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paragraphsandpages 's review for:
Stalking Jack the Ripper
by Kerri Maniscalco
“There’s nothing better than a little danger dashed with some romance.”
Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars
Favorite Character: Thomas
Spoiler Free: This book completely surpassed all of my expectations! I’m usually not that into Victorian/historical novels, but this story was unlike anything I had ever read before. I loved the mystery combined with the setting, and the characters were just fantastic!
The plot itself was extremely gripping, as we hopped from crime to crime, suspect to suspect, etc. You could also tell a lot of thought and research went into the events written, as it both seemed to follow forensic developments at the time as well as tried to hold to most of the facts from the Jack the Ripper killings themselves. And even though I did figure out the killer way too quickly, I was not able to guess the reason why they were killing, which still left the ending exciting and shocking.
Additionally, I absolutely adored the characters. The dynamic between them all, especially between Audrey Rose and Thomas, was just super fun to read! The touch of romance and flirtations also worked to create excitement in what would have otherwise been dull moments in the story, and I think it worked well as an extra background layer! Definitely excited to see where the rest of this series takes the characters!
My only (small) issue with the book would have to be my difficulty getting into it at first. I started this book right after Graceling, which admittedly hooked me quite fast, so it took some focused reading to finally get me fully enraptured in the book. However, this happened around 30-40%, which is still much faster than some books hook me.
Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!
Spoilers: Not much to say here, so I’m just going to explain how I figured the murderer out, as well as what I wish the author would’ve changed in order to make it more of a surprise.
Basically, my main leading evidence was the tagline on the back of the book that claims Audrey Rose is “the girl who loved Jack the Ripper.” While this might be trying to lead readers into thinking it’s her love interest, and thus suspect Thomas heavily, that was just too easy. So I got into thinking about different sorts of love, specifically familial. It seems she loves her brother the most, so I started taking a closer look at their interactions, specifically his part in them.
I ended up figuring it out for sure before Audrey and Thomas went to go talk to the guy who worked on a boat, only to find him killed. Audrey got the information on his location from her brother, and he seemed like the most likely suspect at that point. (And then from there, little things here and there continued to build up my surety.)
Honestly though, I wouldn’t have guessed it if it weren’t for the tagline. It ruled out so many options so easily, that it really only could have been Thomas, her father, or her brother. While the tagline did intrigue me and was part of what made me pick up the book, it also completely gave away the mystery of the book to me.
Stars (Out of 10): 8/10 Stars
Favorite Character: Thomas
Spoiler Free: This book completely surpassed all of my expectations! I’m usually not that into Victorian/historical novels, but this story was unlike anything I had ever read before. I loved the mystery combined with the setting, and the characters were just fantastic!
The plot itself was extremely gripping, as we hopped from crime to crime, suspect to suspect, etc. You could also tell a lot of thought and research went into the events written, as it both seemed to follow forensic developments at the time as well as tried to hold to most of the facts from the Jack the Ripper killings themselves. And even though I did figure out the killer way too quickly, I was not able to guess the reason why they were killing, which still left the ending exciting and shocking.
Additionally, I absolutely adored the characters. The dynamic between them all, especially between Audrey Rose and Thomas, was just super fun to read! The touch of romance and flirtations also worked to create excitement in what would have otherwise been dull moments in the story, and I think it worked well as an extra background layer! Definitely excited to see where the rest of this series takes the characters!
My only (small) issue with the book would have to be my difficulty getting into it at first. I started this book right after Graceling, which admittedly hooked me quite fast, so it took some focused reading to finally get me fully enraptured in the book. However, this happened around 30-40%, which is still much faster than some books hook me.
Careful! Spoilers beyond this point!
Spoilers: Not much to say here, so I’m just going to explain how I figured the murderer out, as well as what I wish the author would’ve changed in order to make it more of a surprise.
Basically, my main leading evidence was the tagline on the back of the book that claims Audrey Rose is “the girl who loved Jack the Ripper.” While this might be trying to lead readers into thinking it’s her love interest, and thus suspect Thomas heavily, that was just too easy. So I got into thinking about different sorts of love, specifically familial. It seems she loves her brother the most, so I started taking a closer look at their interactions, specifically his part in them.
I ended up figuring it out for sure before Audrey and Thomas went to go talk to the guy who worked on a boat, only to find him killed. Audrey got the information on his location from her brother, and he seemed like the most likely suspect at that point. (And then from there, little things here and there continued to build up my surety.)
Honestly though, I wouldn’t have guessed it if it weren’t for the tagline. It ruled out so many options so easily, that it really only could have been Thomas, her father, or her brother. While the tagline did intrigue me and was part of what made me pick up the book, it also completely gave away the mystery of the book to me.