Book Description: The year is 1888 and Jack the Ripper begins his reign of terror.
Miss Sarah Bain, a photographer in Whitechapel, is an independent woman with dark secrets. In the privacy of her studio, she supplements her meager income by taking illicit “boudoir photographs” of the town’s local ladies of the night. But when two of her models are found gruesomely murdered within weeks of one another, Sarah begins to suspect it’s more than mere coincidence.
Teamed with a motley crew of friends–including a street urchin, a gay aristocrat, a Jewish butcher and his wife, and a beautiful young actress–Sarah delves into the crime of the century. But just as she starts unlocking the Ripper’s secrets, she catches the attention of the local police, who believe she knows more than she’s revealing, as well as from the Ripper himself, now bent on silencing her and her friends for good.
Caught in the crosshairs of a ruthless killer, Sarah races through Whitechapel’s darkest alleys to find the truth…until she makes a shocking discovery that challenges everything she thought she knew about the case. Intelligent and utterly engrossing, Laura Joh Rowland’s Victorian mystery The Ripper’s Shadow will keep readers up late into the night.
First book read of 2017!
I was lucky enough to get a chance to review this from NetGalley and was very happy that Crooked Lane Books approved my request. I was instantly drawn to the book one from the cover and two because I like Victorian time periods in books and also I like reading about Jack The Ripper type things. Just always something I find fun and fascinating.
I thought this book was very well written, I liked how it went along with the Jack the Ripper story while keeping true to its own story as well. This band of random people come together and create a group that is out there to help the people they know. They are taking into their own hands what the police are too blind to see. Granted there are a few things that Sarah knows that she hasn’t shared with the police which helps her investigation.
I thought the chemistry between all the characters was great, they were all really well developed and each had their own background and they just all meshed well. I was rooting for a little romance between Sarah and PC Barrett in the beginning, and there was some, but in the end I was glad that was not the focus because it would have taken away from the rest of the story. I was hooked from the beginning and just kept wondering what is going to happen! I was kept on my toes throughout it, especially when you find out there are 2 Ripper’s!
I like that there was some humor in the story so that the suspense was broken up. I like that they are like their own little detective agency and no matter what bad things happen to them they never gave up. I think that the growth of the characters throughout the book was great too, they all had their own personal growth that happened and changed them into different people. The story was engaging and well thought out. I sure hope that there is a second one and that I don’t have to wait to long to read it!
Book Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars
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