Set in 1860s London, Things in Jars is the story of Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age, and her search for Christabel Berwick who has been kidnapped. In typical Kidd fashion, nothing and no-one is quite what they seem.

I didn’t love this as much as Kidd’s other novels, Himself and The Hoarder, which I suspect puts me in the minority among fans of Jess Kidd, but it is still a thoroughly entertaining read.

This book is a gorgeous blend of historical, crime and fantasy, with touches of humour as well as deep poignancy. Bridie is a wonderful character - fierce, wry, kind, clever and determined - and I loved seeing her dealings with Ruby, the mysterious (and charming) ghost who has started following her around for an as-yet-unknown reason.

Jess Kidd describes a wonderfully dark yet lively Victorian London and I found the sense of time and place in the story astonishingly well-written. This is definitely a story I can see translated into a TV mini-series, so fingers crossed for that...

The added element of fantasy and myth to what is otherwise a very realistic historical mystery opens the world up to limitless possibilities, which means as the reader you're kept on your toes until the very end. Really hope there are more of Bridie's adventures to come!

I'd heard a lot about this book on ye olde Twittersphere but I have to say I was a tiny bit let down by it. It's certainly a fun romp with a highly eclectic cast of characters but for some reason I just didn't connect with the writing. Not that it's bad - it's just not for me.

Bridie Devine, the infamous female detective is challenged to take on the oddest of cases - the disappearance of Christabel, a strange child with colour changing eyes and extraordinarily sharp teeth. Aided by Ruby, the prizefighting ghost and Cora, the towering, magnificently bearded maid, Bridie attempts to find Christabel but on the way encounters everything from beautiful snake charmers to evil surgeons - plus a whole lot of painful memories.

I love the wacky cast of characters and the excitement of the fast paced prose but I just couldn't emotionally connect to anyone. There was so much going on, plus plenty of back-and-forths in time that I got a bit confused as to who was who and what on earth was happening. Ultimately, I felt like the side plots took over a bit and detracted from the main narrative, so I wasn't that bothered with the ending. Lots of people have loved this book but it really wasn't for me.

Unusual and intriguing is certainly a unique tale that's well worth reading. I never read any other authours who write the way Jess Kidd does and I welcome the challenge even if at times I found it quite hard as I'm not a native English speaker.

A very unusual take on an archetypal Victorian themed detective story. Set in 1863, we follow female detective Bridget (Bridie) Devine on her quest to solve the mystery of a kidnapped young girl. The story itself is possibly the weakest element here, but Jess Kidd makes up for that by creating truly memorable characters. My favourite was Ruby Doyle, champion tattooed boxer, oh and he’s dead. Original, funny and memorable.

What an unusual book! Not having read anything by Jess Kidd before, I didn’t know what to expect from this new Victorian mystery, but I immediately fell in love with the playful writing and imaginative plot. I knew as soon as the ghost of a tattooed boxer arose from a tomb in Highgate Cemetery that this was going to be no ordinary detective novel.

The story takes place in 1863 and our heroine is Bridie Devine, a former surgeon’s apprentice from Dublin who, since arriving in London, has built a new career for herself as a private investigator. At the beginning of the novel, Bridie – ‘A small, round upright woman of around thirty, wearing a shade of deep purple that clashes (wonderfully and dreadfully) with the vivid red hair tucked (for the most part) inside her white widow’s cap’ – is asked to look into the disappearance of Christabel Berwick, a little girl whose strange physical characteristics make her a valuable prize for those who collect curiosities and oddities. With the ghost of boxer Ruby Doyle by her side, Bridie must try to find Christabel before she becomes a ‘thing in a jar’.

Things in Jars is one of the most enjoyable books I’ve read so far this year. It reminded me, in different ways and at different times, of The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock, The Essex Serpent and Once Upon a River, but written in a style that makes it all Jess Kidd’s own. Bridie is a wonderful character; I admired her for her independence and intelligence but had a lot of sympathy for her as well, as the story of her troubled childhood unfolds in parallel with the 1860s one. Her romance with Ruby (as far as you can have a romance with a man who isn’t alive) is both moving and mystifying. Ruby claims to have known her for years, but Bridie can’t remember him. Who is he – and why has he come into her life again?

The secondary characters are excellent too, all described with Dickensian detail, from Bridie’s seven foot tall housemaid Cora Butter with the ‘unnerving glare’ to her landlord, the elderly bell maker Mr Wilks, who has the look of ‘something that has been carefully varnished and then put away for a long time’. The descriptions of London – sometimes written from the perspective of a raven flying over the rooftops – wouldn’t be out of place in a Dickens novel either:

"The raven levels off into a glide, flight feathers fanned. Slick on the rolling level of rising currents and down-draughts, she turns her head, this way and that. To her black eyes, as blacked as pooled tar, London is laid out – there is no veil of fog or mist or smoke-haze her gaze cannot pierce!

Below her, streets and lanes, factories and workhouses, parks and prisons, grand houses and tenements, roofs, chimneys and tree tops. And the winding, sometimes shining, Thames – the sky’s own dirty mirror."

As for the mystery of Christabel’s disappearance, it really takes second place to the setting and the characters and the humour, but it was interesting enough to keep me gripped until the end, wondering what the little girl’s fate would be. I also enjoyed the way legends of the mythical Irish being known as the merrow were worked into the plot.

I would love Jess Kidd to write another book about Bridie Devine but, failing that, I will have to look for her previous novels, Himself and The Hoarder. Although they sound very different from this one, I am looking forward to reading more of her work!

London 1863 and Bridie Devine, would-be surgeon and female detective, is called to the crypt of a church in Highgate where the body of a woman and her baby have been discovered, walled up. Overnight the bodies disappear but before Bridie can investigate further she is called to the house of a noble whose daughter has disappeared. Christabel Berwick is missing but is not Lord Berwick's daughter, she is something else entirely. In a London where curiosities of the human and animal kind are 'collected', Bridie has to face her past with only a giantess and a ghost to help her.
It is so hard to describe this book as to do so would make it sound even more crazy than it actually is. At the heart is a straightforward detective novel with a few supernatural overtones. However the layers of the plot are many. Bridie's background is complex and comes back to life. The relationships with the ghost of Ruby and the very real Rose are cleverly written - like a fantasy crush and a fear of reality. The setting in mid-Victorian England is well-researched. Best of all, the fantastical element of the supernatural entity is not overplayed unlike many stories. I really loved this book.

One of my favourite books in recent years. I finished this then immediately ordered ‘Himself’ and ‘The Hoarder’. And I absolutely loved those too. If you love Angela Carter then you need to read this book and it really isn’t an overstatement to say that discovering Jess Kidd has been the highlights of my reading year.

I loved this book, I’ve never read anything like it!
A fanciful tale of Victorian London, with an Irish investigator whose sidekick is a ghost!
Beautifully written with a wonderful turn of phrase, I would definitely read more from this author, who was new to me..
If you want to know what a merrow is then this is the book for you!!

I haven't yet read Jess Kidd's previous book, "The Hoarder", but I had heard good things about it, and after reading "Things In Jars" I will definitely be looking out for it. Kidd is definitely a talented writer.

Bridie Devine is a fantastic leading lady in this book. She is an occasional investigator of strange cases, largely those nobody else wants or can solve, since in the Victorian era women were not supposed to undertake such things. She is able to get away with much though, thanks to her relentless determination and some help from her childhood friend, Scotland Yard inspector Valentine Rose.

This particular case involves a missing girl - a strange creature by all accounts. Bridie is aided by her friend Cora, the 7ft housemaid, and the ghost of deceased boxer Ruby, who seems to know Bridie very well indeed but she does not recognise. Between them they must find the girl before she is sold on and disappears for good, but they are not the only ones on the trail. There are dangerous people involved, and Bridie's past is coming back to haunt her in ways she never imagined. But she will not be deterred from her mission, no matter the dangers, because the first thing you must know about Bridie Devine is that she is absolutely indefatigable.

This is a joyous book involving mythical creatures, danger and romance in Victorian London with a heroine who is delightfully sharp-witted and completely loveable despite her proud, tatty edges. I hope there are many more books following the exploits of Bridie Devine. She makes this an enjoyable read.

Slow start to this story of a mysterious monstrous child with a ghost and a forensic investigator set in 19th century London - but I got totally absorbed into this world and could not put it down. Different and good. Hoping it's the first of a series. Will be reading author's other titles now

This book has so many of the things that I love – a Victorian setting, a strong but flawed heroine, great supporting characters, a dash of humour and plenty to think about. It is set in London in 1863, just after the Great Stink and during the period where Bazalgette is transforming the sewage system below the streets of the capital. But the effluent of a growing city is not the only source of corruption and decay – we also see into a world of anatomists and collectors: men of science who consider themselves above normal morality and who are often greater charlatans than the circuses and freakshows which also abound. It is as part of this dark and fetid city that Bridie Devine works as a very unconventional detective, alongside her maidservant Cora, a six-foot bearded woman, and the ghost of a heavily tattooed prize-fighter, Ruby Doyle. Her latest case, to investigate the kidnap of a young girl, will lead her back into the murky world of collectors and cadavers she thought she’d left behind. Eventually she comes face to face with some of the horrors of the childhood we are shown glimpses of throughout the narrative.

I don’t give a lot of five-star reviews (although I’m fond of giving four stars…) because I often feel that I’m not quite getting the balance of plot, character and (usually a distant third, for me) language that I could wish for but this book certainly deserves the top rating. Not only was I gripped by the story – a fabulous blend of history and folk-lore which felt like magical realism to me – and enamoured of the characters (especially Cora and Ruby) but I was absolutely floored by the way Kidd uses words. The opening passages made me feel as if were reading Under Milk Wood for the first time again – which is the highest of high praise from me – and the language continued to delight and disgust, to amuse and enthral me to the very end. Bliss.

I loved this book, it’s weird, wonderful and simply delicious.
It’s rooted in Victorian London, a time of searching and discovery. Things in Jars is a story of kidnap, greed, strength and some supernatural quirks to keep things interesting.

Bridie Devine is our heroine and she carries us through this book with courage and integrity, her team (in the loosest sense of the word) is Cora her housemaid, Ruby the ghost of a recently deceased boxer and Inspector Valentine Rose of Scotland Yard. Bridie is called upon to investigate the abduction of Christabel Berwick, but Christabel’s very existence is shrouded in mystery. She is like no other child, very few have ever laid eyes on her and those that have view her with fear and awe. Through her investigation Bridie encounters brigands, evil doers and circus types to name but a few, it is truly a journey I highly recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A female investigator with a talent for reading corpses. A ghost of a champion boxer who rises from his grave clad only in a top hat. A terrifying seven feet tall housemaid. A six-year-old girl with pike teeth, who smells of the sea and draws people’s memories out of them. Weird and evil collectors of “oddities of nature.” And the necessary Scotland Yard inspector, who apparently is one of the few ‘normal’ persons in this dark and imaginative book by Jess Kidd.

Inexplicable events, atmospheric and eerie settings, Things in Jars reminded me Sherlock Holmes and more specifically, The Hound of the Baskervilles. Jess Kidd sets her story in a realistic environment -the description and images of Victorian London are truly remarkable- but fills this environment with many mysterious and magical elements. The heroine, Bridie Divine is a clever and independent woman who skirts the edges of respectability, and takes cases that usually have two things in common: bizarre and inexplicable deaths and victims drawn from society’s flotsam.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing is fluid, lyrical and witty, and it is a story with many fascinating characters. I found the accounts and the descriptions related to the Victorian practice of medicine particularly interesting.

I’m not overly fond of historical fiction, but this mystery has won me over. It has a brilliant, original plot and I was hooked on the characters from the start.

Things in Jars is a wonderfully plotted Victorian mystery novel, bursting with beautiful sentences and turns of phrase that brought smiles to my eyes on many occasions.  It is populated with a  cast of colourful characters who are likely to stay with you long after you finish the last page. During my reading of this book, I frequently found myself reaching for my notebook to copy down passages that I loved, and I even followed my husband around the house so that I could read sections out loud to him - this is not something I do very often, much to his relief.
The novel's leading lady, Bridie Devine, is a gutsy, gritty heroine who helps to solve crimes, alongside but outside of 'the law.' She lives in London's Denmark Street with her seven-foot maid and loyal friend, Cora Butter. There is much to love about the pipe-smoking Bridie Devine, captain of her own ship, who is rumoured to wander around London with  a dagger strapped to her thigh.  I fell under her spell after reading these sentences:
Bridie finds her tobacco, fills the bowl, tamps it down, lights it and raises a cloud.  Then she remembers her resolve not to smoke, and instantly disremembers it.
Much to Bridie's surprise, at the start of the novel, she realises that she can see ghosts, or more specifically, the ghost of Ruby Doyle, ex-champion boxer who knows Bridie from her past, but she does not recognise him.  They quickly strike up a heart-warming friendship and become one the most unusual detectives duos in fiction.
Bridie is called to Maris House, the home of Sir Edmund Athlestan Berwick, to investigate the disappearance of his daughter Christabel - an unusual child, whose existence he believes he has hidden from the world. Sir Edmund has a fascination with all things related to the water.  His maid, Agnes, reveals the following to Bridie:"
He has a whole library of books about he things that swim in the water and the things that crawl out of it ma'am."  Agnes wrinkles her nose.  "There are things in jars."
As Bridie and Ruby investigate their case, they find themselves embroiled in a world of greed, fraud, and folk with strange obsessions and evil intentions.  In solving the mystery of Christabel Berwick, Bridie is called upon to face the ghosts of her own past.
This is my first Jess Kidd novel, and I feel giddy knowing that I have Himself and The Hoarder to delve into in the not too distant future.  Comparisons have been made between her work and that of Gabriel Garcia Marquez - and I can see why.  However, I love the fact that the magical realism in Things In Jars is pure London Irish.  I loved this book, and cannot recommend it enough.

I love historical mystery books and this one did not disappoint. I thought this had an original plot and the characters were well developed

A paint-by-numbers Victorian detective novel. Once most of the characters are revealed, the plot twists are a wee bit predictable, but overall was still an enjoyable read. <spoiler>Was starting to get a bit worried when the number of pages remaining was dwindling fast and there was STILL no Ruby explanation. Disappointingly thought it might be a single paragraph hacked onto the end, but hey, at least he'll still be around for any future equals. </spoiler> However, I was wrong. While there did seem to be a bit of last minute additional background story... Sweet Baby Cheeses!! It was totally worth it! It even managed to touch my stone, cold, impenetrable heart.

Recommended for: good holiday, beach or rainy day read.

In the autumn of 1863 Bridie Devine, female detective extraordinaire, is tasked with finding the six-year-old daughter of a baronet. Problem is, this missing girl is no ordinary child, and collectors of medical curiosities and circus masters alike are interested in acquiring her.

In its early chapters this delightful Victorian pastiche reminded me of a cross between Sarah Waters’s Fingersmith and Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, and that comparison played out pretty well in the remainder. Kidd paints a convincingly gritty picture of Dickensian London, focusing on an underworld of criminals and circus freaks: when Bridie first arrived in London from Dublin, she worked as an assistant to a resurrectionist; her maid is a 7-foot-tall bearded lady; and her would-be love interest, if only death didn’t separate them, is the ghost of a heavily tattooed boxer.

Medicine (surgery – before and after anesthesia) and mythology (mermaids and selkies) are intriguing subplots woven through, such that this is likely to appeal to fans of The Way of All Flesh and The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock. Kidd’s prose is spry and amusing, particularly in her compact descriptions of people (but also in her more expansive musings on the dirty, bustling city): “a joyless string of a woman, thin and pristine with a halibut pout,” “In Dr Prudhoe’s countenance, refinement meets rogue,” and “People are no more than punctuation from above.”

I’ll definitely go back and read Kidd’s two previous novels, Himself and The Hoarder. [Trigger warnings: violence against women and animals.]

A Victorian detective, an abducted child, a bearded lady, a ghost, tattoos that move, deformed mermaids, cruelty, deprivation, circus freaks, things in jars.

This is a witty yet disturbing book about an eccentric pipe-smoking woman detective. It perfectly captures the essence of Victorian curiosities, with bizarre corruptions of nature kept in jars, old houses with intricate layouts, secret rooms and locked doors. Gothic mystery and romance, ghostly spookiness. Great stuff.

There is horror aplenty in terms of the conditions and treatment of children in Victorian times, and the medical surgeons who go to any lengths to serve their scientific advancement. The story shows how the poor and vulnerable are utilised as commodities to be bought and sold as used as the owners see fit.

Added to that, the author has an original style and captures the atmosphere without relying on tired old cliches. There are some wonderfully eccentric phrases, such as: "People are no more than punctuation from above” and "...as inconsiderate as February or indigestion." "The only downfall is that sometimes the point of view switches between paragraphs, which is a little disconcerting, a minor issue as it is generally easy to follow. Investigating missing children is nothing new in the literary world, but Jess Kidd has made it unique in her own innovative way.
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