My first Gothic Victorian Era Historical Fiction read. And I will say it was a good one. 
 This book is set in 1888 during the period where Jack the Ripper was on the loose. Audrey Rose has a habit of working with her Uncle, who is a forensic scientist, examining dead bodies and performing autopsies, much the opposite of what everyone expects of a girl to do in this era. After multiple killings of women occur, Audrey is determined to track down Jack the Ripper and put a stop to his murders. 
 I was engrossed in this book from the beginning. The book starts out with Audrey examining a body and the way it was told was so interesting and it left me curious to know more about Audrey's apprenticeship and why she loves forensic science so much. The rest of the plot still kept me intrigued, though I feel like there was minor pacing issues I had with it. But I loved the mystery and thriller aspects to it as so many questions arose as to who exactly Jack the Ripper was. And every single character in this book was a suspect, which I loved. I thought I had completely figured out who the mysterious murderer was...but I was surprised. 
 Audrey is such an interesting character because she's living in a time period where women are expected to basically sit still and look pretty. But she'd rather get her hands dirty and examine dead bodies alongside her uncle. I think the feminist topics brought out in this book not only apply to the Victorian Era but also to our modern day world as women generally aren't know for participating in forensic science (not saying there aren't any). And I overall found the feminist qualities of this book fascinating. I think Audrey is very brave for stepping outside the box and not caring what other people thought of her and just doing something she really enjoys. 
 Thomas was hilarious. I found his ability to examine every detail about a person and then come to conclusions on the little things about them weird yet interesting. I think he was the perfect partner for Audrey as he sort of balances her out, since he's more of the comic relief and she's a lot more serious. 
 This book did have a romantic plot that I don't think was executed entirely well but I still liked it. 
 The writing really fit the tone of this era and the dialogue certainly did as well. It was filled with detail, making you visualize how the victorian era looked and left me squeamish when it came to exploring dead bodies, which is a good thing. 
 Definitely give this one a try if you enjoy historical fiction. I thought it was the perfect, thrilling read I've read in a long time.