Stalking Jack the Ripper is a historical fiction book by Kerri Maniscalco set in 19th century London. The story is told from the point of view of Audrey Rose Wadsworth, a seventeen-year-old girl born into some extent of nobility. The social norm is that she would only live to serve a husband or other male relative, but Audrey Rose wants to learn her uncle’s trade: forensic medicine. This story takes place in the time of the Jack the Rippers and Audrey Rose and her friend and love interest Thomas Cresswell must investigate the bodies of the victims under the guidance of Audrey Rose’s uncle and the murders themselves.
Overall, I found this to be a great book. The story is dry at some times because of setting and aforementioned social norms, but it made up for those places with others. The description of the bodies and murders can be interesting for some and horrifying for others, myself being in the former category. While the setting did keep some things from happening, the characters still had a lot of depth. Some creative liberties were taken, but overall Stalking Jack the Ripper is relatively historically accurate, which makes it all the more captivating.
I’m not a huge fan of the historical fiction genre, but I did enjoy this book and plan on reading the rest of the series. I’d recommend this book to fans of some True Crime shows in general and any murder mysteries. I watched the BuzzFeed Unsolved Jack the Ripper episode before reading this book, and while it mainly served for comedy, there was some background that I could refer back to.
Overall I could give this book…
⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐.
The Fiction Feature 