Book Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

 

Goodreads Summary: Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

The story's shocking twists and turns, augmented with real, sinister period photos, will make this #1 New York Times bestselling debut from author Kerri Maniscalco impossible to forget.

An instant #1 New York Times Bestseller in its very first week! Presented by James Patterson's children's imprint, this deliciously creepy horror novel has a storyline inspired by the Ripper murders and an unexpected, blood-chilling conclusion...

Goodreads Ratings: 3.97 stars with over 127,000 ratings

Genre Listings: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Young Adult, Romance, Horror

Goodreads Challenge: 14/30

2023 Reading Challenge: #32 Read a book about a famous criminal(s) (find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, readers! As always, I hope everyone is doing well. Not much of note has been happening that requires any personal updates, so let's jump into my thoughts on Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco. I picked this up with one of the gift cards I got for Christmas. A Historical Fiction novel about a serial killer seemed right up my alley. For whatever reason, I've been obsessed with death, the paranormal, and murder since I was a kid. I don't really know why. But this seemed like a great book selection for the famous criminal prompt.

I expected it to be cheesy and was skeptical. However, I loved it from the very first sentence. I got a gruesome tale with an exciting twist to the brutal story of Jack the Ripper. Kerri Maniscalco kept pretty close to the known facts of the Ripper murders. Because it's one of the biggest (if not the biggest) unsolved mysteries gives authors much free range to create their own ending. There were some fabrications because it's Fiction, but after the story ends, the author provides an excellent description of what she changed and why. I always appreciate this with Historical Fiction because I'm a giant nerd who likes to do a high-level skim of articles to see how much was accurate. 

I really liked Aubrey Rose a lot. I felt like she became a champion for Jack the Ripper's victims. She was brilliant, stayed true to herself, and didn't cave to the restrictive societal standards of her time. She showed some of the different layers that a person can have. She liked girly things like getting dressed up and going to tea, but she was also intelligent and interested in science. I also really liked Thomas as a character. He was arrogant and full of himself, but I found it charming. I also really liked how he encouraged Aubrey to think for herself, use her brain, and not conform to society's expectations. They tempered each other well. Also, his flirting for the time was super inappropriate, and it just made me laugh.

I really like the literary nods in Stalking Jack the Ripper. The way Aubrey Rose and Thomas worked together made me think of  Sherlock Holmes and Watson. I don't know if that was intentional, and admittedly this one for me is more of a film reference as I haven't read Sherlock Holmes yet. There are also a lot of mentions of Frankenstein in this book. Those combined with the titles of the rest of the series make my brain think of the series as a Female-led YA version of The League of Extraordinary Gentleman. So I'm here for it. 

Overall, I loved this book. I told a friend I was discussing it with that it was trying hard to replace my favorite book. It has yet to, but we'll see how long I dwell on it or if I end up rereading it. I recommend it if you like Historical Fiction, YA, Mystery, and are intrigued by Jack The Ripper.