‘Ghostly Echoes: A Jackaby Novel’ by William Ritter book review

The third novel in William Ritter’s Jackaby series was released by Algonquin Young Readers publishing on Aug. 23. Ghostly Echoes mixes humor and suspense with quirky characters and finally gives us some insight into Jenny’s background.

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghost that lives with private detective Jackaby and his assistant Abigail, is having a bit of a breakdown. She keeps reliving echoes of her 10-year-old murder and is frustrated that she can’t reach past the walls of her home to help catch her killer. Jackaby and Abigail are eager to help. When another killing happens with gruesome similarities, our heroes are hot on the trail of the most dangerous criminal they’ve yet to face. Can they face death and return to tell the tale?

Set in 19th century New England, the Jackaby books are always a lot of fun. Jackaby is peculiar with his insight to the veil of creatures hidden around us and Abigail is intelligent and feisty. We’ve waited a long time to hear the truth behind Jenny’s story and this book was completely worth it. The tale surpasses the plot of the second book and almost ties with the first in terms of entertainment value. The villains range from hilarious to horrifying and Jenny’s fears are finally put to rest.

The whole novel is exciting from start to finish. If you enjoy a good paranormal read, a Gilded Age mystery or stories with strong heroines and unusual detectives, this series is excellent. While this book could possibly be read as a standalone, it’s better to start at the beginning of the series to get the whole story.