"When London Walked in Terror" by Tom A. Cullen (True Crime)

I picked up a paperback copy of this last weekend, when I was in Toronto.

It's about the Jack the Ripper case.

For those of you who may not know, this is a case that remains officially unsolved to this day. Or, if it was solved, those who know the truth never made it publicly known. The case occurred in London, England, in 1888, mainly in an area called Whitechapel. Several prostitutes were murdered, and in some cases mutilated. Or, more accurately, some were more severely mutilated than others.

These details are not pleasant - this isn't a story for people with weak stomachs.

It's non-fiction, but some of the descriptions are written more like scenes from a novel, bringing these events vividly to life in the reader's imagination. I like that, it makes reading about real events more interesting and entertaining than a dry recitation of facts and figures.

Now, I've done a bit of net-surfing, and found out since reading this that there are many other books about the Ripper murders. This one is regarded as a pretty good primer on the basic facts of the case, although there are other, more detailed publications that are considered more definitive among "Ripperologists."

I wonder if there are any other serial murderers with specific "ologies" named after them?

Anyway, I felt that this book served its purpose well. It describes a lot of the known facts of the case, and covers some of the debatable points, making it clear what is known versus what is uncertain. There are many things about the case that are uncertain - there are five victims generally considered to have been murdered by the same person, while other deaths may have been the result of other killers or "copycats."

The book also discusses several of the suspects. Many theories have been put forth about who the Ripper really was. And there is some evidence that some kind of cover-up might have occurred, since after a particularly brutal murder and mutilation, the killings stopped by so did the police investigation.

Whitechapel was a poor area of London, filled with people literally living hand-to-mouth day by day, desperately trying to scrape together enough money for a bed for the night. But, many people think the Ripper must have been someone who knew the area, but probably didn't live there, because people living in the area typically slept in shared accommodations. The Ripper must have had a private room somewhere to disappear to and dispose of evidence.

Near the end of the book, the author presents some details of the life of one suspect, who may have been the Ripper - but, that's just one theory, and we'll probably never know the truth.

All in all, this was a good read, and a good primer on the case, I'd never really read any books about Jack the Ripper before. But, it's not a pleasant or happy story, don't read this if you can't stomach the descriptions of the killings and mutilations.