"A Victorian detective story with a difference, reaching across genres it is a LoveReading Star Book and as readable as readable can be."
Well, this is one seriously addictive and fabulous read. Now that I have finished I feel bereft, exhilarated, and have one humdinger of a book hangover. Set in London, it is 1863 and private detective Bridie Devine is on the case of a stolen child. The prologue hooked me as surely as a fish on a line, I gaped, wondered, and leaned in for more.
Descriptions opened with vivid intensity in my mind, creating the most glorious views. There is something about Jess Kidd’s writing that speaks directly to my soul, she knows how to lull, tickle, burn. She created a stinging tension, on a number of occasions leaving me hanging while popping into the past.
I have to say that Bridie Devine is one of the most fabulous characters I’ve come across. She has taken up a somewhat boisterous lodging in my mind and she’s more than welcome! Information swirled around, making my thoughts whirl, adding to the torrent that I knew was surely coming. And oh, that ending!
Things in Jars is a Victorian detective story with a difference, it crosses genres and set light to my imagination. It has been added to my list of favourite books. Bridie Devine to my list of favourite detectives. Jess Kidd has been confirmed on my list of favourite authors. Things in Jars is LoveReading Star Book, Book of the Month, and Liz Robinson Pick of the Month… Need I say more?

London, 1863. Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age, is taking on her toughest case yet. Reeling from her last job and with her reputation in tatters, a remarkable puzzle has come her way. Christabel Berwick has been kidnapped. But Christabel is no ordinary child. She is not supposed to exist.As Bridie fights to recover the stolen child she enters a world of fanatical anatomists, crooked surgeons and mercenary showmen. Anomalies are in fashion, curiosities are the thing, and fortunes are won and lost in the name of entertainment. The public love a spectacle and Christabel may well prove the most remarkable spectacle London has ever seen.Things in Jars is an enchanting Victorian detective novel that explores what it is to be human in inhumane times.
| Primary Genre | Crime and Mystery |
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London, 1863. Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age, is taking on her toughest case yet.
Things in Jars features in the following genres: Crime and Mystery, Books of the Month, Historical Fiction, Liz Robinson's Picks of the Month, Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Horror and Supernatural Fiction, Star Books, Fiction, Recommendations, General Fiction
Paperback, Hardback, Ebook. £13.49, down from the £14.99 cover price. Temporarily Out Of Stock.
Things in Jars was written by Jess Kidd and published by Canongate an imprint of Canongate Books
Things in Jars has 404 pages
£13.49, reduced from £14.99. Temporarily Out Of Stock.