I have truly enjoyed the two novels I have read of Jess Kidd. Both Himself and The Hoarder were fun to read stories. However, Things in Jars is just too far afield for my tastes. I really found little to like in it save the setting which was Victorian England.

I am all for ghosts and oddities and things that set one's head spinning, but this book seemed to have no sense to it. It was so far from reality that it was at times laughable. I know it has been compared to Neil Gaiman's story telling, but I saw little or no comparison.

I feel like once again traveling on that lonely outlier road, but honestly this story was appallingly silly.

This was my first Jess Kidd book and I enjoyed it. The writing is exceptional. Bridie Devine is a detective, a surgeon, and lives an eccentric life. She lives with her 7 foot tall maid named Cora. The book is part gothic murder mystery and part ghost story. Bridie time growing up was difficult but she becomes an assistant to a doctor and with this background and her time with others makes her a scrappy detective.

Most of the book is Bridie's time trying to solve a few murders and set Christabe Berwick free from her captors. This book could be a set up for future adventures with Bridie, Cora, and Detective Rose. It is a good historical murder mystery with a touch of romance. It was interesting to read about life in the 1860's London and countryside.

I would like to thank NetGally and the publisher, Atria Books, for this book for an honest review. I am interested in reading more by Jess Kidd. #ThingsInJars #NetGalley

Oh, such entertainment. Disclosure, offered to me by the publisher through NetGalley. And they know what I like. I usually alternate back and forth among a few books at any given time, but I stuck with this one from the time I started reading it. If you enjoy books such as The Essex Serpent, Once Upon a River, The Wonder, or even the Anna Kronberg books, you will enjoy this. The characters are delightful, the immersion in mid-nineteenth century London is immediate, a result of what must have been meticulous research. You are transported by the rich detail of worlds both natural, and fantastical. I don't try to out-synopsis the experts, I try to tell you how I experience a book. This was fun, engaging, I looked forward to getting back to it. I do hope this is not the last we will hear of Bridie and her friends.

Female super-sleuth, Victorian London, what’s not to love? Giving a four rating because I started out having a hard time concentrating, but that was a personal issue, Once I got into it, delightful.

“Here is time held in suspension. Yesterday pickled. Eternity in a jar.”

In Things in Jars, A 7-foot tall bearded parlor maid, mythical sea monsters, a ghost, and a winter mermaid are all brought together by a female pipe-smoking detective in Victorian London to solve the kidnapping of a mysterious child.

When a child with supposed supernatural powers is kidnapped, Detective Bridie Devine is commissioned to find her. Bridie's sleuthing abilities lead her into the dark underbelly of nineteenth-century London where she encounters a criminal element obsessed with possessing the world’s oddities. Dead or alive, there is a price on the head of those who are different and don't fit societal norms.

Part mystery, part social commentary, part fairy tale, Things in Jars had me completely enthralled. Jess Kidd encompasses all of the strange eccentricities of the Victorians. In Bridie, Ruby, a dead boxer, and Cora, a 7-foot tall parlor maid, she creates fascinating and multi-dimensional characters. I hope to see them again in a future novel. Kidd seamlessly weaves together a story filled with magic, strong women, and those who long to possess those who are different. I LOVED loved loved every minute of this book. It is strange, eccentric, and wonderfully weird!

This is definitely one of the best books I have read in 2019!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have never read a Jess Kidd book but I'm glad I did!!!!!!!!!! I loved this cute detective story!!!!!!! Am definitely a new fan!!!!! Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for my honest review

This little book captured my imagination in ways not seen since Harry Potter!!! Yes I mean that. Has a bit of everything- mystery, suspense, Sci fi- LOVED IT! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for honest review.

I could NOT put down this book! "Things in Jars" by Jess Kidd is more than a mystery; it's a love story, a tale of medical intrigue, and a glimpse into the life of Victorian London. I was immediately entranced by the main character, Bridget, and the gradual development of her character through the use of flashback made me want to continue reading far after the story ended. While the obvious plot is about a stolen girl, this book is more about how a woman must come to terms with her life and all of the events that have brought her up to this moment. Jess Kidd has a wonderful eye for detail and language, and even the most devious of characters are rounded out enough to show dimension. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who enjoyed "The Essex Serpent" or "River of No Return".

Loved, loved, loved this title, and I'm not much of a Victorian fan. However, having just binge watched "The Alienist" (no, I didn't know it was a book first...please don't judge) I was able to jump right into the story. I dare not say too much lest I give something away. It was wonderfully creepy in the best kind of way. I can't wait to share this with my friends!

This is an excellent start to what I hope is a series. The story teeters between science and fantasy. Set in the the mid 19th century Bridie DeVine is a woman in a man's world, who smokes a pipe (with an interesting mix of tobacco) and is followed by a ghost. The story gives a bit of Bridie's background while focusing on a connected case involving a strange lost child. With hints of folk lore this was an absorbing red.

When I reached the halfway point in Things in Jars, I deliberately started to ration my reading so I wouldn't finish it too quickly. Now that I'm done reading it, I feel all twitchy hoping for a follow-up soon-soon-soon. Things in Jars is just that good.

Things in Jars offers a delightful historical fiction/mystery/fantasy melange with characters who are utterly real and whose relationships I found myself caring deeply about. Early on, on "detective" Bridie, who does some work for Scotland Yard examining (but not autopsying) cadavers to determine cause of death, meets Ruby, the ghost of a prize fighter, clad in only bandages, drawers, and top hat with tattoos that move about on his body. He tells Bridie they've met before; she doesn't remember him, but as the story progresses the two become closer, learning to rely on one another.

There's also the Scotland Yard Detective Rose, who grew up on the streets like Bridie; a seven-foot tall, bearded maid who escaped from a sideshow with Bridie's help; a strange girl, half fish, half human, with the teeth of a pike and a deadly bite. And, even with their fantastic elements, each of these characters comes across as genuine.

This is the kind of book you can give yourself as a gift and that will stay fresh with repeated readings. I think I'll be starting it all over again early next month.

I received a free electronic ARC of this title for review purposes. The opinions are my own.