In the shocking finale to the bestselling series that began with Stalking Jack the Ripper, Audrey Rose and Thomas are on the hunt for the depraved, elusive killer known as the White City Devil. A deadly game of cat-and-mouse has them fighting to stay one step ahead of the brilliant serial killer---or see their fateful romance cut short by unspeakable tragedy.
Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell have landed in America, a bold, brash land unlike the genteel streets of London they knew. But like London, the city of Chicago hides its dark secrets well. When the two attend the spectacular World's Fair, they find the once-in-a-lifetime event tainted with reports of missing people and unsolved murders.
Determined to help, Audrey Rose and Thomas begin their investigations, only to find themselves facing a serial killer unlike any they've heard of before. Identifying him is one thing, but capturing him---and getting dangerously lost in the infamous Murder Hotel he constructed as a terrifying torture device---is another.
Will Audrey Rose and Thomas see their last mystery to the end---together and in love---or will their fortunes finally run out when their most depraved adversary makes one final, devastating kill?

And here I am, reading another finale of one of my favorite series. It’s been a long ride with these awesome and original detective historical fiction books, but I am sorry to tell you that the fourth installment leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. It sucks pretty much when you feel all meh about the finale because of it kind of ruins all the things I’ve loved from previous books, but here I am, and there’s nothing for me to do but treasure all the good memories and hope I’ll be at peace with the bad ones.

So what happens after Audrey Rose gets of Eturia in New York? After injuring her leg badly on the fight on the Eturia, Audrey Rose is still struggling with everyday activities, especially walking, but everything is easier when you have the love of your life at your side. Thomas and Audrey Rose have gotten over all their disagreements and obstacles that stand in their way and now are happy and engaged – getting ready for their wedding in a fortnight. But their forensic work is far from over– another vicious killer, who might have something to do with Jack the Ripper, is on the loose and young women are disappearing all over the New York. It is time for Audrey Rose and Thomas to join their forensic skills and art of deduction to put an end to Jack the Ripper once and for all.

This book could be separated into two general parts: the one that I loved and the one that I didn’t like. The two of them kind of outbalanced each other which left me with the sort of neutral regard towards everything that had happened. The part that I loved was the absolutely genius detective search, but the part that I absolutely despised was romance.

Maniscalco took her time with this book, and that’s probably the thing that killed me. She put Audrey Rose’s search for a killer on hold for about the first half of the book and that’s what kind of ruined the mood – the anticipation for something to actually start happening. It took her long enough, but when the real thing started, it was absolutely brilliant. Maniscalco took her work from the previous books, gently wrapping it in a veil of mystery and well-known theories that brought a whole new insight of Audrey’s connections to the killer on the loose. Audrey Rose’s search for the killer turned into an obsession to prove her brother innocent, to the point where her work became too personal. The threats and letters only amplified mysteriousness and tension in the hunt for one of the most vicious killers in history – H.H. Holmes.

And as I said before, getting to the good part of this book took a serious toll on my nerves. Romance straight-up sucked to the point I started being annoyed by the two characters I usually adored. Audrey Rose and Thomas have been together for a long time and have gone through a lot but there is a time when you have to let the romance rest without any additional drama and interfering. I have nothing about slow-burn or anything, but the two of them have gotten together two books ago, on from then on there has been like a million more obstacles, changes of hearts and dramatic interferences. For the first 20% of the book there was nothing but non-stop love proclamations that all sounded the same – okay I get it, you love each other but can we please move on now. And then *spoiler* the wedding is interrupted by some random chick and whole heartbreaking earthshaking drama emerges where everything looks hopeless. And they just put aside everything catch a murderer and their big problem is solved by the queen of England in two pages. *spoiler over* Sorry, but that was just too much dramatics and unnecessary waste of time for me. There could have been more clues about the murderer instead :/

I’ve had such a beautiful experience reading these books, and I’m sorry beyond measures that my impression will be spoiled by the last one, but what can one do. No matter what, Audrey Rose and Thomas will always have a place in my heart reserved for their unconditional friendship and detective genius.