Reviewed by Gayle Williams
The Whitechapel Full Moon Society by Elizabeth Delozier, set in London in 1888, is a “ripper of a read” that I simply couldn’t put down. The novel follows Caroline Foster, recently orphaned and penniless, as she travels to London in search of her missing brother, Charlie. Though his gravestone claims he died in childhood, Caroline knows otherwise. Armed with his final letter warning her not to come, and troubled by the sudden end to his secret visits, she feels compelled to uncover the truth.
Her search leads her to notorious Whitechapel, where a killer stalks the streets, and to Charlie’s last known address. No one seems to know what became of him, but by chance the boarding house, named the Full Moon Society, needs a maid — an opportunity Caroline seizes as she begins her hunt for answers.
Working under the assumed name Caroline Huxley, she assists Mrs Easton with domestic tasks and soon becomes intrigued by the boarding house’s eclectic mix of residents. Yet one of the conditions of her employment is clear: she must not ask personal questions. And why, she wonders, is she forbidden from entering the room on the second floor of the east wing?
As Caroline probes further, danger closes in. But, true to form for a strong female lead, the threat only sharpens her resolve to uncover the truth.
Delozier draws on multiple genres to craft a novel that sits comfortably within historical fantasy. She weaves fact, fiction, folklore, and a touch of romance into a suspenseful tale of murder and mystery. Her narrative style shifts between third‑person storytelling, newspaper clippings, and letters from Jack the Ripper to the police, each element deepening the sense of danger and highlighting the grim decay of Whitechapel. The novel’s atmosphere is heightened by Delozier’s sharp descriptions of the boarding house, the streets of Whitechapel, and the lives of the people trapped within it.
If you’re a Jack the Ripper buff like me, you’ll recognise that Delozier treats the five canonical victims with notable respect, and she characterises the final victim, Mary Jane Kelly, not through the grisly details of her injuries but by presenting her as a fully realised, likeable woman and a believable presence in the narrative. She also chooses to “out” one of her characters by granting him the elusive identity of the Ripper, a shadow that still haunts history’s darkest corners.
If you want to identify the novel’s fantasy element, the title is the place to start. While there is a clear separation between the Ripper storyline and the novel’s supernatural subplot, the narrative preserves the integrity of its historical mystery while allowing a gradual, controlled shift into pure fantasy. This balance gives the book its distinctive edge, offering a fresh take on familiar history and delivering a conclusion that feels satisfying.
A clever mix of true crime, history, supernatural and romance, this is a novel that will not disappoint.
The Whitechapel Full Moon Society
by Elizabeth Delozier
[2026]
Pan Macmillan Australia
Paperback
ISBN: 978 1 7619 0208 6
$34.99; 354pp