New York City, 1895. Due to some drastic changes at Ellis Orphanage, fourteen-year-old Carver Young is about to be—along with his best friend Delia and his worst enemy Finn—homeless.
Luckily, they are all adopted at the last minute: brutish Finn, by a social-climbing couple who feel that his good looks will buy them more press; aspiring journalist Delia, by a New York Times reporter and his wife; and Carver, lock-picker extraordinaire and dime-novel fan, by Albert Hawking, an irascible, bossy, retired Pinkerton detective.
Carver's a big fan of Conan Doyle, but his adoptive father, prefers Poe:
"C. Auguste Dupin, by Edgar Allan Poe—inventor of the detective story. Dupin used ratiocination, combining logic with imagination to become so familiar with the criminal that the detective, in a way, becomes him. Think you can do that, boy? Become mad to find the mad? A thief to catch a thief? And worse?"
Hawking's preferred detection technique is about to come in very handy, because just as Carver starts to attempt to track down his biological father, someone begins brutally murdering society ladies in a way that is strikingly similar to London's as-yet unsolved Whitechapel Murders... and it appears that the two cases may be closely connected.
Even though it's set in real-life 1895 New York City, Ripper has a bit of a steampunk vibe due to all of the gadgets that Carver uses (SPOILER: Hawking? Is not-so retired, and the New Pinkertons have a secret underground headquarters), though Petrucha's Author's Note makes it clear that most of the described gadgets actually existed, which is very cool. His Author's Note also includes information about the historical figures that get cameos or mentions: Teddy and Alice Roosevelt, Sarah Edwards, Allan Pinkerton, and, of course, Jack the Ripper.
For the most part, the historical details were woven into the storyline quite well—the only parts that stood up and said, "LOOK: I DID RESEARCH" were the Jack the Ripper bits. (Of which, granted, there were many. At the same time, A) the intended audience probably hasn't read quite as much about the murders as I have, and B) it's rather integral to the storyline, so I give Petrucha a pass.)
The original characters—Carver's peers, their adoptive parents, the Pinkerton detectives—read more like stock characters than real people, but Teddy Roosevelt and Alice, especially, really shine. I didn't form emotional attachments with anyone, but some of their relationships were affecting: Carver and Finn's sloooow journey from enemies to allies was especially well done, in that it was organic and subtle. Also, although Carver is mostly an Everyboy Type, he's not perfect, which always makes for more interesting reading. The mystery itself is spun out very well, and the climax/reveal is fabulous: yes, I guessed where it was going, but not because of any missteps on the author's part. I'M JUST THAT SMART.
While the descriptions of the original Ripper murders are gruesome, which may put off the squeamish, they're brief and infrequent, and the book is much more a detective-adventure story than a crime novel. It also straddles the line between middle grade and YA, so be sure that your more mature middle-grade readers don't miss it, especially if they're into adventurous historical fiction and/or mysteries.
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Book source: ILLed through my library.
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