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| AUTHOR: | Patricia Cornwell |
| CATEGORY: | Book |
| MANUFACTURER: | G. P. Putnam's Sons |
| ISBN: | 0399149325 |
| TYPE: | 1860-1942, 19th century, Biography/Autobiography, Criminals & Outlaws, England, History, Jack,, London, Murder - General, Nonfiction - True Crime / Espionage, Serial murders, Sickert, Walter,, True Crime, the Ripper, Jack |
| MEDIA: | Hardcover |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
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Customer Reviews of Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper -- Case Closed
Cornwell's Case Faulty Patricia Cornwell's recently released Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper Case Closed claims to have brought closure to the century old Jack the Ripper murders. She stakes her claim on the innumerable number of "coincidences" tying Jack the Ripper to Walter Sickert, a famous British painter. She applies modern forensics, psychological profiling, and DNA sampling to once and for all resolve the identity of Whitechapel's infamous butcher.
Throughout the book, Cornwell's talents as a best-selling fiction writer are evident. Her descriptions of 19th century culture and forensic technology are extraordinarily vivid, with a rich, story-like detail throughout. Biographical sketches, the biting taunts of the Ripper letters, and eye-witness accounts are impressively presented and bring to life the circumstances surrounding the crimes. But little is offered that will supplant a host of other theories on the actual identity of Ripper. Cornwell's logic is faulty and at times self-contradicting. Oversights are common and alternative scenarios that point away from Sickert are either unmentioned or ignored. Contrary evidence is manipulated until it somehow points back to Sickert, and the validity of every point hinges on a profane number of conjectures and speculations, few of which are supported by a single scrap of evidence.
A fuller analysis of the books problems can be found at my web site: ...
More bodies on the pyre
If anything, this book is perhaps proof that the Jack the Ripper obsession will never die, if only because it's unlikely it will ever be solved, at least 'conclusively'.
The book is arrogantly sub-titled 'Case Closed', and of course, it's anything but a closed case that Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper, or that James Maybrick was the Ripper, or Lewis Carroll was the Ripper, or the royals were involved, etc.
I'm not sure what to make of the whole business anymore. There are now close to 20 suspects in the Ripper case, and indeed in the 1990s alone quite a few new suspects appeared on the scene thanks to research and fanaticism on the part of various writers. Now Cornwall has thrown herself into it, and it's somewhat troubling.
Of course, at the end of the day, there's no smoking gun. There hasn't been a smoking gun, and given that the murders took place in 1888, and evidence and various records are long gone, it's highly unlikely there will be a smoking gun. The whole business already inspired someone to forge a 'Ripper' diary and try to pass it off. This has since been debunked numerous times, with the author himself swearing that it's a forgery, yet people still believe it. Every year someone discovers someone who was in London in 1888, hated women, etc, etc.
Folks who are interested in the Ripper may peruse this book, but it's clear from the 'evidence' and the layout that this is anything but 'Case Closed', if anything, it says something about Cornwall, who writes about her own doubt to this theory. And admittedly, while there are some nice coincidences, and Sickert indeed may have been a bit off his rocker, and indeed may have penned Ripper letters (of which there were many fakes), it's no more convincing than several other theories of the past ten years.
Notice the '71% off' price tag of this book, which shows you something in comparison to other books on the subject. There are much better books about the whole case, and you'll likely learn more from those if you care. It would be nice to put the whole Ripper case to rest, finally. The energy and resources some folks have put into 'solving' this business is becoming more alarming. Recommended if you must, but it's hardly a 'final chapter'.
Absolute tosh: says more about Cornwell than Sickert
I can't think of another character assassination that is as unfounded as this, based as it is on pure conjecture and highly selective and inconclusive 'evidence'.
And just think of the irony of a writer who has based her entire written output on lingering over the sordid details of murder and mutilation claiming that Sickert was a violent psychopath because of the subject-matter of his paintings. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
This book reveals more about the neuroses and obsessions of Cornwell's own sick mind than it does about Sickert. Rather than 'case closed' on Sickert, it is 'case closed' on Cornwell.
Cornwell's reputation as a writer of FICTION remains intact.