patologa forense adolescente
carino ma prolisso ( )

A Riveting Victorian Thriller!

I recently completed reading Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco, and I have to admit that it's an intriguing and exciting book that had me gripped from start to finish. It's definitely an exciting and fun novel, even though I didn't quite get to the point where I could have given it a flawless 5-star review.



Stalking Jack the Ripper ♦ Kerri Maniscalco

Opinion

Readers are masterfully transported to the gloomy and unsettling atmosphere of Victorian-era London by Kerri Maniscalco. It’s clear that the author done her research on the location and era from the vivid descriptions and meticulous attention to historical detail. The story is made even more suspenseful by the disturbing and depressing backdrop of the Whitechapel murders.

It’s always encouraging to witness a strong, independent female heroine like our protagonist Audrey Rose Wadsworth defy the social mores of her day. Her forensic scientific passion and unwavering commitment are admirable, and it’s easy to support her on her quest to solve the horrifying Jack the Ripper murders.

One of the book’s highlights is the relationship Audrey Rose has with her mysterious and funny colleague in crime solving, Thomas Cresswell. The plot gains depth from their teasing and developing connection, which offers both romantic and humorous components.

There are enough twists and turns in the well-paced plot to keep readers interested. But there were times when I wanted the mystery itself to be a little bit more intricate. The resolution could have been more complex and unexpected, even though the ending was rewarding.

Conclusion

In closing, Stalking Jack the Ripper is a captivating historical thriller including a compelling romance subplot, a strong female lead, and a gorgeously atmospheric setting. A must-read for enthusiasts of historical fiction and exciting mysteries, it just missed my perfect 5-star rating due to some predictability in the mystery. I’m excited to see where Audrey Rose and Thomas’s travels will take them in the next installment in the series!



This review was first published at The Art of Reading. ( )

This novel sucked me in and spat me out.

Yeah, I enjoyed this story tremendously. My era is Victorian England, and all theories surrounding Jack the Ripper.

I guess Jack is my favourite serial killer . . . I enjoyed all aspects and inaccuracies about this novel that I just ate it up.

Audrey was a fun character even though I rolled my eyes a few times. Thomas is totally based on Sherlock Holmes with his deduction abilities.

Yeah, I knew who it was before the reveal, but hey, it was good.

Long live Victorian England. . . So ready for book 2. ( )

Honestly, Thomas is a snarky Sherlock Holmes ( )

Fieldnotes:
London, 1888

1 Overly Plucky Teenaged Girl with an Unhealthy Obsession with Science and the Dead
1 Deceased Mother (Scarlet Fever)
1 Overprotective Germaphobic Father
1 Hair-Obsessed Brother with Ever-Changing Interests

1 Uncle Specializing in Autopsies
1 Bright but Arrogant Assistant & Student of Forensic Medicine
1 Manhandling, Irksome Superintendent of Police
1 Clumsy, Near-Sighted Mongrel

1 Forensic Medicine Class at Harrow (??) that works on ACTUAL cases (??)
London Necropolis Railway
Very Modern Ideas Regarding Sex Workers
A Spot of Profiling
The Greatest Show on Earth
Bedlam

3 Links Between Victims of Jack the Ripper and the Wadsworth Family
3 Increasingly Insane Letters
1 Carriage Marked "M" for Murderer
1 Cryptic Death Pronouncement
1 Seance

Dark Secrets Within the Wall
2 Secret Laboratories
Galvanic Experiments that Would Make Dr. Frankenstein Proud

Gruesome Illustrative Photos

The Long Version:
I don't know why I keep reading YA Jack the Ripper books - every time I end up irked. In this case, our overly plucky teenaged investigatrix is 17-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth, only daughter of a lord. She has a truly unhealthy interest in the science of death (and a complete disdain for proper attire while autopsying and disregard for the poor servants who have to try to save her many blood-stained silk slippers). She essentially interns with her forensic pathologist uncle in Highgate (despite the distance from Belgravia - it is NOT THAT CLOSE) who is feuding with her father because his medical degree didn't allow him to save her mother from the scarlet fever she contracted while nursing Audrey Rose. She has some guilt-related mommy issues.

Her father, Lord Edmund Wadsworth, has responded by isolating himself, becoming extremely germaphobic and relying on his laudanum to get himself through the days. Thankfully, her dandy of an older brother Nathaniel helps her circumvent the most stringent of his restrictions.

Anyway, she banters hostilely with her uncle's arrogant (but, of course, handsome) Sherlockian assistant Thomas Cresswell, and the three of them essentially profile Jack the Ripper and speculate that he is attempting to perform an organ transplant (which has never been successfully done).

There are a lot of truly implausible moments where a 17-year-old gently born GIRL is wandering the streets UNCHAPERONED and hanging out ALONE with a teenaged boy. Not to mention being allowed to examine MURDER VICTIMS in the SLUMS in the EAST END. There is very little Victorian hand-wringing. There is not even an APPROPRIATE AMOUNT OF HAND-WRINGING because this is INSANE. There are some very modern ideas about sex workers that are distinctly out of place given Audrey Rose's circumstances, but this didn't bother me as much as everyone acting like being a policeman (even superintendent) was a prestigious career for a NOBLEMAN in 1888. We've just dropped a mostly modern teenager into a facsimile of the Victorian era and given her teen Sherlock as a boyfriend.

There is a lot of incredibly awkward flirting, which I found less cute and more strange and...well, flirting over CORPSES isn't a thing that works for me, honestly.

I could get over a wallpaper historical with modern sensibilities if this was fun and clever, but the tone felt off. Not to mention our heroine was TSTL, insisted on doing truly stupid and dangerous things with no thought for potential consequences and then got fixated on who she decided was the culprit - evidence and her own observations be damned. I guessed the culprit and most of the why early on, which wouldn't have been a problem if this had at least been suspenseful and/or wrapped things up sensibly. For me and my tastes, it did neither. ( )