Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
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.
~~~~~
Where was this book when I was in my Jack the Ripper fascination back in High School?! This was the absolute perfect read to kick off the New Year! It’s a young adult novel (mainly because it doesn’t have specific types of mature content and the protagonist is seventeen) however, don’t let that fool you. This book was fantastically gruesome and creepy and delved so well into the Ripper murders that I. was. hooked! I know quite a bit about this case, as I stated, I was fascinated by it as a teen (possibly because of Johnny Depp’s From Hell movie) and I’d been on the actual Ripper tour in London but let me tell you, even knowing the details of each murder, this book still managed to make old, well-known facts shocking and terrible to me. It was like hearing the story again for the first time. Maniscalco is an expert story-teller and picked the best story to retell.
The story follows a young society woman who is well-born and has a strict code to follow in order to maintain her spotless reputation. In a time where women weren’t well-known in science she wants nothing more than to break the mold but can only do so in subtle secretive ways in order to maintain her good family name. This book combines victorian CSI and a good old Agatha Christie-style murder mystery. It was the best combination. Audrey Rose seemed a bit generic at the start but I found myself relating a lot to her and commiserating with her struggle in interacting with MANY misogynistic men and having to prove her worth much harder than her counterpart, Thomas Creswell.
Now let’s talk about Thomas. He’s one of the easiest to love potential love interests I’ve ever met. He has that typical arrogant and sarcastic attitude that a lot of “bad boy” love interests have but he’s also caring and extremely vulnerable which I loved. He’s the perfect match for Audrey Rose and their banter is quick, witty, and fun with room for legitimate affection as well. I also found her relationship with each character had certain depths to it that were fascinating to explore. Her father, her brother, her uncle. Every single one of the men in her life had such an intricate tie to her that was both good and bad and I wasn’t sure who to love and who to trust.
The overall tone of the story is definitely a dark one, as you’d expect from a book about Jack the Ripper. It was much more detailed than I’d have expected when getting more into the forensic aspect of the story. I liked the added detail of autopsy procedures as it helped me understand a little better just how difficult it would have been to examine the Ripper victims. There were a lot of thrilling parts of the story too. London during the Ripper terror and the dark alleys and corners of White Chapel lended a hand to a perfect setting for this twisted tale. It was doubly fascinating for me being able to picture the murder sites having visited them in person. If you’re into true-crime and/or fantasy at all, this is the perfect read.
Obviously because I loved it so much I gave this book five stars. I listened through audiobook which was great, the narrator was fantastic and I binged it in one day because I couldn’t stop listening. The only downside is I didn’t get to see the included pictures/material in the book that support the investigation. Highly recommend for all the people out there who love a good murder story.