Review: Hunting Prince Dracula by Kerri Maniscalco

Author: Kerri Maniscalco
Publisher: Little Brown & Company
Date of publication: September 2017

In this New York Times bestselling sequel to Kerri Maniscalco's haunting #1 debut Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer...or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine...and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

Hunting Prince Dracula is the second book in the Stalking Jack the Ripper series.  This one picks up pretty soon after the events of the first book.  I would say you should read them in order, because this one will spoil the first book.  Once again, we follow Audrey Rose and her friend Thomas in their forensic adventures.  This time, they are in Romania to learn more about forensics.  

I really enjoyed this one, maybe even more than the first book.  The setting of the story is really creepy. The house has a bunch of rooms with "traps" in them.  Beware to anyone who hates spiders.  Let's just say that one scene freaked me out.  Aside from that, the mystery was fun.  There were a couple of twists.  We get to know more about Thomas and his background.  I just love the relationship between Audrey Rose and Thomas.  Their banter is so much fun and made me laugh often. One of the things that I really liked was the way the author showed howAudrey Rose was affected by the events of the first book. She had to overcome a bit of PTSD.  It made her more realistic.  Anyone who had gone through that would defintely feel some after effects.

I highly recommend this series.  I've enjoyed my time reading it.  I can't wait to pick up the nest book in the series.