The Shadow Princess by Mary Hart Perry

By: Unknown on Thursday, February 27, 2014

Title:  The Shadow Princess

Author:  Mary Hart Perry

Published:  February 11th 2014 by Diversion Books

Length:  281pgs

Format:  ecopy

Genre:  historical romance

Shelf:  review

Rating:  ★★★★

Blurb:

To catch one of history’s most notorious killers, a princess risks losing her family, her life—and her heart…

London, 1888: A year after Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee terror mounts in the city's slums. A killer has butchered two prostitutes, the crimes brutal even by London’s hardened standards. Rumors of the murders reach Princess Vicky, daughter of Queen Victoria and grieving widow of the German Emperor Frederick III. When her niece Princess Maud visits, she brings with her even worse news--the Metropolitan Police have a suspect. It’s Vicky’s nephew, Crown Prince Eddy. Desperate to clear her family's name, Vicky rushes back to England.

Detective Inspector Thomas Edmondson believes there is a royal cover-up behind the killings. He will stop at nothing to expose the truth and bring a murderer to justice before he can kill again. But when Vicky joins him in searching for the man who will become known as Jack the Ripper, neither of them foresee the overpowering attraction that will draw together the royal and the commoner—or the danger their love puts them in.

Excerpt:

The man in the dark tweed frock coat looked up at the sound of a dozen leather soles slapping damp pavers. Running. Running toward him. Moments earlier, he’d quieted the woman, his scarf pressed over her mouth and then, more permanently silenced her with his knife, slashing her throat. Sadly, he hadn’t yet removed the demon from within her body. Now his efforts to save her, and her life, had been wasted.

It wasn’t right that they were about to stop him. An appalling intrusion on his work, that’s what it was. How could others not feel sorry for what these women went through? Only heunderstood. Only he had discovered the way to help them. Thank God the voice told him what to do.

The footsteps were louder, coming closer. He heard shouts. Now what should he do? Stay and rip the demon organ from her bleeding body? Release her from her torment. But if he stayed even another minute, they’d be on him. He couldn’t let them put their hands on him.

They who pursued him were unclean, hypocritical men who used the street women in despicable ways. They stopped him from his work. Just like his brother, they wouldn’t understand the simplest explanation.

When he’d gone home the last time, exhausted by his night’s labors, all he’d wanted to do was go to bed. But Frank insisted he wash off the blood before Ma saw it. Before anyone did. The fool! Submerge his flesh in vile water? Why? Blood was the only pure fluid—beautiful and natural and red with life. But Frank said he was afraid of the neighbors. What they might think. What they might accuse him of.

My Review:

This is a very exciting story, it pulls you forward page by page. Perry`s descriptions paint a very vivid and shockingly real picture for her audience. She takes a one of a kind look at the time surrounding Jack the Ripper`s sojourn in Whitechapel that combines the chill and horror of the time with a look at the lives of individuals who may have lived through it. This story is also accurately and firmly placed within the time period in question while creating an excitingly unique journey for the reader.

I quite enjoyed how approachable the characters are. Although many of the major players in the tale are royalty or at the top of the profession of law enforcement at a very difficult time they still remain personable and human. The relationships between the characters tell you as much about the individuals as Perry`s descriptions of them do, making for a well-rounded cast of characters. I also appreciated the naiveté in the younger characters. It was very refreshing to see young, sheltered individuals act as such.

All in all this is a story that I won’t soon forget. It was another brilliant, well written novel by Mary Hart Perry that I`d definitely recommend to anyone and everyone.

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About the author:

Mary Hart Perry (aka Kathryn Johnson) grew up in New England and now lives in the Washington DC area with her husband and two feline writing partners, Tempest and Miranda. She's the author of over 40 novels published by major U.S. and foreign publishers. She writes historical fiction as Mary Hart Perry and contemporary romantic thrillers under her own name, Kathryn Johnson. She also teaches fiction-writing workshops for The Writer's Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Her popular 8-week course, The Extreme Novelist, supports and encourages class members through a full first draft of their novels. In 2008, she founded Write by You, a writer's mentoring service, to aid individual authors in reaching their publication goals. She has been nominated for the prestigious Agatha Christy Award, and won the Heart of Excellence and Bookseller's Best Awards (sponsored by the Romance Writers of America). Her works in progress include Victorian thrillers inspired by the lives of Queen Victoria's daughters, and a new contemporary romantic-suspense series scheduled for release in 2014-15. Kathryn is a member of the Author's Guild, Romance Writers of America, Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Novelists Inc, and the Historical Novel Society.

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