Title: Hunting Prince Dracula
Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Jimmy Paterson
Publication Date: 19th September 2017
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Summary: Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper’s true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe’s best schools of forensic medicine…and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.
But her life’s dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school’s forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again
Well, well, now we’re back to the second installment of the series. First of all, I have to say that I adore the writing, how detailed the backgrounds that emphasize how much researches that have been done. I felt the Victorian time was alive again in this book.
Plot
The writing is amazing that I didn’t feel anything and all and had to quickly turn the next page to read what’s going on. I even had to ignore Cheshire’s message for annoying the White Rabbit. This is how good it was.
Thomas Cresswell
Might I say that I am in love with this character? Oh my, I wish I could be him somehow. Cheeky and mysterious, and also smart. Imagine that you can be inside the killer’s mind, wouldn’t that be amazing? Let’s hope that he wouldn’t be that mad later on.
Badass Protagonist
I have to say that I love how badass that Audre was and doesn’t afraid of anything. She stood up to man and showed that she’s also in equal position. In addition, male sidekick? Well, now we talked.
However, despite all the good stuffs, something still irked me. Despite the ‘wherever the detective goes, there’s always a murder’, I still felt like sometimes Kerri couldn’t really manage to connect the dots. Anyway, what I meant for the former was that, in the classic detective manga like Kindaichi and Conan, the detectives always came with murders. Everywhere they went, there’ll always be murder and it’s not that interesting anymore.
Okay, now back to the mysteries for me. First, regarding Thomas’ parents (I should reread Stalking Jack the Ripper again to confirm this) that were mentioned in this book. And the finishing to the ending; I have this vibe too when I read Stalking Jack the Ripper, I feel that the motive is not quite ‘strong’ enough and it’s the same at this book, especially with the lack of explanation for the murders.
Since I quite enjoy the story, the characters, and the idea of it, not to mention the fine research that’s done, I have to give this a four star. If you’re looking for a mystery novel with Victorian background, lots of folklores regarding dracula, and female protagonist, Hunting Prince Dracula is a must to try!
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