Review: Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco

We followed Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell from the streets of London, to the mountains of Romania and on a ship across the Atlantic ocean. Now, we watch them discover New York City and Chicago.

After all of the drama from the RMS Etruria, Audrey Rose and Thomas are ready to rekindle their romance. In fact, Audrey Rose’s dad and aunt, plus Thomas’s sister are on the way to New York so Thomas can officially ask Audrey Rose to marry him.

The details are set and their families have put together the perfect wedding, when Thomas’s father’s meddling stands in the way of happily ever after. Out of anger, Audrey Rose and Thomas try to come up with solutions to get their perfect love story.

However, at the same time, bodies have been found across the city and the killer has a similar style to Jack the Ripper. But Jack the Ripper is dead, isn’t he? After going through the journals of the man who died claiming he was the notorious murderer, dark secrets come to life and the mystery might not have been as simple as they originally thought.

They follow the killer from New York to the World’s Fair in Chicago, where a lot of young women have gone missing, but no bodies have been found. The real Jack the Ripper might be closer than they think, having more of a connection with the two forensic scientists than they ever thought possible. Will Audrey Rose and Thomas be able to stop the person who has been watching them for months and finally walk down the aisle?

This book did not disappoint. We loved this series overall, even though portions of Escaping From Houdini annoyed us. Capturing the Devil made up for it, with Cressworth being stronger than ever.

We won’t spoil the ending, but Maniscalco wrapped everything up nicely. Although, we’d love to see more of Cressworth’s future endeavors, we accept that this story has come to an end. 

Maniscalco also did a good job of tying the books together. We loved how she brought back Jack the Ripper and that she still had surprises in store from that mystery. 

Overall, the plot moves quickly and the reader can see how much these characters developed from the beginning of the series. Audrey Rose is strong, intelligent and ahead of her time. Thomas is witty, loyal and the perfect companion. Their unconventional love story set among forensics and dead bodies was the story YA readers needed.

If you haven’t tried reading this series, go out and buy them immediately. Now that all of the books are out, spend your weekend binge-reading. You know you want to! 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Cressworth forever!)