Things in jars

Things in Jars is a Gothic mystery set in Victorian London. Bridie Devine, a celebrated female detective, takes on her most baffling case yet. Christabel Berwick, the secret daughter of Sir Edmund Athelstan Berwick, has been kidnapped. She is an unusual child whose reputed supernatural powers have drawn the attention of collectors who trade in curiosities in this age of discovery. Bridie makes her way through the sooty, labyrinthine streets of the city and will not rest until she finds the girl, even if that means digging up a past she would prefer to leave buried. She has help from an enchanting group of companions, including a seven-foot-tall housemaid, a melancholy ghost covered in tattoos, and a friendly apothecary. In this foggy underworld where spectacle rules, nothing is quite what it seems and secrets are everywhere. The novel mixes darkness and light and draws on both history and folklore, blurring the line between fact and fairy tale. It also asks what it means to be human in inhumane times.