Listening to “Escaping from Houdini” by Kerri Maniscalco wasa pure delight! #2021AudiobookChallenge

Synopsis

Audrey Rose Wadsworth and her partner-in-crime-investigation, Thomas Cresswell, are en route to New York to help solve another blood-soaked mystery. Embarking on a week-long voyage across the Atlantic on the opulent RMS Etruria, they’re delighted to discover a traveling troupe of circus performers, fortune tellers, and a certain charismatic young escape artist entertaining the first-class passengers nightly.But then, privileged young women begin to go missing without explanation, and a series of brutal slayings shocks the entire ship. The disturbing influence of the Moonlight Carnival pervades the decks as the murders grow ever more freakish, with nowhere to escape except the unforgiving sea.

It’s up to Audrey Rose and Thomas to piece together the gruesome investigation as even more passengers die before reaching their destination. But with clues to the next victim pointing to someone she loves, can Audrey Rose unravel the mystery before the killer’s horrifying finale?

Audiobook review

5 stars

This confirms my huge infatuation with this series!

It’s the third audiobook from that series that I listen back-to-back and, when typing this review, I am currently listening to Capturing the Devil!

Kerri Maniscalco’s writing is simply delightful.

Her choice of words, how she strings them together perfectly creates the atmosphere of a Victorian era where women were not supposed to study forensic sciences, making Audrey Rose’s intellect and determination the more admirable!

In this instalment, Kerri went all out with the blood and gore. No macabre detail about the murders were spared, from the foul smell to discoloration of the skin or blood vessels in the eyes. This is Audrey Rose and Thomas’s field of expertise: forensic in all its gruesome aspects.

It  contrasted spectacularly with the glitter of the Moonlight Carnival.

Alongside dark murders we read about sumptuous fabrics, Audrey Rose’s ball gowns and the perfectly tailored jackets of the Master of the carnival: Mephistopheles.

Gliding on the ocean aboard a ship where first class passengers eat with silverware, the brutal contrast with the murder scenes and the mounting tension of capturing the murderer made this story truly mesmerizing!

Once again, I love the banter between Audrey Rose and Thomas Cresswell and I agree with him: there is nothing more alluring than a brilliant mind and sarcastic quips.

Audrey Rose will play a dangerous game trying to unveil the mystery and reveal the murderer. One where she’ll question her future with Thomas and will be tempted by the devil himself.

I simply could not stop listening to that book where the narrator was once more exceptional. Nicolas Barber was really the perfect choice to narrate these adventures.

Now I totally get the hype and convinced my husband to buy me the whole hardcover set for Valentine Day!

If you haven’t read that series yet, you totally should!

Thanks for reading!

Sophie