Escaping From Houdini (Stalking Jack the Ripper #3) by Kerri Maniscalco

Goodreads blurb:

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 strange and 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?

Escaping from Houdini is the third book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series.  It follows Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell as they try to solve the mystery of a string of murders happening on board their ship to New York.

The tone for this book was perfectly set as it follows the mystery and magic of the carnival and the science behind the acts.  It adds to the air of mystery that surrounds the murders of the 17 year old women each night of the cruise.  Add in the subtle references to The Invisible Man, and it creates a perfect backdrop for just how invisible the actual murderer was to the characters up to the last 100 pages.

The pacing of this book was definitely a lot faster than the previous two books.  However, this cause much in the sacrifice of character growth for our main character, Audrey Rose.  We see her becoming more confident in her skills and in facing her fears/PTSD head on.  In fact, the only character that suffered from lack of attention was Thomas Cresswell, with his presence being reduced in favor of a new character named Mephistopheles.

This was probably the greatest crime of the book.  I understand why the author decided to add another love interest to the book.  After all, it only made Audrey Rose’s and Thomas’s relationship stronger.  But did it have to come as a sacrifice to Thomas’s characterization?  Also, did he have to be so similar to Thomas in terms of personality?  Personally, I would have preferred it if Mephistopheles had been given a personality that was more opposite of Thomas so that we could see the contrast between the two.

The second greatest crime was that Houdini was barely even a part of the book.  Seriously, he’s not even introduced until about half way through the book.  What was the point of having his name in the title if he’s barely even a part of the book?  Also, he was barely even thought of as the possible murderer, there wasn’t really anyone trying to “escaping” from him.

I would rate this book as 3 1/2 out of 5 stars.  Since his name was in the title, I expected Houdini to be focused on way more than he was.  I’m excited to see what famous, mischievous/monstrous person the next book will focus on (maybe HH Holmes?).