Published by Pen & Sword Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime
Format: ARC, eBook
“Welcome to Jack the Ripper’s London”
Jack the Ripper has baffled the world for 132 years. He killed from 1888-1891. We (me) are still fascinated by his murders and his identify. He killed in a time when the police had very little forensics to utilize. DNA would not be used in a criminal case until 1986. His murders are cold cases and there have been theories about his identity since his killings began.
“Jack the Ripper is regarded as the father of the modern day Serial Killer as he is the first early example of this type of murderer.” The term “Serial Killer” was not used back then. It was first used by Robert Ressler, an investigator with the FBI in the 1970’s.
Ripper’s crimes were brutal and be warned that this book shows the mortuary photographs of his victims. One photograph is of the actual body (thankfully not a close up – but you see enough of his last and most brutal killing). Readers also get to see pictures of where the victims were found and what is there now.
I found this book to be informative and very well presented. If you are familiar with the case, you may be familiar with most of the information on the victims and what was known of Ripper. There was a theory presented that made sense in terms of the Ripper possibly injuring himself at one of the scenes to explain a month-long break in killings. But it is a theory as if everything else. Other murders are also presented. Eleven women killed but only 5 are counted as his victims.
I enjoyed how the information was presented and found the pictures to be a nice touch. While reading this, I couldn’t help but wonder who fast he would have been apprehended if the investigations had better forensic tools to use.
This is not a long book and can easily be read in one sitting if you can stomach the descriptions of the killings. It’s informative and laid nicely. Fans of True Crime and history will enjoy this one.
Thank you to Pen & Sword, and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.