Escaping From Houdini by Kerri Maniscalco
Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are 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 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 more and more bizarre. It's up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation before 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?
Honestly, I’m sad. This book ruined my favorite part of the Ripper Series: Cressworth. In my opinion, Stalking Jack the Ripper was the best book plot wise, and Hunting Prince Dracula was the best relationship-wise. And Escaping From Houdini was the best in …. nothing.
First of all, the fact that they are on a ship makes the setting very claustrophobic. There are only so many suspects. You get to know almost each and every possible murderer very quickly, and then you spend the rest of the book chasing them down one after another. Because you already know everyone on the ship, there are no new suspects halfway through the book, and it starts to drag on after a point. In Hunting Prince Dracula, Audrey Rose and Thomas had so much more freedom, and here they are barely allowed to talk to each other in case someone sees them. It really limits where the story can go.
These suspects are mainly all part of a suspicious travelling circus, the Moonlight Caravan. The Caravan made a deal with the captain of the ship: they will entertain the first class passengers in exchange for free passage. The Moonlight Caravan is creepy and weird and everyone wears masks. Oh, and at the end of each performance, someone is killed. It’s creepy the first two times, and then it just seems gaudy.
But honestly, I wasn’t here for the plot. How Audrey Rose and Thomas uncover it is the fun part. Guess what? I was robbed of that too. Basically, Audrey Rose makes a bargain with the ringmaster. She will take part in his finale performance. As a renowned scientist, her participation will give his caravan’s magic tricks more authority. In return, he will tell her some important information about her cousin, who has gone missing (Honestly, this angle got to me too. I love Liza, and this was not cool.). The only catch is that she’s not allowed to tell anyone about their agreement. So she’s spending all her free time with this guy, either learning tricks, or observing the other performers. The she realizes that the others will only trust her if she pretends to be in love with the ringmaster, and then she actually falls in love with him and everything goes downhill from there. She doesn’t get any scenes with Thomas in the last two-thirds of the book, and when they do, they’re fighting.
And it was all for nothing, because she still isn’t able to figure out who the murderer is until they literally attack her. And even when the ringmaster is exposed as a lying jerk, she isn’t even angry. She just thoughtfully realizes that she likes Thomas more than she likes him. Huh?
I suppose it’s unrealistic to have Audrey Rose and Thomas always get along, but their fight didn’t need to drag on for so long and make up such a major plot point of the book. They fought in Hunting Prince Dracula too, but they got over it. Their dynamic in this book was weak, and I found the plot to be weak as well. I had high expectations from this book, and it disappointed me on every front. Here’s hoping that things work out for them in the next book.
But 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 more and more bizarre. It's up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation before 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?
First of all, the fact that they are on a ship makes the setting very claustrophobic. There are only so many suspects. You get to know almost each and every possible murderer very quickly, and then you spend the rest of the book chasing them down one after another. Because you already know everyone on the ship, there are no new suspects halfway through the book, and it starts to drag on after a point. In Hunting Prince Dracula, Audrey Rose and Thomas had so much more freedom, and here they are barely allowed to talk to each other in case someone sees them. It really limits where the story can go.
These suspects are mainly all part of a suspicious travelling circus, the Moonlight Caravan. The Caravan made a deal with the captain of the ship: they will entertain the first class passengers in exchange for free passage. The Moonlight Caravan is creepy and weird and everyone wears masks. Oh, and at the end of each performance, someone is killed. It’s creepy the first two times, and then it just seems gaudy.
But honestly, I wasn’t here for the plot. How Audrey Rose and Thomas uncover it is the fun part. Guess what? I was robbed of that too. Basically, Audrey Rose makes a bargain with the ringmaster. She will take part in his finale performance. As a renowned scientist, her participation will give his caravan’s magic tricks more authority. In return, he will tell her some important information about her cousin, who has gone missing (Honestly, this angle got to me too. I love Liza, and this was not cool.). The only catch is that she’s not allowed to tell anyone about their agreement. So she’s spending all her free time with this guy, either learning tricks, or observing the other performers. The she realizes that the others will only trust her if she pretends to be in love with the ringmaster, and then she actually falls in love with him and everything goes downhill from there. She doesn’t get any scenes with Thomas in the last two-thirds of the book, and when they do, they’re fighting.
And it was all for nothing, because she still isn’t able to figure out who the murderer is until they literally attack her. And even when the ringmaster is exposed as a lying jerk, she isn’t even angry. She just thoughtfully realizes that she likes Thomas more than she likes him. Huh?
I suppose it’s unrealistic to have Audrey Rose and Thomas always get along, but their fight didn’t need to drag on for so long and make up such a major plot point of the book. They fought in Hunting Prince Dracula too, but they got over it. Their dynamic in this book was weak, and I found the plot to be weak as well. I had high expectations from this book, and it disappointed me on every front. Here’s hoping that things work out for them in the next book.
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