Book Review: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Author: Kerri Maniscalo

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

“Groomed to be the perfect highborn Victorian young lady, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has a decidedly different plan for herself. After the loss of her beloved mother, she is determined to understand the nature of death and its workings. Trading in her embroidery needle for an autopsy scalpel, Audrey secretly apprentices in forensics. She soon gets drawn into the investigation of serial killer Jack the Ripper, but to her horror, the search for clues brings her far closer to her sheltered world than she ever thought possible.

Inspired by the infamously unsolved case, this dazzling debut by Kerri Maniscalco weaves an atmospheric tale of beauty and darkness in which a remarkably modern Victorian girl discover that some buried secrets simply won’t stay dead.” – Stalking Jack the Ripper Synopsis from cover

Stalking Jack the Ripper is definitely a story that will suck you in right from the beginning. I read the entire book this past Saturday while ignoring the friend we had over (…oops).

I really enjoyed the main character and how much passion she had for science and forensics and tracking down the killer. Even in a world where a woman was never considered equal to a man, she held her own and forced everyone around her to acknowledge and value her intelligence. I could feel and relate to her frustration with not being taken seriously and not having the options she desperately wanted. The author did a fantastic job blending fiction with actual historical events and expectations.

I also really enjoyed the overall mystery of searching for clues and using forensics to learn about Jack the Ripper. I have always loved CSI-style crime shows, and this book had some of that vibe. From autopsies to sneaking around in dark city streets, all the clues were gathered in dangerous ways which really added to the creepy, stalked-by-a-serial-killer mood.

All of that being said, I felt this book was extremely predictable. Within the first 100 pages I already had Jack the Ripper narrowed down to two people. The ending had shock value in addition to who the Ripper was, which made for a still very successful plot. (I mean, I’m not going to sit and read a book in one day if I’m not really into it.) I felt like the very ending (without giving any spoilers away here) was also pretty unrealistic and was kind of a fairy tale ending to a much darker tale.

Overall, I really enjoyed Stalking Jack the Ripper and the fiction-meets-history aspect. This was a very entertaining read. I believe she has written another book and is in the process of writing another, so I would definitely like to pick those up in the future.

Have you read Stalking Jack the Ripper? What did you think? Let me know below!