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I always start off with why I picked up a book. Why did I read Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco? Hello. Jack the Ripper? I hesitate to say that I’m entertained with the Jack the Ripper mystery but I am mystified and fascinated with a mystery that has confound experts for years. Plus everybody and their mother’s brother’s sister has read this book.

Stalking Jack the Ripper was very entertaining. Maniscalco did an excellent job of setting the scene in Whitechapel. I was impressed with the fact that she tried to keep it as historically accurate as possible while creating a wonderful story. She did both of these things deftly. I also liked that what she did fictionalize or alter was explained at the end of the book. I was back and forth on the who-dun-it aspect of who Maniscalco’s Jack might be. There were several suspects and combinations in my head and I had for sure settled on one with a close second for a twisty surprise. I didn’t pick out the culprit though and that is important to my enjoyment of a mystery.

[bctt tweet=”Kerri Maniscalco kept it as historically accurate as possible while creating a wonderful story.”]

Audrey Rose is a girl who doesn’t think she should be shunted to the side simply based on gender. In 1888 this is a very difficult thing to live with. Audrey Rose is highborn and has a better chance at doing what she wants but also runs the risk of being black balled by Society. She is very smart and capable of doing a job typically set aside for men at that time. She works with the sciences and she performs autopsies under the guidance of her uncle. I actually had to set the book down after the first 10 pages or so to let my mind acclimate to the tone of the book. Thomas was a great foil to Audrey Rose. I enjoyed him quite a lot. I loved that he had a quietly observant mind…even if he was a completely arrogant ass when he reveals it. The only thing that caught me off guard was the fact that Audrey Rose is meant to be a woman’s equality fighter but I felt that Thomas talked down to her not because of her capability but because of her gender. I may be off target here but it didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book on whole.

Stalking Jack the Ripper would have been a 5 star read had it not been for the constant hammering home of women’s equality. Mentioning it a few times would have been acceptable but it seemed like at least twice a chapter Audrey Rose was reminding herself of her own worth and position/value within her home and community. It almost got to the point of harping about it and that is not what I come to fiction for. Otherwise I read an enthralling book set in Whitechapel London in 1888; one of the scariest time periods there is!