Tags
female detective, female protagonist, folklore, gothic, London, mystery, supernatural, Victorian
I received another year of Book of the Month for 2020, and it got off to a strong start with Jess Kidd’s Things in Jars, a Victorian gothic mystery with a fantastic female detective and more than a hint of the supernatural.
Bridie Divine, detective, is hired by Sir Edmund Berwick to find his mysterious, secret daughter, Christabel, after she is kidnapped. It is rumored that Christabel possesses supernatural powers that make her quite attractive to collectors of curiosities and the bizarre. As Bridie and her companions, a seven-foot tall housemaid and a melancholic ghost, race to find and rescue Christabel, Bridie must also confront a horrible past that she’d rather keep buried. Things in Jars deftly melds folklore and fairy tale with the underbelly of London, scientific inquiry, and, of course, things in jars, creating a compelling and inventive exploration of what it means to be human in the guise of a well-crafted mystery.
Things in Jars is populated with delightful and deliberately drawn characters. Each one is vivid, distinct, and specific, and as I read, I cast many of them for my hotly anticipated mini-series. (HBO Max, call me.) I particularly loved the friendship between Bridie and her housemaid, Cora. It is a beautiful portrayal of loyalty and care between people who don’t always agree but are fiercely devoted to each other. Ruby, the aforementioned melancholic ghost, is fun and sweet if rather ineffective as a ghost. However, I never really understood his purpose other than to give Bridie a sense of what could have been. Gideon Eames is a chilling villain, and Christabel is remarkably impactful for a non-speaking character.
Kidd expertly weaves the mystery itself, dropping just enough clues here and there to facilitate readers making connections while keeping them from solving everything until the very end. She also brings in the the supernatural and folkloric elements in a way that was plausible, as if it was totally possible for a kidnapped marrow to start controlling London’s weather. (Oops, spoiler.) London comes alive in her prose, dripping, dank, oppressive and yet filled with wonder and discovery.
There isn’t much for me to find fault with. Plot-wise, I did feel like the resolution for the character of Mrs. Bibby was a bit of a cop-out, and I had hoped there would be more specific collaboration between Bridie, Ruby, and Prudhoe the apothecary, as implied by the jacket. Additionally, some of Kidd’s language choices repeated just enough to stick out but without seeming purposeful. But these are minor quibbles.
Overall, Things in Jars is a lovely read. I’m not sure if Kidd intended it as a stand-alone novel or the start of the series (I sincerely hope the latter!), but either way, it warmed my mystery and folklore-loving heart, and I highly recommend it!