Reviews

The Stalking Jack the Ripper Collection by Kerri Maniscalco

annsbibliotherapy's review against another edition

5.0

Love this entire series. I may cry when it ends.

gabiberry's review against another edition

5.0

It’s definitely a ride

I’ve been obsessed with Jack the Ripper since high school. This certainly puts a fascinating spin on the 100+ year old case and I must say I enjoyed every minute of it!

livruther's review against another edition

emotional informative mysterious medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

stalking jack the ripper: 3.75/5

hunting prince dracula: 4.25/5

escaping from houdini: 3.5/5. i hate love triangles + the ending left me unsatisfied
capturing the devil: 4.5/5

natxoney's review against another edition

5.0

“Beyond life, beyond death…my love for thee is eternal”
No puedo creer cuánto tarde en empezar con estos libros, porque ¡AUDREY ROSE! ¡THOMAS CRESSWELL! Personajes fantásticos, ambientación, historia…
Valen la pena totalmente <3

studyingnovels's review against another edition

4.0

Amazing story detailing the hunt for infamous killer Jack the Ripper. I learned quite a lot as it was very informative. It got a little dull in the middle, but at the end it was exciting again. I feel like my mind knew before me because I told myself I hope her brother isn’t the killer, I like him he’s caring. Then this book laughed at me and told me yes Nathanial is the killer! Audrey’s relationship with Thomas is developed at a realistic pace. I like how flirtatious he is and how she responds or her lack of response for that matter. I can’t wait to begin the next book in the series and see what happens in Romania.

kimsbookmoon's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

A great mysterious read!!

ohthesheenanigans's review against another edition

4.0

g36's review against another edition

adventurous medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Stalking Jack the Ripper series (1-4) by Kerri Maniscalco

Storyline: 4. 0

Characters: 2-0

 Writing Style: 2.5

 

Story Summary:  

               Set-Up: Audrey Rose Wadsworth, a lady of the British gentry is a student under the tutelage of her uncle, a renowned forensic pathologist of London in the late 1880’s.   Trying to prove herself a capable scientist and fighting societal expectations of women during that period, Ms. Wadsworth attempts to divorce herself from emotions, concentrating on being objective. Thomas Crestwood is Dr. Wadsworth’s assistant and Ms. Wadsworth’s bane. His cold analytical assessment and ability to deduce information from minor details infuriates her.  Both are social outcasts due to their dedication to their chosen field, utilizing autopsies and the most current scientific means to determine the cause of death when suspicious or not outwardly evident.      

              Story-Line: Dr. Wadsworth, Audrey Rose and Thomas find themselves searching for the identity of Jack the Ripper in the first book.  In the second book, Audrey Rose and Thomas travel to Romania to a forensic school housed in the castle of Vlad the Impaler (Count Dracula), only to find people are disappearing or turning up murdered.  Thomas’ sister and a couple girls Audrey Rose had befriended in the castle turn up missing and could be victims of the killer.  The clock is ticking against them as they try to solve these crimes in the short period of their four-week assessment period to be accepted into the school. The third book has the couple reunited with Dr. Wadsworth on a ship to the US.  The entertainment of the cruise is a macabre circus with a mysterious ringleader named Mephistopheles who gives Thomas a run for Miss Wadsworth’s affections.  More mayhem occurs on the ship as young women are being killed in a most ostentatious and spectacular means. Thomas couldn’t be thrilled more if it turned out Mephistopheles was the culprit.  Again, time is limited as they must unmask the killer before they reach land and the murderer is able to escape into the anonymity of New York.  The last book has the three of them finding their way to Chicago during the World’s Fair chasing a killer they believe had eluded them in London. 

 

My opinion: This series had plenty of potential and could have been really good.  There were several positive things about this series but also some aspects that detracted from it and ultimately made it a mediocre read.

               Pros:   The premise-the idea of a young woman during the late 19th century England conducting autopsies and investigating horrific murders, (some based on actual events and criminals) allows for a very strong interesting story-line. 

Thomas Crestwood-he was an enjoyable character, part Sherlock Holmes and part Darcy from Pride & Prejudice.  He was arrogant and cocky and an inappropriately forward flirt.  It would be difficult to dislike this character.

The banter between Thomas and Audrey Rose and the banter with Mephistopheles was well written and quite entertaining with the barbs and innuendo.  

The writing style how Ms. Maniscalco had one chapter lead into the next chapter so it was difficult to find a satisfactory stopping point in that almost every chapter ended in a cliff-hanger promoting the need to see how it was resolved in the next chapter. 

              Cons: The romance between Audrey Rose and Thomas.  It was an inevitable and expected hate to love relationship, but it became the predominate focus of the storylines overshadowing the murder-mystery premise.   A harlequin romance writer would find the romance in this series embarrassingly over indulgent and excessive.  A shot of insulin is almost required when reading the love scenes, they are so sickly sweet.

              Audrey Rose Wadsworth was annoying.  For all her bluster of forging her own path regardless of societal expectations, she fell into the same restraints she so loudly preached against.   

              The murderers when revealed were a bit of a histrionic stretch as well as their motives for the murders.  The plot twists revealing the murders and their motives seemed to be forced.

              The forced extra “drama” subplots of obstacles involved in the romance and eventual nuptials of Audrey Rose and Thomas was unnecessary and only detracted from the storyline.  It was filler to extend the page count.  It was ludicrous and annoying.

              The writing style was a bit flowery and grossly melodramatic leading to many “eye-roll” moments during reading.

 

Overall Conclusion: Though Ms. Maniscalco showed herself to be a talented writer, I could not recommend this series.  It was too contrived and forced.  The premise was great, romance juxtaposed with the horrific spilled entrails and digging elbow-deep into corpses to reveal a serial killer’s identity.  Who wouldn’t find that entertaining?  Not to mention trying to reveal Jack the Ripper and hunting down potential vampires?!?  Problem was, once again, the execution.  Ms. Maniscalco needs to choose which genre she wanted to write, either murder mystery or romance novel.  Attempting to equally merge a murder mystery with a romance novel does not bode well, both aspects tend to suffer from the attempt as was seen here.  Utilizing one as back-round for the other is fine, having the romance between Audrey Rose and Thomas as the main theme and the murder investigations as the back-drop would be fine.  Alternatively having the murder mystery and investigation the main theme with a small dollop of romance for diversion works also.  Trying to give them equal prominence in the story-line is a disaster.  

dnrsht's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

drealovesbooks's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25