Carole's Sunday Review: Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper

Author: Ana Brazil

Title: Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper

Genre: Mystery and Historical Fiction

Pages: 319

Published: Oct 2017

I Got It: My shelf (Given to my by the author/publisher for my honest and unbiased opinion)

Gilded Age New Orleans is overrun with prostitutes, pornographers, and a malicious Jack the Ripper copycat. As threatening letters to newspaper editors proclaim, no woman is safe from his blade.

Desperate to know who murdered her favorite student, ambitious typewriting teacher Fanny Newcomb launches into a hunt for the self-proclaimed Irish Channel Ripper. Fanny quickly enlists the help of her well-connected employers--Principal Sylvia Giddings and her sister Dr. Olive--and together the women forge through saloons, cemeteries, slums, and houses of prostitution.

Fanny's good intentions quickly infuriate her longtime beau Lawrence Decatur, while her reckless persistence confounds the talented police detective Daniel Crenshaw. Reluctantly, Lawrence and Daniel also lend their talents to Fanny's investigation. 

As the murderer sets a date for his next heinous crime, can Fanny Newcomb and her crew stop the Irish Channel Ripper before he kills again?

I couldn't resist this book due to the title. Like many people I am fascinated by the Ripper, so when I saw this I had to give it a go. I was even more intrigued that the hero is a woman with a crew of fellow women to help track down this killer. 

Poor Nora. She was a good egg even though she was a prostitute on the side. She didn't deserve to be murdered like that!

Fanny was okay. I really respected her and I applauded her courage, but she annoyed me. She was SO pushy and I feel like she is playing Lawrence. Lawrence is a good egg for a lawyer, so I really feel bad for him because he really seems to love Fanny, but she just uses him. Yes, there is a part of her that likes him a lot, but she doesn't want to marry him because she doesn't want to give up her freedom. 

Olive was my favorite. Sylvia was okay; I do want to learn more about her. 

I must give major kuddos to the author...I was not sure who the murdered was. I had my main guesses, but I really had no idea. So yayy! 

It is so hard to say what happened without giving away much. But the ending just exploded!! So, so good. 

I can't wait to see what happens next! I want Fanny to marry Lawrence and stay being an investigator!

The story was fun and I loved the Jack the Ripper mania. So scary.Fanny was an interesting heroine. I respected her but I didn't really care for her much. In a way...it made the story more interesting. The side characters were interesting too. This was a good mystery and I highly recommend it. 5 stars is what I shall stamp this with.