Rook by William Ritter
Publication Date: August 22, 2023
Summary from Goodreads:
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.
Confession:
This book is considered a standalone, but there are things about the characters and the setting that are influenced by the previous books. So, while there will be no spoilers for this book, some of my comments will reflect on the previous series and will be slightly spoilerish.
I really enjoyed spending time with these characters again. They are so delightful and I love their friendships and support of one another. The setting is also a lot of fun, and we get to meet some new supernatural creatures that were very interesting as well as terrifying.
Abigail is now the Seer, and she has been spending the last six months learning how to deal with it all. There is a role reversal between her and Jackably, she is now the detective and he is the assistant. This made for an interesting dynamic between the two of them as they navigate this new mystery of missing supernatural citizens. But they still keep up the fun banter between them, and Jackaby takes on his new role with gusto. Abigail is a bit insecure still about her skills, but she is soon finding her strength in reading auras and using them to solve the mystery. The rest of the gang’s all here as well, although they kind of fade into the background a bit. I would have liked to see a bit more of them, especially Charlie.
New Fiddleham is a town on the verge. Now that the humans are aware of the supernaturals in town, everyone is struggling to get along. The humans and the supernatural citizens often cross paths now and not always for the better. Things are tense since the tear in the veil has allowed everyone to know who is who. The police especially have their struggles and are just keeping the peace, barely. The struggles in the town are very prominent and important to the whole story which made it all the better.
The mystery was very well done. I was pretty sure who the culprit was behind all of the disappearances, but I still had my doubts that I was right until the reveal. Some nice twists and I loved the role that magic played in the whole story. The pacing was steady, but not slow, and the whole plot was engaging.
You don’t necessarily need to have read the previous books, but it would probably be helpful. It has been seven years since I read them and I struggled a bit at the start of the book. This has been set up as a standalone, but I am hoping that at some point we get another book in this series. I really want to see Abigail and Charlie have their happily ever after.
If you are looking for a fun, cozy, historical supernatural mystery series with a great group of characters, then this is a series you should give a chance. I think you will love it just as much as I do.
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