Playing Catch Up! Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Playing Catch Up has really been helping me through my ever growing TBR list. I'd like to welcome all other blogs to participate too! If you do, be sure to post your links in the comments section. I'd love to see your Playing Catch Up Reviews, and I'm sure others would too!! *wink*

Want to know more about Playing Catch Up? I'll tell you all about it here!

Stalking Jack the Ripper (Stalking Jack the Ripper #1) by Kerri Maniscalco
Genre: Young Adult (Historical Fiction/Mystery)
Date Published: September 20, 2016
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

Stalking Jack the Ripper is the first book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco. Jack the Ripper will most likely always be a mystery to us, and this book filled in the gaps of what we don't know quite well. With the curiosity towards science and other events of the time, this story makes perfect sense. I could see it being a reality when it comes to dear ole Jack. With such a dark topic, you need some fun characters, and we got them with Audrey Rose and Thomas. There was no insta-love. Their friendship is a work in progress, and a very entertaining one too. I loved their little arguments and insults and how they went back and forth with each other. 

Audrey Rose was smart and adventurous. She wasn't a damsel in distress. She wanted to live life on her terms, not society's. She didn't want to be put in a box. She also lacked some self preservation skills, as she'd go out alone in the middle of the night searching for the killer or clues. So, this lack of common sense made me aggravated at her, but she was fun & likable overall.

Thomas was someone who grew on me more and more through the book. I liked him well enough from the start, but the more I got to know him, the more I really grew to like him. Kind of like Audrey Rose did, I think. He reminded me a lot of Sherlock Holmes. He also had some great lines. 

"Without lifting his head from his own journal, he said, “Not having any luck figuring me out, then? Don’t worry, you’ll get better with practice. And, yes”—he grinned wickedly, eyes fixed on his paper—“you’ll still fancy me tomorrow no matter how much you wish otherwise. I’m unpredictable, and you adore it. Just as I cannot wrap my massive brain around the equation of you and yet adore it.”

There was a lot going on within this story, and hardly a dull moment. I was surprised at how much  enjoyed it. Stalking Jack the Ripper was a little Sherlock Holmes-ish with some girl power. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book!

Kerri Maniscalco grew up in a semi-haunted house outside NYC where her fascination with gothic settings began. In her spare time she reads everything she can get her hands on, cooks all kinds of food with her family and friends, and drinks entirely too much tea while discussing life’s finer points with her cats.

Her first novel in this series, Stalking Jack the Ripper, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. It incorporates her love of forensic science and unsolved history.

To learn more about Kerri Maniscalco and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and Twitter.