There's nothing better than a little danger dashed with some romance.
"Roses have both petals and thorns, my dark flower. You needn’t believe something weak because it appears delicate. Show the world your bravery."
— Malina Wadsworth
Stalking Jack the Ripper is the first book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series by Kerri Maniscalco.
Set in 1888 London, the book follows 17-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth. As the only daughter of the wealthy Wadsworth-family, her overprotective father would prefer it that she stayed at home and behaved as a proper lady, but in secret Audrey Rose is pursuing her passion for forensic science by helping her uncle preform autopsies on corpses.
There, she soon gets company in her work by another of her uncle’s students, Thomas Cresswell. Audrey’s first impression is that the man is an arrogant know-it-all, but as they start working together, sparks begin to fly.
But in Whitechapel, a mysterious killer has started his reign of terror … and soon Audrey Rose and those close to her will be dragged into the bloody mystery.
This novel provides examples of:
- Alone with the Psycho: Audrey Rose with Nathaniel.
- Bedlam House. Jonathan Wadsworth gets locked up in the Trope Namer when he is suspected of being Jack the Ripper.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Audrey Rose and Thomas.
- Bloody Horror: In a novel about the Whitechapel murders, this is a given.
- Clear Their Name: When Jonathan Wadsworth gets arrested, suspected of being Jack the Ripper, his niece Audrey Rose tries to clear his name.
- Convicted by Public Opinion: Jonathan Wadsworth is thrown into Bedlam House, where he is drugged until he seems like a madman. There are plans to have a swift trial and execution, because the public is terrified and wants someone punished for the murders. Jonathan was targeted because he is a scientist who preforms autopsies and studies macabre topics.
- Dead Person Conversation: Robert James Lees says he can speak to the dead. Through him, the dead warn Audrey Rose to get out of London.
- Deceased Parents Are the Best: Audrey Rose and Nathaniel’s late mother is greatly missed by the whole family. … So much so that Nathaniel has been working to resurrect her.
- Desecrating the Dead: Nearly all the victims are mutilated after death.
- Thomas gets accused of doing this by a relative of a dead woman he performed an autopsy on. It turned out that the corpses he thought were unclaimed and free to be studied were actually stolen.
- Nathaniel had his mother removed from her grave and kept cold, to prevent her body from rotting while he worked on bringing her back to life. When her body is found by Audrey Rose, parts of her are rotting, and Nathaniel has transplanted his victims organs into her.
- Disposable Sex Worker: Jack the Ripper considers it a good deed that he killed prostitutes, considering them worthless people who spreads diseases.
- Face of an Angel, Mind of a Demon: Nathaniel.
- Failure-to-Save Murder: Jonathan tried to save his sister-in-law Malina when she was ill. His failure is a big part of why the relationship between him and his brother Edmund is so cold.
- Fantasy-Forbidding Father: Edmund Wadsworth does not approve of his daughter’s passion for forensics.
- Finger in the Mail: Like in real life, Jack the Ripper sends part of a kidney from one of his victims to the police.
- Friend on the Force: Superintendent Blackburn
- Functional Addict: Edmund Wadsworth has used opium since his beloved wife died. It gets worse, and he gets sent away to recover. Nathaniel has secretly been encouraging this addiction, to prevent his father to discover his experiments.
- High-Voltage Death: Nathaniel’s plan to resurrect his mother fails, and ends up killing him.
- Insufferable Genius: Thomas.
- Organ Theft: Several of the victims are missing organs. This is turns out to be the actual reason why they were killed.
- Proper Lady: Aunt Amelia and cousin Liza.
- Seeks Another's Resurrection: Nathaniel’s gruesome killing spree has all been a part of the plan to resurrect his beloved mother.
- Secret Room: In the Wadsworth residence.
- Serial Killer: Jack the Ripper, of course.
- Slashed Throat
- Spirited Young Lady: Audrey Rose.
- Spooky Séance: Audrey Rose and Thomas attend one with Robert James Lees.
- Tall, Dark, and Snarky: Thomas.
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Nathaniel.
- Victorian London
- Where Did I Go Wrong: Edmund Wadsworth tried to be a good parent, and protect his children … but his son ends up becoming a serial killer.
