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?

Review!

The final installment in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series, and unfortunately my least favourite of the series.

The book picks up pretty much instantly from the ending of Escaping from Houdini. Audrey-Rose, Thomas, Liza and Uncle Jonathan have landed in New york to some harrowing news. A body has been found and the signature is remarkably similar to Jack the Ripper. The only problem Audrey-Rose is sure that Jack the Ripper is dead. They get led on a number of wild goose chases before things start clicking together and everything the pair knows comes into question.

Audrey-Rose has always been a favourite character of mine. Strong-willed she knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to fight for it, damn the consequences and even if society will look down on her for it. I feel in this book, she was tested maybe even more than before, not just with her will to do a job most would see unfit for a woman, but also in her relationship with Thomas. Questions are asked and options given but Audrey-Rose never waivers in her decisions. Thomas is an extremely lovable character, someone that comes across hard and unfeeling but in his moments with Audrey-Rose we see the true, insecure and loving man come to life. These are one of my all time OTP’s, and though I expected a happy ending, I wasn’t prepared for the journey they had to take to get there.

The romance in this book is as steamy as the others and you just know that Audrey-Rose and Thomas are meant for one another. However, the author throws a spanner in the works that I just didn’t feel was needed. It added nothing to the story, except waylaying their happy ending and didn’t add the angst I think she was expecting. It was written as this huge problem, one you should be unsure they would overcome.. the only problem was you were absolutely sure they would overcome it and because of that it lacked any suspense and didn’t really add anything to the plot.

The main plot, however, I did find interesting. It brought us right back to the first book, when Jack the Ripper was terrorizing London. We learn that Audrey-Roses brother confesses to the killings at the end of SJTR, but when more bodies turn up across the pond they realise it might not be that simple. Maniscalco knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat, and though I knew there would be a happy ending there were plenty of OMG moments. Some were slightly predictable, but I enjoyed it overall and love that you feel as if you are solving the crime’s right alongside them. With Audrey-Rose’s clinical skill and Thomas’ almost Criminal Minds style profiling they make the perfect crime solving pair.

I did enjoy this book. I simply felt that the author tried too hard to make it as tense and suspenseful as possible and it failed a little bit for me. I did like the happy ending, but it just took too long to get there in my opinion. I still love the series as a whole and will definitely pick up anything else the author writes. 4/5.