Stalking Jack the Ripper

Maniscalco, Kerri. Stalking Jack the Ripper. 2016. 327p. ISBN 978-0-3162-7349-7. Available at FIC MAN on the library shelves.

Audrey Wadsworth is the daughter of a British Lord, and lives in a manor in a wealthy section of London. Unlike other girls in her position, however, the seventeen-year-old is not interested in her debutante ball or finding a wealthy husband, but instead enjoy working with her uncle, a forensic doctor who clinically studies dead bodies. If it was up to her, Audrey would pursue a career in medicine. But it is 1888 in Victorian England, and Audrey's control over her own person, much less her destiny is severely limited by her gender. And with her mother's death several years ago, her father's grief preventing any bonding with his daughter, and an older brother who's turning into a dandy, Audrey feels very lonely indeed.

When dead bodies begin turning up violently mutilated in the Whitechapel area of London, Audrey's uncle is called to investigate, and Audrey participates in the forensic work. Thomas Cresswell, one of her uncle's student, also joins in the hunt for the killer. Thomas is cold and calculating, and knows about as much about human anatomy as her uncle. Audrey finds him both condescending and fascinating at the same time.

But as clues are uncovered, the work of the man now called Jack the Ripper by the British press indicates that someone close to Audrey might be the perpetrator. First, hints point towards her beloved uncle, so he is arrested. But as murders continue during his detention, Audrey is forced to confront a horrible choice. Could her father be the bloody killer? Or, possibly worse, could it be Thomas, slowly luring her in as the last victim of a deadly game of cat and mouse?

Descriptions of dead bodies are vivid, and the plot moves along at a rapid pace. Audrey's violation of societal norms is well incorporated in the story telling, and the conclusion is shocking. Fans of horror and action will enjoy the suspense that Maniscalco has created based on a series of historical events.