Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Manscalco

“Stalking Jack the Ripper” by Kerri Manscalco is a fictional story about a young girl who has an unusual love of science. Her uncle, Dr. Jonathon Wadsworth, teaches science to young men in Harrow School for Boys. Part of the course is based on the Jonathon’s experiments involving the autopsies that he conducts in his lab. 

Instead of taking tea and working on embroidery, as ladies of the day spent their days, Audrey Rose is only interested in her uncle’s work, even though she knows it isn’t proper. Finally, after much pleading she is allowed to dress like a boy, and sit in on his class. That is where she meets Thomas.

 At that time, the headlines were full of Jack the Ripper, or the Leather Apron. Audrey Rose is something of a snoop, a want to be detective, and is putting herself in danger to find this monster who is killing women. Thomas starts to go with her, at first to protect her, but then he becomes intrigued with the Leather Apron, too. Three young women crossed their autopsy table before Audrey Rose finds The Ripper.

This book was well written, but just didn’t hold my attention. The first couple of chapters were intriguing, but then it became very boring. The focus switched from finding Jack, to the relationship between Audrey Rose and Thomas and back to Jack at the end. I found myself counting the pages I had read before I could start another book. This book was not at all what I expected it to be. It didn’t capture the mystery of Jack and, worse than all, “Stalking Jack the Ripper” was too predictable. I give it one star. 

The Woman on the Orient Express, by Lindsay Jayne Ashford

From the hustle and bustle of London, to the romance of Venice, to the loneliness of the dig in the desert and finally, back home to England, we travel with Agatha Christie on her adventures.  After her husband, Archie, left her for another woman, Agatha was heartbroken.  She starts a journey on the Orient Express to lose her depression. On board, she befriended two other women.  All three of them came from completely different backgrounds; each of them has a secret that they held deep in their hearts; secrets that were keeping each one miserable and alone.  Even though these women seemed to have nothing in common, they learn to trust each other with their lives.

I usually read mysteries and the romance genre just is not my thing, but I truly enjoyed this charming story.  As Ms. Ashford states, “Throughout this story, I have mixed fiction with the detail of real life.”  While I must admit, I was waiting for some of that classical Christie mystery, I wasn’t disappointed with Ms. Ashford’s romantic “The Woman on the Orient Express” and give it five stars.

Cross Kill by James Patterson

Cross Kill by James Patterson is a Bookshot book, meaning it is a short book (about 100-150 pages) and under $5, which is a great deal for all of us.  It is action packed from page one to the end and had my attention throughout the book.  Like all of Patterson’s book, it is spellbinding, suspenseful and thrilling. 

Alex Cross is a homicide detective who uses his PhD in psychology to get into the minds of killers.  From the first of the series, Along Came a Spider, to Cross Kill, Gary Sonji is his main adversary.  Sonji is introduced in Along Came a Spider as a psychotic kidnapper/murderer and continues to demonstrate his diabolical mind throughout the series.  Alex thinks his troubles are over when he sees Sonji die. 

Cross Kill opens with a shootout between Alex and his partner, Sampson and a gunman that Alex thinks is Sonji.  He starts seeing him everywhere, but nobody will believe him.  After all, Sonji is dead.  Or is he?

Once again, Patterson has written a bestseller. I give it five stars.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to all!

The Christmas Mystery

The Christmas Mystery, by James Patterson with Richard Dilallo, is the second of the detective Luc Moncrief series. This novella was published by James Patterson own company out of Little, Brown and Company publishing house. Bookshots are mostly ebooks, although I have one in paperback. They are novellas, less than 150 pages and less than $5.00 and are just right for people who want to read a book in a day or two.

I skipped the first of the series because I thought, what better time to read about a Christmas mystery than the week before the beloved holiday.  The book is a delightful story about a French detective and his American partner, who stamp out crime in New York City. The Frenchman, Detective Moncrief, comes from a very rich family and thinks nothing of dropping $150,000 on a painting, which he just happens to see on his lunch hour. His counterpart, K. Burke, is quite the opposite.  While he loves to spent his time walking the streets looking for trouble, she is a ‘by the book’ cop, who is concerned with paperwork.  She wants to let the boss know their actions on a case, each step of the way and Moncrief plays it fast and loose.  When he gets in trouble, Burke is always there to back him up. 

In this story, they are called on a case in which a rich debutante is murdered. The partners noticed the theft of all of the artwork that she owned and, since that was right up Moncrief's alley, they go after the thieves as well as the killers. 

As I said before, this is a delightful story, full of dry humor, for which Patterson is known. I finished the book in two sittings, only because I could not keep my eyes open.  It was impossible to put down the next day. I can’t wait to read more about this incredible duo.  I give Mr. Patterson 5 stars.

The Gourmet Detective

The Gourmet Detective goes from place to place on behalf of restaurants to find uncommon ingredients for uncommon recipes. In this book he is asked by the police to use his knowledge of the restaurant business to help sniff out a killer.

The reason that I bought this book was because I had seen the movie and enjoyed it immensely. The characters were very different in the book and I didn't like them as much as in the movie. In the movie, there was delious tension between our gourmet detective and the female detective. The book fails to convey this tension, which only adds to the mystery. 
If you like reading about gourmet food and how it's prepared, this is your book.
While I give the movie four stars, the book receives only one.

Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to Ashes, by Tami Hoag, was published in 1999 by Bantam Books. Ms. Hoag has written over thirty books. She has taken her readers on different paths by writing several different series, including Kovac and Liska. This series is comprised of five, nail biting thrillers. Ashes to Ashes is the first of this series.

When the Cremator kills, he chops off the victim’s head. Then, he makes a fire, and throws her on it. Then, staring with delight at his prize, he says, “Ashes to ashes.” At first, he seemed to strike only prostitutes. But when he kills Jillian Bondurant, the daughter of a very important, very rich business man, Peter Bondurant, Kate Conlan and John Quill work around the clock to find this madman.  They both are strong characters and very much the same, so, in the past, when these two worked together, it did not go well. 

This book had me from the first page to the last. When we first meet Kate, we find out just how tough she can get, when she stops a mugging. And that is just the first page. From there on in, Ms. Hoag takes you further and further away from the safety of your home and into the depths of depravity. I give Ashes to Ashes and its’ star performers 5 stars. I would certainly suggest it to those who love a good mystery/thriller.