Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Published by: Jimmy Patterson Presents
Book 1: Stalking Jack the Ripper
Book 2: Haunting Prince Dracula
Book 3: Escaping from Houdini
Book 4: Capturing the Devil
Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.
But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea.
It's up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer's horrifying finale? (Summary from Goodreads.com)
Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell have landed in America, a bold, brash land unlike the genteel streets of London they knew. But like London, the city of Chicago hides its dark secrets well. When the two attend the spectacular World's Fair, they find the once-in-a-lifetime event tainted with reports of missing people and unsolved murders.
Determined to help, Audrey Rose and Thomas begin their investigations, only to find themselves facing a serial killer unlike any they've heard of before. Identifying him is one thing, but capturing him---and getting dangerously lost in the infamous Murder Hotel he constructed as a terrifying torture device---is another.
Will Audrey Rose and Thomas see their last mystery to the end---together and in love---or will their fortunes finally run out when their most depraved adversary makes one final, devastating kill? (Summary from Goodreads.com)
My thoughts: I read the first two books in this series a while ago, so I decided to bring book 3 & 4 camping with me this summer when they arrived for the LMC. I was a little worried that I wouldn't be able to remember everything that happened with Audrey Rose and Thomas from the first two books, so I was pleasantly surprised to be able to easily jump back into their world with no problems in book 3.
When we left them at the end of book 2, Audrey Rose and Thomas had solved the gruesome mystery of the murders happening in and around the school they attend at the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler. The culprit was surprising but not shocking when you figure it out. What was shocking is Thomas's lineage that you discover in book 2. It's fascinating. The author sets us up near the end of book 2 for a visit to Audrey Rose's favorite cousin who has fallen in love with a magician and headed to America.
Much of book 3 takes place on a ship sailing to America, where a shocking discovery for Audrey Rose and her uncle happens when they first see a performance of the Moonlight Carnival on board. Then there are gruesome murders that are discovered throughout the trip which strongly suggest that someone in the carnival is the murderer. When Audrey Rose takes her first endeavor into undercover work within the carnival itself, she finds that separating real-life from the fiction you are acting is very difficult indeed. We even start to wonder if she is going to drop Thomas and head off into the moonlight with the mysterious leader of the carnival.
When Audrey Rose and Thomas do figure out the culprit who has been killing and orchestrating elaborate showcases of their deaths on the ship, they still have one murder they question as having been enacted by this particular murderer. What if there happens to be another on board headed to America just like they are? Why does this body have the same mutilation of a Ripper victim? Is that just a coincidence? It has to be based on the end of book 1.
Once they arrive in America in book 4, they head to Audrey Rose's grandmama's home on Fifth Avenue in New York City for a time. While they are there her uncle gets pulled into a gruesome murder investigation that looks exactly like the Ripper's work. Audrey Rose soon begins to receive letters she thinks are from her father, but cannot be certain and they worry her. On top of that she and her cousin spend their time in dressmakers while they are in NYC. With Audrey Rose's new injury that doesn't seem to be getting better, Thomas even buys her boxes of lovely shoes just for her. Wait until you meet the grandmother! She is fierce, royal and perfection.
The second part half of book 4 takes place in Chicago while the World's Columbian Exposition is in full swing. They stay at grandmama's estate which I wish I could have seen. She is an amazing character. I would love read about her as a young woman.
I honestly don't know a ton about that historical event, so I did find it helpful to Google historical photographs and drawings of the time at that event. It sounds incredibly lavish! They built an entire city just for this event. I still can't quite picture where it was in the city and wish I could find some then and now side-by-side photographs to help.
If you are interested in murder, mystery and relationships then this series is perfect for you. It gets you on the edge of your seat many times and keeps you guessing what is next for Audrey Rose. She is a powerful female character who doesn't hide her issues from the reader but instead takes us along with her as she begins to spread her wings and take on the world whether that will be with or without Thomas Cresswell.
Have you tried these yet? What did you think of them?
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