It's bad enough that newbie Erin Prince has caught this case, but she comes from a very wealthy and politically connected family in DC, causing her to earn the nickname "Princess" and she second guesses herself at every turn. But wait, there's more. She's also got a new partner named Todd Beckett, who hails from Philly and was involved in the capture of a dangerous serial killer. A superstar partner. No pressure, right?
As Prince and Beckett begin digging into the ghastly murder scene and the victim's background, all is not as it first appears. Bonnie Archer was a former drug addict, but she had gotten her life together, was attending college, and had reconnected with her cousin, Sarah Archer. She also had a few extracurricular activities that few people knew about and was making a boatload of money and living in an apartment that costs well above what she'd be making waiting tables, which is how she claimed to be making money. It seems Bonnie had more than her share of secrets.
As a second and then a third victim surface, it becomes a race against the clock for Prince and Beckett, especially when Prince receives a chilling phone call from a young girl that warns that the killer will strike again very soon. Can Prince stop the Ripper copycat before a child falls victim? As the pair peel back the layers of the case, it turns out nothing is as it seems and this Ripper copycat is unlike any other.
Killing Jane is an interesting thriller and a novel twist on the Jack the Ripper theme. While I found the murder descriptions a bit over the top and excessively gory (and I am not one to pale when it comes to violent books), I really enjoyed the story. The chapters will flip from the first-person perspective of Erin Prince, to that of the killer (while not revealing who that killer is), to other ancillary characters in the book. It's well-written, engaging and will keep you guessing until the end (or near to it). I did feel like a lot of hot-button topics were thrown in, maybe to muddy the waters a bit, and maybe just because, but you've got a cross-dresser, a recently outed lesbian, an Arabic business owner, an amateur porn star, and child molesters in the mix. Whew.
Overall, if you enjoy a good thriller and don't mind a bit of gore, you'll probably enjoy Killing Jane. I will say that I felt a bit lost, when it came to certain characters being referenced, since I haven't read any of Stacy Green's work before, and Lucy Kendall is a character mentioned from time to time (which is another mystery series Green writes), as well as some things that happened in Erin Prince's recent past that may or may not be from another book, but it's nothing that should keep anyone from picking this book up and checking it out.
