Capturing the Devil

Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco was the final book of her series and it was completely underwhelming, which is surprising considering how much I love the series. The final book follows Audrey Rose Wadsworth and Thomas Cresswell to the United States and eventually to Chicago where they investigate a serial killer, eerily similar to Jack the Ripper. Unfortunately the majority of the book ends up being about the romance between Audrey Rose and Thomas who are attempting to get married. The mystery only picks up in the second half of the book, and even then it is never treated as a central plotline, rather a backdrop to the romance. 

I absolutely loved how the romance developed between Audrey Rose and Thomas in the first three books of the story. In this book it felt as if Maniscalco was trying to tie up the loose ends before the book ended and resulted in the romance being rushed. Audrey Rose and Thomas did not need to move as fast as they did in this book when they had only met five months before. 

My greatest issue with this book was the lack of focus on the mystery, after all that is what got me into this series. While the mystery was well researched and well written, it was far too predictable for me. Perhaps it was because I already knew the story behind the devil in the white city, but also because the mystery plot was treated as an afterthought. I knew from the moment the killer first appeared that it was him. I honestly think the mystery could have been better if more attention was spent on it instead of the romance, which somehow took over this book. 

The only parts of this book I truly enjoyed was the writing. While I did not like the fact there was so much romance, it was well written. I could feel every emotion Audrey Rose was going through in this book. Maniscalco was able to capture the love between Audrey Rose and Thomas so beautifully that I couldn’t find any fault in it. 
In the end, this book did not measure up to any of the other books in the series. I was very disappointed, but I did find some parts of this book that I enjoyed. At the end of the day, I’m still a sucker for romance, but I couldn’t help but wish there was more attention given to the mystery. I wouldn’t recommend this book in the series, but the series itself is amazing and I would recommend reading Stalking Jack the Ripper, the first book in the series. I give this book two out of five stars.