Book Review
Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Genre: YA/Historical Fiction/Horror
Rating: *****
Review: In the opening of Stalking Jack the Ripper we are introduced to Professor Jonathan Wadsworth and his niece Audrey Rose who is being trained as an undertaker in August of 1888. One night they are interrupted by an unnamed male when Audrey mentions going to school which turns out to be Harrow School for Boys so she will be disguised.
She attends the school where her uncle is teaching about the recent murder of Mary Ann Nichols who is one of the first women killed in the Whitechapel murders. Audrey in disguised and is thrilled to be satisfying her curiosity but is immediately drawn to Thomas Cresswell who she believes is the late-night visitor they had and will also be learning under her uncle much like herself. During their autopsy of Mary Ann, Thomas takes a liking to Audrey, but she isn’t easily fooled by his boyish charm, but she is intrigued especially when he seems to more about this murder than he is letting on, this is shocked when he says this is only the beginning. We also get some background on Audrey. She has a brother Nathaniel who supports her education, her mother is dead and there is a tense relationship between her father and her uncle. Her father also seems to have a form of what we would call OCD and is very strict about Audrey visiting her uncle.
We learn that Audrey’s mother died after contracting scarlet fever from her and she blames herself for it and she also believes that her father blames her to and that his need to protect her comes from his wife’s death. However, one night she decides to go to the pub where Mary Ann visited frequently only to be caught by her brother and Thomas who are doing some investigating of their own and Thomas gets to escort her home although she isn’t totally put out by this. We are also getting the feeling that there is more than meets the eye where Thomas is concerned, and I can’t wait to find out what it is.
When the second victim Annie Chapman is found, Audrey realizes how close she was to becoming one of the Ripper’s victims herself although he is known as Leather Apron in this story, several other things happen at once. First is that Audrey’s father is sent away to their cottage because of his opium addiction prescribed to deal with his insomnia, leaving her in the care of her brother and her aunt giving her more freedom than she has had in a while. Thomas also admits he knows quite a bit about her from his observation and they both discreetly admit they are fascinated by the other. The final thing to take note of is that they uncover the fact that Mary Ann Nicholas wasn’t her first victim, Emma Elizabeth Smith was and this fits with their theory that the murderer is a religious zealot riding London of those committing sins such as prostitutes.
When Audrey learns that Mary Ann Nicholas used to work for their family she immediately sets out to uncover all that she can although, she is disappointed to learn her father didn’t keep the records. However, she does find an article of Emma Elizabeth Smith’s murder in his office, so she heads out to find Mr. Thornley her father’s former valet with Thomas in tow only to learn that he is dying. After Audrey learns from Mr. Thornley that her uncle was engaged to “Leather Apron’s” The Ripper’s first victim she gets the feeling that her family might be more involved in these murders than she is comfortable with and her developing relationship and budding emotions for Thomas isn’t helping. She also learns that their former coach driver Alistair knows something about the dark history surrounding their home.
As the pair try to investigate further they only come across more bodies but it gets even worse when Audrey learns her father will be returning in a fortnight and that he has been planning an arranged marriage for her and to top it all off her uncle had been arrested after a witness came forward and identified him as the mysterious Whitechapel murderer. Her uncle has been held at Bedlam for two weeks when Audrey learns that he faces the gallows in less than a week and the police officer who arrested him asks her to help him prove her uncles’ innocence and solve the case before it is too late and obviously Audrey agrees. One thing I didn’t really enjoy was how Audrey bounces between being a strong, intelligent woman to damsel in distress and it isn’t even like she is acting almost like the author couldn’t decide on her personality and character progression, but I was still enjoying the novel.
Alone Audrey begins to think that Thomas might be involved so she follows him only to find him securing a cadaver to continue his learning. Together they also uncover that Jonathan is being drugged with opiates so he will be mentally unstable at the trial. Audrey also deduced the only way her uncle can be proven innocent is if another murder takes place while he is in the asylum, but Thomas isn’t even sure that will save him, but Audrey is determined as her uncle is the only person who has been there for her asking with her brother since the death of her mother and her father’s descent into opiate abuse.
When a letter from the killer appears and he signs off as Jack the Ripper things get tense. Blackburn calls upon Audrey to examine the bodies in her uncle’s absence where she had two revelations that her uncle will be set free although his reputation will be tarnished forever and that Blackburn is the man writing to her father about courting her. When her father returns and catches her at the crime scene all her work at secrecy and deception come crumbling down, but she is more determined than ever. She stands up to her father and even confronts her uncle and Thomas about the experiments Nathaniel spoke about and it creates more doubt in her mind of who the killer is and who she can truly trust.
At the funeral of Catherine Eddowes, Audrey and Thomas encounter Mr. Lees who is a medium and claims to have information on the ripper. Skeptical they attend a seance where the spirit of Catherine tells Audrey that the ripper was there when she examined her body and she was angry with him pointing to Blackburn or her father. Having heard enough Audrey prepares to leave when Lees tells her to leave London as the ripper had marked her for death and I am overcome with a sickening sinking feeling that this may not end well for Audrey Rose. The synopsis comes into play here as it mentions Audrey is the girl who loved the ripper but there are different kinds of love including familial and romantic, so the ripper could logically be anyone close to Audrey including her uncle, brother, father as well as Blackburn and Thomas.
With her suspicions about her father mounting Audrey decides to go hunting for the ripper in Whitechapel, Thomas also tags along in disguise. In the dark underbelly of London, they do find her father with a woman we can safely say is a woman of the night, but he goes straight home, however that same woman is found brutally butchered the following morning. This is really warming up now as Blackburn wants the body back in two hours and we know the ripper’s mental state is unraveling. During the post-mortem, Audrey decides to confront her father despite Thomas’s warning not to until she has someone there, but her mind is made up and it would explain a lot of her father’s strange behavior over the course of the novel.
The ending of stalking Jack the ripper was hauntingly beautiful despite feeling a little rushed. The identity of the ripper was someone I hadn’t suspected at all but when all the pieces come together it makes complete sense. I liked the fact there is a small link between this book and the next work Hunting Prince Dracula which I will be picking up as soon as I can. For someone who never reads historical fiction, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend for people who struggle with historical fiction or are looking to break into the genre. I honestly can’t wait to read more of Maniscalco’s work very soon.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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