2.5 stars

Overall a very promising and interesting premise--however, it failed to deliver for me.

I was very intrigued by the idea of reading the story of Mary Kelly, one of the victims of Jack the Ripper. I appreciated the care the author took in describing the Whitechapel of that time and giving details, however, the rest of the plot was a miss for me. I didn't feel very connected to any of the characters, and at times I felt like I was struggling to finish the book.

Also--the chapter lengths were very uneven at times to the point that it was distracting. A few chapters were two pages long and others were longer.

I wish I could have enjoyed this book more, as I was very intrigued by the plot.

The premise of this book is exciting – a new take on the last of Jack the Ripper’s victims, the Mary Kelly of the title. It promises to focus on Mary’s life rather than life and hints at a twist with part of the book’s description reads “Until you turn the final page you won’t know the whole story.”
Unfortunately, for me at least, the book failed to deliver and it was a struggle to reach the end. There is a bold attempt to build Mary’s character, but failed to connect me, the reader, to her.
Again, the blurb promises a gritty description of London; something altogether more sinister and real. This is achieved, but in a way that dragged me out of the story. An example was the use of offensive words to describe certain religious and ethnic groups within society. The terms were written on a poster read by Mary and whilst I appreciate the language of the day was not politically correct according to modern standards, the use jarred badly in a novel written in the 21st century. I never quite shook off the distaste of seeing those terms in print, and for me at least, severely detracted from the read. Just my opinion…others may disagree, and argue it was a valid use as it reflected the language of the day.

I enjoyed the idea of a historical fiction novel featuring Jack the Ripper’s victims before the murders. It was well written and had that mystery element that I was looking for. E. David Brown wrote this respectfully and was invested in the story.