A dark, gothic tale set in Victorian London starring Bridie Devine as a detective. Bridie also has a medical background as she was brought up in Dr. Eames' home and acted as an assistant to him. Bridie becomes involved in a case of a missing child. The child has some disturbing characteristics and is sought as a "collector's item" by several.

During this period in London much experimentation took place in the medical field with body organs, surgery, and medical procedures. There were collectors of esoteric anomalies, thus the title "Things in Jars". There are definitely some gruesome descriptions in the book.

There are supernatural elements to the story - a ghost named Ruby; supernatural powers attributed to the child; and other elements. Definitely imaginative and interesting. This one kept my attention. I did have to look up some language I wasn't familiar with, so I even learned a thing or two.

This is my first Jess Kidd novel, but I will be looking for more by her. I would like to see a sequel to this one with more of Bridie's advantures.

Thanks to Jess Kidd and Atria Books through Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyed this Victorian London set mystery. Bridie was a fresh take on the detective and the story was filled with humor amongst the kidnapping plot, gore and seediness of London. The writing was wonderful but did take a bit to get into. Overall a great book to end 2019!

his book was incredibly written by a talented writer. Jess Kidd, you are amazing. I could not get over how lyrical, mysterious, and perfectly crafted this novel was. It took me quite some time to read it, but I enjoyed slowing down and taking in each word. It’s my assumption that the vast majority of readers will agree with me.

The novel takes place in the mid-1800’s and follows our main protagonist, Bridie, as she seeks to uncover the mystery of a stolen child with unnatural characteristics. I loved getting to know Bridie and her path to being this superb fact finder, and all of the interesting and unique characters she met along the way.

I especially loved her relationship with Ruby, who we meet at the beginning of the novel and whose friendly ghost follows Bridie throughout the story. It was a subtle romance that I latched onto, and my only qualm with the novel is that I am still not entirely sure that I know how the two were connected in real life. I have an assumption, but I am conflicted in my understanding was different perhaps than what Jess Kidd intended. I wish that had been a bit more clear; however, perhaps it is, and I just misinterpreted something.

All in all, I felt this was a fabulous book that fantasy and fiction lovers alike will enjoy!

My Thoughts
Did you read that synopsis? This book checks so many boxes for things I love in novels:  Victorian London, female sleuth, anatomists, gothic mystery, peculiar kid, supernatural powers, apothecaries! What is not to love, right? Unfortunately, it turns out there is quite a bit. Here are my pros and cons for Things in Jars:

Pros

1. The premise is outstanding.
2. Bridie is a very unique character.
3. Cora is a very unique character.
4. Ruby is a very unique character.
5. Christabel is a very unique character.
6. Some of the writing was exquisite. There were some instances where the words were crisp and descriptive and oh so very Victorian. While I do have complaints about some of the excessively descriptive writing in the book (see cons), there are times when the scene setting was so well done that I felt like I could feel and smell and see exactly where the story was taking place.
7. There was a Dickensian quality to the book that I appreciated, particularly with regard to some of the odd characters Bridie encounters during her investigations. Mr. Scudder and Mr. Hoy (guards at Newgate Prison) are good examples of these whimsical side characters.

Cons

1. The premise was outstanding… but a bit flawed in my opinion. The story felt a bit erratic. Throughout the entire book I felt like there wasn’t a solid focus on what the story was supposed to be. It almost seems like there were too many things going on at once and none of them got the real attention they needed to make this book great.
2. Bridie is a very unique character… but, I didn’t feel like I knew her. We even get some of her background story and I still didn’t feel like I knew her. There was so much potential to make her a truly outstanding character, but she was just too one-dimensional.
3. Cora is a very unique character… but she was really pointless to the story. If you are going to introduce a seven-foot tall housemaid into the story then give her a bigger part in the story. I felt like she needed to have more purpose and was essentially a wasted opportunity.
4. Ruby is a very unique character… but what the heck was he even in the story for? Honestly, I don’t get it. Ruby is a tattoo-covered ghost that follows Bridie around and helps her with things from time to time. To me, the whole Ruby plot line took this book from an interesting Victorian period fantasy/mystery story about a mythical creature, and turned it into a pseudo-paranormal farce. Ruby is interesting, don’t get me wrong, but he didn’t belong in this book. [And if I am supposed to believe that Ruby only existed to Bridie because of what she was smoking in her pipe, then his presence is even more useless and odd.]
5. Christabel is a very unique character… but I never got to know her either. Bridie could have been searching for a wooden box in the story, rather than a child, and it probably wouldn’t have made a difference to me. The fantasy surrounding Christabel wasn’t developed enough in my opinion.
6. Some of the writing was exquisite… but some of it was downright odd. There was one thing the author did so much that I started noting it. Every time a new character was introduced we’d be inundated with pages of background information about the person. Way too much background information in my opinion. We would get details about clothes they liked to wear, physical appearance, facial expressions, level of education, and even their philosophies on life. Most of this was unnecessary and pointless – even for the main characters! Plus, there was one type of phrase the author used over and over in these descriptions. Here are some examples:

“Slight of stature and large of head.”

“Sharp of nose and thin of lip.”

“Unremarkable of head, slim of shoulder.”

“Long of limb and thin of hair.”

“His face is steep of forehead, straight of nose, firm of chin, and trim of whiskers.”

This is just a small sampling of the instances of this phrasing in the book. Yes, it is very formal and very Victorian; however, it was so overused as new characters were introduced that I started having a Pavlovian reaction in anticipation of a new version of this phrase and I was never disappointed. It happens so frequently you could turn it into a drinking game while you are reading the book!

7. Some chapters started off strangely. For example, you will finish one chapter and start another and the beginning of the next chapter will randomly start talking about something completely different - like a bird flying around town and you will read about what the bird sees. There appears to be no link between this bird and what you were just reading! That is until you are several paragraphs – or even several pages – into this new, meandering interlude when the original storyline reappears. I found this to be quite distracting and for me it increased my inability to stay interested in the story.

Summary
I found some parts of this book to be long-winded, but other parts were beautifully written. The formal language used in this novel was either exquisite or verbose. It was honestly an either/or situation for me throughout– there was never a point where it was just good, it was either great or bad. Because of this, I felt myself frequently slipping in and out of interest in the story.

However, it if was just the writing style that impacted my enjoyment of the book, I’d have probably given it 3-stars. Alas, I really felt like the story had no focus and the characters were too one-dimensional. I can’t even categorize the book well! Is it mystery, paranormal, fantasy, magical realism, historical fiction, gothic horror? Interestingly, it is currently categorized as simply General Fiction by the publisher.

This book has a lot of potential, but sadly it just didn’t rise to it in my opinion and it wasn’t an enjoyable read for me overall. This appears to be an unpopular opinion regarding this book, but it is my honest one. I'm happy others were able to find more to like about it than I did.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for a free electronic ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Page turning female detective novel set in Victorian times. Jess Kidd is extremely talented at setting the stage in Victorian England. Kidd's novels often feel as if they were written in the time in which they represent. The unpredicatable detailed plot will leave the reader satisfied.

What's not to love about historical fiction that brings together a special investigator of the unusual with a seven foot tall maid, a ghost, and a mythological creature that may or may not be real? Bridie Devine is tasked with finding the missing daughter of Sir Edmund Berwick, a very special girl of interest to many collectors of the odd or abnormal, obsessive collecting being all the rage in England in 1863. Bridie, aided by her maid Cora Butter and the ghost of Ruby Doyle, an Irish boxer, must find the missing girl before she comes to harm.

Kidd has crafted an intriguing mix of Gothic, mythology, mystery, and history. She is very skilled at creating the grimy, foggy, evil-smelling reality of Victorian London, inhabited by the poor and the rich, by villains and heroines. Fans of atmospheric Victorian novels with a touch of the supernatural will love Kidd's novel and, most of all, the character of Bridie who struggles to make a difference in a world where wickedness and brutality runs rampant.

#ThingsInJars #NetGalley

*Many thanks to Jess Kidd, Atria Books and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
Meeting Birdie Devine, a female investigator, who in 1863 receives an offer from a baronet to find hs kidnapped daughter, was a pleasure. More than that, I was delighted to get acquainted with her and follow her efforts to uncover the truth behind the abduction. She is observant, intelligent, has no fear of the dead or alive, with one exception, perhaps, and she has been through a lot in life. And she is accompanied by a former boxer who, though dead, gives some advice, occasionally.
I loved everything about this mixture of HF, fantasy and gothic elements. The narration is exquisite, and the things we learn about Birdie's past definitely add to the atmosphere in the novel. All characters are vividly described, each with the characteristics that make them peculiar and particular. There is no character which is unnecessary, and the way Ms Kidd conncects them is brilliant. Birdie is a survivor, created by what she experienced and by whom she met in the past. I love Birdie!
When I saw the title of this book months ago, I immediately thought of the macabre the Victorians were so interested in, and it turned out, I was right. This novel has Victorian touch of the highest quality, and I truly recommend it to anyone eager to dive into a terrific read.

I just couldn't get into this book despite repeated attempts. I was lost from the beginning and never seemed to understand what was going on. Must not me my genre.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

Jess Kidd introduces readers to a fascinating new fictional heroine, Bridie Devine, her primary character in her latest offering Things in Jars. This novel, by the author of Himself and Mr. Flood’s Last Resort, is a chimera of historical mystery and fantasy, with a pinch of romance added as well. Bridie Devine is a figure regarded with suspicious respect in Victorian England in her role as a female detective with an odd choice of interests and expertise. Her natural intellect and powers of deduction have become enhanced by an independent spirit and steely hardiness developed as a byproduct of her untraditional Irish background. When Bridie is brought in to help recover the kidnapped child of a Baronet, she wonders why she was selected for the assignment in lieu of the traditional authorities. It becomes clear, however, that the nature of this case involves some unsavory and fantastical elements that require a unique approach. A mystery regarding Bridie’s own past is interwoven with a main storyline that encompasses ghosts, mermaids, Resurrection Men, exploited circus “freaks,” and genetic oddities that attract the interest of unethical medical experimenters. There is a lot going on in this novel, and the stylized language and brief forays into the second person perspective exacerbate a sense of disorientation. Kidd does a fairly good job of keeping the narrative on track, however, with a steady pace and chapter/section breaks that help prevent the reader from getting too lost along the way. Although Things in Jars concludes in a satisfying way, the author leaves open the possibility of a sequel or series featuring Bridie Devine- a character that is compelling enough pique a reader’s interest in revisiting her world.
Thanks to the author, Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review.

Such wonderful things come in jars.  Pickles, jalapeno peppers, a living heart, malformed sea creatures . . .  Can you hear the giggling wine bottles?  Stop for a moment and catch the waft of human misery, take note of the rats without eyes, and the sweet face of a little girl with an innocent smile that masks her pike teeth.  Grotesque is done to a tasty turn here. 

Bridie Devine is a most unusual investigator.  She reads corpses and can also perform simple surgeries.  A secret child has been taken, and the pipe-smoking Bridie is hired to find her.  She is assisted by a bearded giantess and a ghostly apparition with a top hat, baggy drawers, and moving skin illustrations.

Jess Kidd’s “Things in Jars” is a dark tale spun with magic, intrigue, and a hint of the bizarre.

Bridie is a tiny, yet fierce female detective in Victorian era London. She smokes a pipe, is well-versed in human anatomy; and is often accompanied by her extraordinarily tall, bewhiskered housemaid and a mysterious ghost.

Her last case didn’t go too well, so she’s rather anxious to solve this next mystery surrounding a kidnapped girl. This girl isn’t any ordinary child though; rumor has it she’s a merrow—a creature similar to a mermaid but with needle-like teeth.

Bridie’s past returns to haunt her as she goes about attempting to retrieve the missing girl, and unearthing clues as to her true identity. At the same time, she slowly begins to piece together the identity of her faithful ghost companion who she’s rather fond of without knowing why he’s so familiar.

This book was phenomenal. Each character was brought to life in the most vivid way. I don’t know which character I loved most—Bridie, the ghost (Ruby), the housemaid (Cora), or even Prudhoe with his ravens.

It was dark and at times disturbing, but there was just enough humor and tinges of hope to make this one of those rare books that one won’t easily forget.

This story has the same gritty, dark charm that carried The Doll Factory. Set in the late 1800’s in London, this dark tale follows the determined Bridie Devine. She is called upon to solve the abduction of a mysterious girl named Christabel Berwick. Purported daughter of a Baronet, Bridie finds more secrets than answers from the Berwick household. Tales abound of the unique characteristics of the missing girl. With the aid of her 7 foot tall housemaid, and Ruby, a top hat tossing ghost, Bridie sets out to solve not only the mystery of who took Christabel, but also the mystery of what Christabel really is. An expert blend of mystery and fantasy fiction. A genuine delight to read. Thank you to Netgalley for an early copy. Review posted to Goodreads and LibraryThing.

Macabre,thrilling Victorian.These are the words that come to mind when asked to address this novel. You can almost smell the brocade and velvet. Birdie the main character is both hero and villain . Her long seeded hatred of Gideon takes a long time to reveal itself. Set in a time in England when oddities were spotlighted in exhibits and an underworld of seedy medical staff were every day adventures. The plot centers around a mythical creature come to life. It is Birdies ability to slip in and out and on the fringe that captured my attention. The cast of characters in this story is complete with a ghost not quite sure why he’s here but colorful all the same. Birdie is a keen observer and a help to the local law even as she makes their life miserable at times. I was taken with the writing both informative and interesting. Happy Reading

A girl was kidnapped. But she was no ordinary girl. She has pike's teeth, she 'stirs up memories and thoughts, makes you feel angry, and has stony, changeable eyes', and she feeds on snails and newts.

And so, Bridie's services and expertise were called upon. After her having failed to save a child in her previous case, she was determined to not fail this time.

With a loyal 7-foot tall housemaid and a dead pugilist by her side, she threaded her way through a labyrinth of clues. We'd know from the beginning who kidnapped the child, Christabel. But along the way, business deals were made, as a child peculiar like Christabel was a prized possession, especially during a time when collecting anything exotic and curious was lucrative business.

When one more body was found, Bridie knew she was running out of time. One child, many suspects; who were in cahoots with whom? Are there any wolves in sheep’s clothing? Will Bridie be able to track down the mastermind of this kidnapping and save the girl?

What a wondrous read! I loved the dark slums of Victorian London depicted in Kidd's Things in Jars, which set the tone of the book. I absolutely loved this:

'Just beyond you'll detect the unwashed crotch of overworked prostitutes and the Christian sweat of the charwoman. In every inhale a shifting scale of onions and scalded milk, chrysanthemums and spiced apple, broiled meat and wet straw, and the sudden stench of the Thames as the wind changes direction and blows up the knotted backstreet. Above all, you may notice the rich and sickening chorus of shit.'

If you love the writing above, just add this to your TBR, because it only gets better from there!

And the characters were just amazing! Cora, the over-protective 7-foot tall housemaid whose face adorned by muttonchop whiskers; Rudy the loyal, dead pugilist whose tattoos can come alive; dear little Myrtle whose only friend was a doll; Lufkin the conniving circus king, and the many memorable, if not amusing moments between Rudy and Bridie, Cora and her infatuation for Euryale the Queen of Snakes, and just the witty banter between the characters. These colorful characters made up for the muddy, murky, London.

If you’re looking for a good winter's read on a chilly night, this would be perfect! Get all curled up under a blanket with a warm cup of beverage and you’re ready!

If like me, you love dark Victorian tales with strong, colorful characters, this one's for you too!

Thank you Netgalley and Atria Books for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are mine.

I've heard from lots of people that they loved this book. Something about it just does not jive with me... I tried to get into this story multiple times, but it just isn't working for me.

Perhaps I just wasn't in the appropriate frame of mind to truly take in and enjoy this book. Judging from the praising feedback, I appear to be in the minority but I thought this was just okay at best. At worst, well, it was overly flowery in language, extremely slow-paced, and I never connected with what should have been a break-out character in Bridie Devine. The story takes place in a dangerous and dirty Victorian England (was/is there any other?) and boasts not only an offbeat female "detective" character along with her cast of strange assistants but also follows the folklore of mermaids (think less Ariel and more man-eating). And still I found myself bored through most of the book! This just wasn't for me at this time.

What a cool, weird, eerily atmospheric tale this was! I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the description, but I was definitely intrigued. Once I started reading, I became more enthralled with each page - this is a wholly original and fascinating tale populated by a fabulous cast of characters who leapt off the page.

This is my first book by Kidd but definitely will NOT be my last. She has a marvelous ability to derive a sense of time and place from words on a page, and when you combine that stage-setting with an intricate, well-paced and slightly off-kilter (in the best possible way) plot, the result is a marvelous tale that grabs you and holds on for dear life. I can see this one as a series - there's so much potential for future sleuthing with Bridie, she's an excellent protagonist, full of quirks and foibles and enough personality for three heroines. The supporting cast was equally excellent, from the good to the bad to the morally indifferent.

Kidd toys with the nature of evil and of greed like a cat with a mouse; teasing readers with her revelations, misdirections, secrets, and tales-within-the-tale until it's impossible to tell which end is up. It makes for a fantastic (literally and figuratively) tale that I couldn't put down. Things got a little muddy near the end - not enough to change my opinion of the book but just enough to add an aura of "what the...?!" to it all. It was the only tarnish on an otherwise spotless tale, and it was mild at that. This was a great find and I'm looking forward to more from Jess Kidd!

After a slightly slow start, Things in Jars becomes fabulous. Jess Kidd is an author who plays with her language - reminiscent to me of #jennifagan - who excels at dialogue. There is a gentle, caustic, humour in many or Bridie's interactions; the character, and the author, have a gift for the absurd, for putting others in their place. The tone of the novel is wry, dry, very Irish, and the pace is snappy and clever - it's almost noir in the way the action moves, with no surplus information. At times I found this slightly difficult to keep up with - it's a book that requires a massive amount of concentration as well as lots of inference; Jess Kidd is a very clever author, a very clever woman. This is not a page turner, it's a literary novel despite its playfulness, and I have to admit I did struggle to keep up at times, especially having been pretty unfocussed generally over the past month. However, it is a book full of rewards; the prose, the language, the imagery and characters, not to mention the sheer witticism of the narrative. If I found it hard to follow - and I did at times - it wasn't because of the author's lack of skill, rather my own lack of attention. The relationship between Bridie and her ghost friend Ruby, and indeed certain other elements of the novel, remind me of a slightly warped, slightly tricky, Sherlock Holmes and Watson - clever, Victorian - and the two characters have a sweetly sad and heartwarming dynamic. This books is playful and fun, with a real atmosphere of Victorian London and a wonderful varied and authentic cast of characters; it is clever - at times maybe slightly too clever - and full of stories. Each character has their own story, there are stories in those stories and there is magic and there is myth. I didn't love this book in the way that I loved The Hoarder, maybe because as I so often say here, historical fiction has never really been my thing, but I really did appreciate it; the sheer brilliance of Jess Kidd as an author makes this novel, and it's certainly worth reading, and worth taking time over.

Thing in Jars by Jess Kidd is difficult to describe. Thing in Jars deals with history, life in the 1800's in London, but also deals with a sci-fi story line. Some edge of your seat moments. I want to thank Atria Books and Net Galley for the early copy to review.

Bridie Devine—female detective extraordinaire—faces a baffling assignment. She's hired to find Christabel Berwick, the secret daughter of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick. This child isn't normal, though. She's peculiar with reputed supernatural powers that make her attractive to collectors of curiosities. Will Bridie be able to find the missing girl and succeed in this case, or is she in over her head?
Thankfully, Bridie has help. Valentine Rose works for the police department, Cora serves as Bridie's seven-foot-tall housemaid, Rudy appears as a melancholic, tattoo-covered ghost, and Prudhoe is the avuncular apothecary. These individuals help Bridie navigate her search, confront her past, and unravel the secrets surrounding this case.
This Gothic mystery is dark but funny--I laughed out loud in several places. It also includes history and folklore that kept me guessing about what is real and what is imaginary. There were too many characters to keep straight, though.
In general, the content of "Things In Jars" isn't my cup of tea. However, it's a well-written book I would recommend to readers who enjoy Gothic mysteries with a touch of paranormal.