Review: Escaping from Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco

Series: Stalking Jack the Ripper #3
Publication Date: September 18th, 2018
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Genera: YA, Historical Fiction, Mystery
Amazon ~ Goodreads

Synopsis: 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?

My Rating

4/5 stars

My Review

The Stalking Jack the Ripper series has been amazing thus far, but Escaping from Houdini was definitely the weakest book.

Audrey Rose and Thomas are travelling to New York via the RMS Etruria, a luxurious passenger boat with lots of activities planned to keep the passengers happy. The Moonlight Carnival is on the ship to perform for the guests, but when a passenger is murdered during the first show, everyone puts blame onto the Carnival. It is up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to solve the mystery of who is truly behind the murders and clear the carnival's name, but the closer they get to New York, the less time they have to solve the case.

One of the main things I have loved about this series was that there was no love triangle, it was just Audrey Rose and Thomas on their adventures. Unfortunately in this book, Audrey Rose begins to have feelings for someone other than Thomas and the readers must suffer through another love triangle. I honestly found this to be unnecessary and I know I'm not the only one who groaned when Audrey Rose was falling for someone else, especially this late in the series.

While I didn't enjoy the character development whatsoever, I did like the other aspects of the book like the setting (even though its on a boat there is still lots going on) and the pace of the story. The mystery aspect was also very well written, as I was constantly guessing who the murderer could be.

Overall, I will be definitely continuing with this series, with strong hopes that there are no more love triangles in the future of these books.

Huge thanks to the publisher for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.