Stalking Jack the Ripper

June 13, 2016
Maniscalco’s debut isn’t for the squeamish: it starts with 17-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth deeply immersed in opening up and analyzing a corpse under the supervision of her Uncle Jonathan, with no detail or scalpel cut spared. Audrey Rose is a proper Victorian with the unladylike aspirations of understanding crime scenes, blood spatter, the brutality of murder, and exactly how a killer tears into his victim. Luckily for her, Jack the Ripper is on the hunt, and Audrey Rose—alongside Thomas, a handsome aspiring coroner—is determined to catch him. In taking on the subject of this famous 19th-century serial killer, Maniscalco is treading well-worn fictional territory, but she has created a serious, sharp-minded, and forward-thinking protagonist in Audrey Rose, whose fearlessness in the face of the decaying and the dead—while still navigating the social norms of the day—will endear her to readers looking for an engaging historical thriller. Abundant red herrings and a dash of romance round out this gruesome but engrossing story. Ages 15–up. Agent: Barbara Poelle, Irene Goodman Literary.

June 15, 2016
Audrey Rose Wadsworth, 17, would rather perform autopsies in her uncle's dark laboratory than find a suitable husband, as is the socially acceptable rite of passage for a young, white British lady in the late 1800s. The story immediately brings Audrey into a fractious pairing with her uncle's young assistant, Thomas Cresswell. The two engage in predictable rounds of "I'm smarter than you are" banter, while Audrey's older brother, Nathaniel, taunts her for being a girl out of her place. Horrific murders of prostitutes whose identities point to associations with the Wadsworth estate prompt Audrey to start her own investigation, with Thomas as her sidekick. Audrey's narration is both ponderous and polemical, as she sees her pursuit of her goals and this investigation as part of a crusade for women. She declares that the slain aren't merely prostitutes but "daughters and wives and mothers," but she's also made it a point to deny any alignment with the profiled victims: "I am not going as a prostitute. I am simply blending in." Audrey also expresses a narrow view of her desired gender role, asserting that "I was determined to be both pretty and fierce," as if to say that physical beauty and liking "girly" things are integral to feminism. The graphic descriptions of mutilated women don't do much to speed the pace. Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging. (Historical thriller. 15-18)

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August 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Audrey Rose Wadsworth spends most of her time in her uncle's laboratory, studying science and medicine through the dissection of cadavers. Although she has confided in her conceited brother regarding her studies-which are questionable at best for a young girl of her station-she has kept her time away from home mostly secret from her overprotective father. But when her work with a series of gruesome murders pulls Audrey Rose into a serious criminal investigation, she may not be able to keep her double life from her father, or from society at large, much longer. With help from her uncle's second apprentice, Thomas Cresswell, the protagonist is determined to find answers, for herself and the murdered women, even if those answers are closer to her own sheltered life than she'd like. Set in 1888, this seamless blend of history and fiction places its characters directly in the middle of the Whitechapel murders attributed to Jack the Ripper. The heroine is strong-willed and independent, and her sassy and Sherlockian protege, Cresswell, adds a satisfying romantic element to the work. While this offering is thoroughly researched, some liberties have been taken to further the plot; these are outlined in an author's note at the end of the book. Grisly period images set the mood, and strong language is included throughout. VERDICT An entertaining debut full of twists and turns, perfect for fans of historical fiction and mystery.-Maggie Mason Smith, Clemson University R. M. Cooper Library, SC

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 Audrey Rose Wadsworth prefers breeches to ball gowns, autopsies to afternoon tea, and scalpels to knitting needles. Though her father, Lord Edmund, has forbidden it, Audrey covertly studies forensic medicine and human anatomy under her uncle JonathanEdmund's estranged brothera prominent, if peculiar, London doctor. But Leather Apron is on the loose, butchering women in London's East End, and mutilated cadavers are arriving at Dr. Wadsworth's Highgate laboratory with unnerving frequency. Audrey and Dr. Wadsworth's young assistant, the wickedly handsome Thomas Cresswell, are quick to uncover the killer's grisly trademarks, sawed-off limbs and absent organs, along with an unsettling connection to the Wadsworths themselves. When Dr. Wadsworth is abruptly arrested and thrown into Bedlam asylum, the pair is left to proveand ponderhis innocence. All the while, the Ripper remains two steps ahead, lurking where Audrey least expects. While readers with a thirst for progressive female protagonists may puzzle over Audrey's continued reverence for physical beauty and social class, Maniscalco's portrayal of scientific invention in a newly industrial era will serve as a fine first foray into Victorian classics.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)