Jack the Ripper: An Encyclopaedia

Using critical case review of the kind that is now used to scrutinize unsolved crimes, this meticulously researched reference clears up half a century of misinformation and myth

The gruesome, unsolved murders by the first media-sensationalized serial killer Jack the Ripper continue to fascinate after more than 100 years. From the beginning, however, the truth has been obscured by a fog of half-truths and misinterpretations. The author rechecks, reexamines, and reevaluates the facts, conjectures, newspaper accounts, eyewitness reports, and official pronouncements. The book includes descriptions of the locations where the bodies were found, detailed histories of the victims, profiles of key police officials, and examinations of police procedures, investigations, blunders, and errors. It details the prevailing myths regarding the case, meticulously evaluates the chief suspects, and provides a comprehensive analysis of the existing literature. Written communications ostensibly sent by the Ripper are discussed, and a closely reasoned and well-supported argument identifies the most likely suspect. Maps, illustrations, a chronology, an introduction, a bibliography, and an index complete this comprehensive reference to a notorious chapter in British criminal history.