I really enjoyed this book. Murder, mystery and a bit of romance. What’s not to like? The author wove a wonderful story that takes us from the middle of London to the American west. All with the purpose of catching a killer.
Some of the dialogue does not really work for a book set in the 1800’s but in the long run it doesn’t really matter.
Felicity Carrol our leading lady is an interesting character. Her mother died when Felicity was small, and her unaffectionate father left Felicity in the care of the household servants. As an adult she has a medical degree and a thirst for knowledge. Instead of joining “society” she spends her time helping an inspector friend to solve crimes at Scotland Yard.
After a series of brutal unsolved murders in London, Felicity and her friend believe the killer may have re-surfaced in America. Felicity volunteers to go to America and investigate the case.

Felicity Carrol is a wealthy young Victorian woman with a talent for solving mysteries. The second book in this cozy series finds her assisting Scotland Yard in the hunt for Jack the Ripper, a quest that takes her to the American West.

The plot moved quickly to a plausible end but I found the main character hard to believe. Her parents and brother are both dead, leaving her a young and attractive, well educated heiress, whose assistance as an amateur detective is welcomed by her friend in Scotland Yard.

A pleasant read, but a few things were rather jarring throughout. While the main character was likeable, she seemed too perfect and modern for the period. Usually I'm for strong and independent female leads, but she was a bit too Mary Sueish in terms of her looks and abilities, and got her way too easily, plus dominated almost every conversation. Also, it felt like the author couldn't decide on the overall tone of the book, as really good gritty descriptions contrasted with the dialogue which was very cozy mysteryesque. A pity as I would have enjoyed the book much more if these elements were more balanced.

This was a serviceable serial mystery that is an obvious homage to Sherlock Holmes, with the twist that our heroine is a woman. And the author doesn't let us forget it. We are repeatedly reminded that Felicity is a woman and that women in the 1800s didn't do the things she is wont to do. The prose is very heavy-handed, dipping into purple often. I should note that I was concurrently reading another book set in the 1800s, also with a female protagonist, and that did not feel as "first wave feminism" as this book did. It showcased that a modern book set in historical times can still feel fresh and progressive. Felicity Carrol reads as if it was written in the 1800s and is scandalized by itself. Gasp! A female detective? Gasp! She doesn't care about the frivolous things other women do? Gasp!

However, it's still a fun read and I think we could use some more solid serial book series, particularly in the mystery genre. So while I have some issues with Felicity Carrol, I am glad it exists. And if you're looking for a quick, fun read, this is a good choice.

I'm not going to write a long review as I DNF this book at about 20%. The main character was a bit too insufferable and we were constantly told she was smart instead of being shown that she was smart (a woman who is serial killing her husbands with arsenic is basically how 90% of lady serial killers were operating at the time, so no points for figuring that one out, Felicity). At one point, she says something to this effect about other women at balls: they were as vapid as an empty palace. All of them? Really?

I don't know, she came off as a condescending jerk, but with nothing to back it up. There's clearly a female Sherlock Holmes thing happening here but it didn't work for me as Sherlock Holmes was a jerk, but he also clearly was suffering from mental illness. Maybe Felicity Carrol was as well, but I didn't get far enough to find out.

DNF at 20%. I'll still recommend it to those who like historical cozies even though it wasn't to my taste.

At first, I was really unimpressed with the story, but I stuck with it and I ended up really liking the story. There were some parts that I felt we're completely necessary to the main story but gave good information about the background of characters. I think the author goes an excellent job of making the main character, Felicity, into a female Sherlock Holmes-esque character. I do think that the author could have quickened the beginning of the story. As I previously mentioned getting into the story was rough for me and I was bored by chapter two or three. Overall, I think this is perfect for those who love a decent murder mystery.

This book features a likable heroine and charming supporting characters, as well as an imaginative take on the still-unsolved Jack the Ripper murders. Indeed, perhaps the author is on to something with the possible identity of the killer!

The level of medical detail is pretty intense, and while Felicity herself isn't bothered by this, some readers may find it a little gruesome. The book sympathetically portrays the difficult lives of women, many of whom have ended up in prostitution, on the American frontier.

Felicity Carrol, born into wealth and privilege in Victorian Era England, is much happier spending her time hunting criminals and investigating crimes using the latest forensic methods than she is hunting for a husband and attending society functions. When the brutal murder of a prostitute in Montana reminds Felicity and one of her friends from Scotland Yard of the Jack the Ripper murder spree that had recently plagued London, Felicity travels to the United States to investigate. As more prostitutes are killed, Felicity becomes convinced that Jack the Ripper has come to Montana. And it is up to her to figure out his identity and stop him.

I found FELICITY CARROL AND THE MURDEROUS MENACE to be an interesting historical mystery. Felicity is a headstrong, intelligent lead character, but I wasn’t that much of a fan of her. While I enjoyed that she used her vast knowledge of the current forensic techniques, she came off as more of a know-it-all and a busybody. She’s just too perfect. And she’s much too modern for the time period. It was also hard for me to believe that in the late 1880s, a Scotland Yard investigator and a Montana sheriff would allow a woman to meddle in their murder investigations. It also took a giant stretch of the imagination to believe that Jack the Ripper left London and then traveled to middle-of-nowhere Montana.

This book is a quick good read.I didn’t realize it was the second book in a series till I was halfway through it.It starts off with a mystery and just when I got comfortable with it ,it abruptly ended and took a turn towards the actual main story of the book.Felicity is an heiress with a penchant for modern inventions.She is off to Montana in search of Jack the Ripper in this book.She is well versed in forensics so there is a lot of gory details in this book.I like strong female leads so this book definitely appealed to me.
#felicitycarrolandthemurderousmenace #netgalley

Felicity Carrol and the Murderous Menace by Patricia Marcantonio is a suspense packed mystery. The characters are fascinating. I also loved the comparison of England and the US frontier. I enjoyed the new look at a story tha t has been studied and written about so much. Felicity seemed to live outside societies norms quite easily. Which doesn’t fit with the time. Yet this is a minor diversion from the story and could be explained by the Montana settling.

This book has become one of my favorites of this year, one of the reasons why e because of the author that did a splendorous job building the character that I just notice that this was a second book halfway through the book.
Felicity is an amateur detective that is going to America for the first time as a favor or her friend Inspector Jackson Davies, the crime that she is investigating is the notorious Jack the Ripper. I'm proud of myself because the character that I was thinking that was the killer in the and showed that was the killer.
I'm still sad with the death of one character that I was rooting for because of the be group that this person had, but because of this death, we got to see another side of the killer and the insanity of this character.
Now I will get myself the first book and the second one when he got out because Felicity become my new feminist icon of the literature and I need more of her, Hellie and Inspector Jackson that we not got a lot but was showed how much the relationship is good.

This is the second book in the Felicity Carrol series, and I ordered the first one to read before starting this. If you enjoy accurate historical fiction then this is perhaps not for you, if you like a mystery whodunit that challenges you, then again, this probably won’t be for you. Both the historical information isn’t accurate and the murderers in both books are easily picked out early on. However, it’s a fun, light afternoon read.
The heroine is likeable, and only occasionally annoying. She’s a liberated and intelligent female who wants to choose her own life and defies male authority all the time to do this. She uses her education and passion for independence to help solve crimes, and although early on she is discouraged from all sides, she slowly manipulates people’s perceptions of her and her talents.
Overall a light, enjoyable way to spend a few hours.

This was a really good mystery novel, the characters were great and I really like the author's style of writing. Felicity is a really interesting character to me and I look forward to more in the series.

This was the first book in the series that I read, and I enjoyed it immensely. It took our plucky heroine out of the confines of London to the vast open wilderness of Montana. Complete with cowboys...and...Jack the Ripper?? It's a fastincating idea, and I really enjoyed the characters within. I'm interseted to see what Felcity gets up to when she's back in London...will her cowboy follow?

A thoroughly enjoyable romp, edge of your seat suspense. Felicity Carrol is a rich young woman living in Victorian England with all its restrictions on what is right and proper for young ladies. She is more interested in science and deductive reasoning and has acquired an education in medicine and chemistry. She has started to follow crimes and become quite adept at solving or helping to solve murders when she can get the constables at Scotland yard to listen to her. She becomes friends with a young inspector and is distressed to find he has made himself deathly ill trying to solve the most notorious crimes in London. He has found a lead that suggest the killer may have moved to Montana but he is too ill to travel. Felicity decides she will go try her skills at finding the murderer in Montana for him. Can she crack the case of the century???
Well developed characters and an excellent portrayal of settings with suspenseful build up make this an enjoyable read. I highly recommend it. The book is the second in the series but could be read alone.

A unique twist on the the Jack the Ripper tale. The description of this title was what drew me to this book and I was surprised to discover this was book 2 in the series. I'm always on the look-out for history mysteries with strong female character as detectives. Not quite the caliber of Veronica Speedwell or Lady Sherlock but still quite enjoyable. I'll definitely be picking up the fist book and put subsequent books on my to-read list.

This book is about Jack the Ripper and so not a book I would normally read. (The description I got was actually about book #1 in the series).
However, although it was darker and more bloody a book than I normally read, it was interesting enough that I didnt really notice the gore. The mystery kept me guessing and I found the history lesson entertaining.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

serial-killer, suspense, women-sleuths, law-enforcement, England, Montana, murder-investigation

What an intriguing twist on the old cold case!
Scientifically inclined and having a medical degree, heiress Felicity Carrol had been assisting Scotland Yard Inspector Jackson Davies with the dead end case of the WhiteChapel murders. He became so obsessed with finding the killer that his health gave out just when he acquired an interesting newspaper article from America indicating a murder in Montana with a nearly identical MO.
A tad obsessed herself, Felicity sees to it that her friend has the best medical care, packs what's needed, takes her friend and companion with her and heads off to Montana. There she meets with the sheriff and seems to be just in time for the next murder! She drives him nuts on several levels with her scientific equipment and ideas but less regard for legality of proof. Then there are more murders and public fear. Great characters and world building, descriptions are a mite graphic in some instances, and a few of the experiments are quite fictional, but so is the novel. I loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Set in London during 1800’s when arsenic was the poison of choice for murder.

‘The Deadly Widow’ has now three suspected victims. Felicity Margaret Carrol, a wealthy heiress, is intent on pursuing justice and solving these unsolvable crimes. Rich, lonely older men of good character were being wooed by a mystery woman and ending up dead.

An exhilarating and emotionally-charged thriller that will please fans of Patricia Marcantonio.

I loved this! Once again I read book 2 instead of book one (because it was given to me to review) and I desperately need to get book one. Felicity is a joy, a lovely female detective who understands her work, and is maybe starting to understand her own limitations and which she can break and what she still needs to work on