Color me impressed. This was a solid entry into the Stalking Jack the Ripper series that improved vastly upon the previous two. I know that a lot of people are torn about this one, because of the introduction of the "love triangle" trope, but the fact that Kerri Manscalco really brought her A-game to the writing of this book just made the story that much better. There was none of the endless discussion of her skirts, no tedious repetitive filler sentences. And Audrey Rose was so much more likable this time around. She wasn't getting her panties in a knot over innocent comments or actions on the part of her partner, and she wasn't acting so superior to everyone (at least, not as much as she used to).

For me, the fact that all the kinks in the writing have been worked out totally makes this the best book in the series. I loved the carnival/circus/cruise setting, and I actually really liked the "love triangle" thing. Mephistopheles was cute and mysterious and dangerous maybe, and I think he would be exactly the type of guy to tempt a real 17-year-old girl. Indecision before commitment for life is normal for a girl that is so young. Readers tend to project their own thoughts and feelings onto the character, putting their extra years of experience into what they think the character should do. I tried not to do that. I'm almost thirty, and I made a lot of stupid decisions when I was seventeen. Getting a crush on the cute guy who is absolutely smitten with me and also is sexy and dangerous in a different way to the only other relationship I've ever been in WOULD be tempting to me when I was young and dumb. It actually made me like Audrey Rose more to see that she wasn't trying to be this infallible little badass, and instead was a normal teenager who just so happened to also be badass.

Anyway, A+ work on the part of Kerri Manscalco. I will definitely be reading the next book in the series.