The Whitechapel Full Moon Society

• Author: Elizabeth DeLozier
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: August 25, 2026
• Publisher: Dutton

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton for providing me with an ARC of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Set in Victorian London during Jack the Ripper’s reign of terror, this gripping, original novel is perfect for fans of V. E. Schwab, Dana Schwartz, and Sarah Penner.

When Caroline Foster arrives at the Whitechapel Full Moon Society in search of her missing brother, she finds a dilapidated façade belying an interior as opulent as any exclusive gentlemen’s club. In exchange for room and board, Caroline is hired as the Full Moon’s maid, where she is given three orders: don’t ask personal questions, stay out of the iron-barred room on the second floor, and remain in her bedroom from sunup to sundown on the full moon.

But when it is revealed that the previous maid was murdered—an early victim of Jack the Ripper—and her brother has left behind no answers, only more questions, Caroline begins to suspect her hosts might be hiding something. As more bodies turn up with a connection to the Society, Caroline fears she may have unwittingly stumbled into a bedtime story, the kind with monsters and curses, family secrets and ancient lore.

Tantalizing and pulsing, Elizabeth DeLozier’s sophomore novel gives an exciting alternative look into the infamous Jack the Ripper story with a major, supernatural twist.

I haven’t read DeLozier’s other book, but this one really appealed to me. It seemed like it had quite a few different elements that I would enjoy, and I had my fingers crossed that my expectations weren’t too high. Turns out, they were a little too high, but this was still a good read. Let’s talk about what I liked and didn’t.

This is one of the genre mashups that I enjoy so much. It leans heavily into fantasy, but also features historical, mystery, paranormal, and romantic elements. I enjoyed these elements, although I do think the author could have leaned a little harder into the paranormal elements. Instead, DeLozier presented some really intriguing paranormal elements, but the presence of these could have been expanded more. 

While I have read many books set in this time period, we don’t see the highly polished and affluent London that is so often portrayed, and instead are given a deeper look into the gritty, poverty-stricken Whitechapel district where Jack the Ripper did his hunting. Jack the Ripper is a historical cold case that nearly everyone is aware of, but I’ve had a different outlook on this and other cases since reading The Five by Hallie Rubenhold. Everyone knows about Jack the Ripper, but what do we really know about his victims? In that book, the author explores the familiar case, but instead provides a victim-centered narrative that I appreciated. It changed how I thought about true crime, and humanized the victims. The author references this book at the end, talking about how it influenced her own writing. 

Caroline is a young woman who heads to London in search of the one person she has in the world—her brother, who has gone missing. Despite being told to stay where she is and avoid London, she ignores his warning and heads right into Whitechapel. She’s extremely sheltered and naïve, and it’s clear to everyone around her except Caroline herself that she’s heading into danger. That was one of my biggest problems with Caroline’s character, how unsuspecting and innocent she was. And despite not only her brother’s warning, but that of everyone she discusses her plans with—including the driver who takes her to Whitechapel. But then she finds herself searching for options and she lands at the last place her brother was—the Whitechapel Full Moon Society. She finds employment as a maid, but coming from a genteel family she has no idea how to do the things she’ll need to do at the Society, which is also a boarding house for men.

With a title like this book has, it was blatantly obvious that this would combine the historical Jack the Ripper killings with a paranormal boarding house for werewolves. Living in the house comes with some strict rules—she’s not allowed to ask personal questions, is forbidden to enter a specific room, and must stay locked inside her room on the full moon until sunrise. Caroline is innocent and trusting enough that none of these seem to raise a red flag for her, and she cooperates unquestioningly for quite some time. It takes her a good portion of the story to begin questioning these rules and what is actually going on at the boarding house.

Along with a fantastic job of creating a vivid picture of Victorian London, DeLozier demonstrates her gift for creating characters. The distinctive personalities of the men at the boarding house kept things fun and charming, even as Caroline learns the ropes of her new job. She does become a bit suspicious as time goes on, even as a slow-burn romantic subplot arises. Fortunately, the romantic aspect doesn’t overshadow the bigger mystery of the story. 

However, the pacing of the story is glacially slow, at least for the first half. This made it feel more like a cozy than anything else, since there are long stretches where very little is actually going on and the stakes aren’t very high. It wasn’t until about the halfway point or even a little further where I was fully invested once the full picture had started to become clear. I found it a bit frustrating that things were moving so slowly, but I wanted to find out if Caroline ever reunited with her brother so I kept reading, until I reached the point where I become engrossed even if it was a lot further in than I usually like. 

Obviously, there are some predictable elements. It’s not exactly a surprise to discover that werewolves are involved, although I would have really liked if the author leaned into the idea of a werewolf being behind Jack the Ripper’s crimes. I was able to figure out a number of the twists in advance of the reveal, so it detracted from my enjoyment and surprise while reading. 

Overall, this was a creative fantastical take on Victorian London and Jack the Ripper’s crimes. I liked getting to know the residents at the boarding house and all the characters, even if I did get frustrated with how sheltered and truly innocent Caroline was. The high point of the read for me was in how respectful of history and the victims of Jack the Ripper were treated. Instead of portraying all the victims as alcoholics and prostitutes, the author really lets her readers get to know the victims as living people, not just victims of a famous serial murderer. She did a wonderful job of humanizing these women and the difficult circumstances that led them to cross paths with Jack the Ripper. Some of the plot twists were fairly predictable, and it was a slow-moving storyline. 

Bottom line: A good read that creatively incorporates fantasy and paranormal elements to take on Jack the Ripper, with a subtle romance brewing, but the story focuses more heavily on historical fiction and an underlying mystery. 

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