On the Trail of Jack the Ripper written by Richard Charles Cobb & Mark Davis
published by Pen & Sword Books - £14.99 - Softcover - Pages 160
For 132 years, the ghastly and horrific murders committed in London’s East End by the
infamous ‘Jack the Ripper’ have gripped and baffled the world. The Ripper commenced
his series of atrocities at the end of August and continued freely until the beginning of
November 1888 when inexplicably the murders stopped…In all, five women were brutally
murdered and savagely mutilated in the most unimaginable way. The killing spree centred
in and around the impoverished rabbit warren of alleys and rookeries of Whitechapel. The
invisible killer was never caught despite the very best intentions of the police and
thousands of would-be detectives following the grim proceedings.
Since those dark days of murder committed by gaslight, the mystery of Jack the Ripper has
become the ultimate cold case amongst crime historians and armchair researchers
worldwide, with a multitude of books, plays and dramas all hoping to solve what London’s
finest Victorian detectives failed to do.
True crime and social historian Richard C Cobb returns to the Whitechapel of 1888 to see
what remains from this dark time in London’s history and to take the reader on a step-by-step
tour of the modern world of Jack the Ripper, giving a detailed history of the victims, the
crimes and the police investigation. We also look at other victims (outside the accepted five)
which may have been killed by the same man.
Using the original police reports, state of the art photographs, unseen images and diagrams,
he presents the truth about what actually happened in the autumn of 1888 and what remains
of Jack the Ripper’s London today. He also focuses on the ever-changing face of London’s
End End, giving the reader a real sense of how the past meets the present in arguably
London’s most vibrant and cultural quarter…where the shadow of the Ripper is never too far
away.
On the Trail of Jack the Ripper does exactly that in that the book takes the reader on a journey
around the Whitechapel area of London, or prominent places and explains the story of the Jack
the Ripper crimes, with present-day photos of the various areas. This is in my opinion very
good in that not only does it explain the tragedy in real terms, but it also gives an updated
feel to the crimes as it feels more like a documentary-style presentation. It felt really good to me
and made it feel a bit like a modern crime rather than a Victorian crime, I think this will entice
younger true crime fans to the story with this updated style.
Although I have read a good number of Jack the Ripper books, I found this one to be clear,
interesting and still very informative even though it is about an old crime, ideal especially for
a younger market.
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