeling decidedly unready, Abigail must use her gift to trace a series of kidnappings and murders. Things grow especially bleak when her prospective sister-in-law, who can shape shift into dog form, is implicated in a murder and Abigail’s fiance, Charlie Barker, is kidnapped. Like Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. series, this book expertly blends witty banter, sympathetic, struggling characters, descriptive worldbuilding, and sometimes-gory supernatural crimes with all-too-believable motives. Quick-moving action and creative supernatural elements will hold readers’ attention, though characters’ memory-loss incidents might lead to some plot confusion, and the denouement feels rushed. Human-presenting characters read White; Charlie has a “faint Slavic accent.”

Lively supernatural investigations with humor and heart.