Felicity Carrol and the Murderous Menace: A Felicity Carrol Mystery
The second novel in this mystery series set in the Victorian era finds the redoubtable Felicity Carrol in pursuit of Jack the Ripper. The trail in London has gone cold but reports of similar gruesome murders in the wild mining town of Placer, Montana, lead her to suspect the killer has moved to the United States. She follows.
With her impressive range of skills and resources, success might be predicted, but her quarry has already proven to be elusive, and conditions on the ground are challenging. Not only is there great physical danger from drunken miners as well as the killer, but though less restrictive than in England, the constraints upon the behavior of well-bred young women do inhibit her freedom of action. Under the guise of a writer of crime novels, Felicity manages to secure the reluctant co-operation of a skeptical (but attractive) Sheriff Tom Pike and the investigation proceeds.
The picture of life in the mining town, particularly the social structure and attitudes, has the satisfying ring of authenticity; and though the extended descriptions of scientific techniques can slow the pace, they provide valuable information on investigative procedures and their limitations in this period.
There is, moreover, plenty of action and suspense, the mystery is satisfying, and the identity and psychological justification for the actions of Jack the Ripper are certainly plausible.
