REVIEW: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
Page Count: 326 pages
Release Date: September 20, 2016
My Rating: 1.5/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis:
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.
My Review:
I went into this thinking I would, at the very least, enjoy it - apparently it had murder mysteries, a feminist lead character and amazing romance. What's not to like, right? Well, I'm sad to say that unfortunately, I didn't like much, and almost DNF'd it. I honestly hate writing reviews less than four stars, but I'm trying to be honest here.
Here's what I DID like: I liked the time and place the book was set in, and felt that overall the author described late 1800s London really well. I also liked thought the forensic science was very interesting, and the research that obviously went into learning about the Jack the Ripper case is great. Okay. I figured out who the murderer was very early on, and felt that for a murder mystery, there was hardly any action, thrills, or tension. The plot seemed very meandering, and had so many scenes that in my opinion did absolutely nothing to progress the story at all.
I didn't find myself caring for ANY of the characters at all - Thomas Cresswell was fine, if very BBC-Sherlocky with more skills at flirting, but I never even felt connected to him. And I think one of my main struggles was with Audrey Rose - I very much disliked her. Touted as a fierce feminist, something I was so excited for, instead I found a character who constantly belittles (either in word or thought) almost everyone - both men and women - and for me it turned into something more like rudeness. I agree with her thoughts that she should be able to do whatever job she wants, wear what she wants, etc, but she talked down to other women who were interested in more overtly "feminine" things like clothes, makeup, tea parties, gossiping about romance, etc. I also felt that a lot of her actions were completely reckless - she constantly talks about how intelligent she is and how society keeps her chained down, but to me she rarely made good decisions, stumbled upon clues rather than deducing them, and point-blank refused to see the truth of the Ripper when she literally stumbles upon that as well.
Anyways. I'm not trying to rant, and I'm sure this book will be great for other people, but it really didn't sit well with me and ended up not being my cup of tea.