Stalking Jack The Ripper by Kerri Maniscalo Full Review

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscolo is a great book about feminism in the late 1880's with one of my favorite premises - solving murders. Overall, it's a 9/10. The only reason I'm taking off points is because I wished we could've developed a few more characters, but I

l'll get into that later. I rated it high because of personal favorite elements- historical fantasy, solving crimes, and feminist elements, but also because it had excellent description.

The main character, Audrey Rose, is a elite, well-to-do English young lady. You may immediately think that she spends her time shopping, or hosting teas, but really, she enjoys dissecting cadavers with her uncle. Audrey wants to be a forensic scientist. Maniscalo does a great job introducing her, setting the introduction scene with suspense. As the novel continues, we learn more about Audrey's dry wit and sarcasm, as well as her dedication to her loved ones. Audrey has little patience for the gender limitations of her time. Dismissing her father's prejudices, she decides to solve the mystery of who Jack the Ripper is. As someone who isn't familiar with the time period, I would still say that her parents and her Uncle are progressives. Allowing her to study and do 'men's work' is surprising, but of course is necessary for the book to take place. Overall, the subtle reactions and sometimes open sexism is realistic - some situations are similar to what I've had to deal with before.

One character DOES do feminism right - Thomas, the love interest. My favorite character in the book, his dry humor is as attractive as it's mean to be. Unless you've never read a book or watched a movie before, it's easy to see that they end up together. Technically, they never date (or is it court? Not totally sure what the correct historical term is) but they do spend a lot of time together - first, studying with Audrey's uncle, who is also Thomas's professor, and then studying the victims of Jack the Ripper while trying to solve the mystery. Constantly flirting with her, he still falls under her suspicion near the end as she questions his motives and his capabilities - unfortunately, she wonders if he is the ruthless and cruel muderer they are stalking. I'll stop here; I don't want to spoil anything, because the twists and turns are lined up and toppled outstandingly!

The last thing I enjoyed about this book was the description. For most readers, the amount and type of description is a personal preference. Personally, I enjoy lots of description as long as it doesn't get in the way of the plot or overshadow the characters themselves. However, this book's level of description won't be too much or too little for anyone. It's easy to get a picture in your imagination of what Audrey looks like, what Thomas looks like, and the various places in the novel without restricting the freedom of your imagination.

The only thing I would change about this book is one of the character's level of involvement. Liza, Audrey's cousin, comes to stay with Audrey for a while. Audrey narrates about how much she loves Liza, but there are only two or three scenes with actual dialogue between the two. Liza seems (from Audrey's description and the little we see of her) to be a spunky, carefree, and daring young woman. If Audrey had taken Liza on or two adventures to involve her in the mystery, I would've loved the book that much more.

To sum up, Stalking Jack the Ripper was an interesting, engaging historical fiction. With entertaining characters and wonderful description, I would definitely recommend.

Full summary here.