Things in Jars

“There are a thousand places to hide a child in London, even a remarkable child. And if she is remarkable there are a thousand buyers waiting . . .” 

London, 1863. A strange puzzle has reached Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age. To recover a stolen child, Bridie must enter the dark world of medical curiosities. The public love a spectacle and this child may well prove the most remarkable spectacle London has ever seen.

Things in Jars is a Victorian novel unlike any other, one that explores what it is to be human in inhumane times.

“This unusual Victorian detective tale is hugely satisfying and beautifully written … Kidd gives the world what is instantly one of fiction’s great spectral double acts” Andrew Billen in The Times.

‘I loved Himself and The Hoarder but this book takes things to another level – thrilling, mysterious, twisted but more than anything, beautifully written and filled to bursting point with heart” Graham Norton.

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London, 1863. Bridie Devine, the finest female detective of her age, is taking on her toughest case yet. Reeling from her last job and a damaged reputation, 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.

The publishing director of Canongate, Francis Bickmore, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Susan Armstrong at C+W. Bickmore described the London-based mystery as “a novel that breaks the mould entirely”, promising “a very noisy publication” for the lead title in spring 2019.

Things in Jars is Kidd’s third title, all published by Canongate in the UK and Simon and Schuster in the US, and is billed by the publishers as “an enchanting Victorian detective story that explores what it is to be human in inhumane times”.