"Fascinating"

When this reviewer realized that Patricia Cornwell had written a nonfiction work focused on solving the cold case of the Ripper, the initial thought was "just what the world needs, another solve the Ripper Case". Immediately after that idea came the thought that if anyone could do it Patricia Cornwell can and started reading the book only to find out it is so well written and fascinating, that it impossible to put down until the last page is turned.

She and her team applied modern day forensic techniques and crime scene methodology, and historical sleuthing to determine whom Jack the Ripper was. Several tons of documents and other physical evidence such as fingerprints, photographs, museum paintings, fine arts accouterments, and even DNA, etc. were evaluated. Using the assumption that Jack remained free and still operated after his several month killing spree in 1888, Ms. Cornwell follows the paths of the prime suspects and looks at police blotters near where they lived. This concerted effort led to Ms. Cornwell to declare unequivocally that Jack the Ripper is none other than: read the book.

PORTRAIT OF A KILLER: JACK THE RIPPER CASE CLOSED is a fascinating version of the Ripper case and the chronicle of how Ms. Cornwell and her team step by step drew their conclusion. The key to this true crime account is not the final claim though that is appealing, but the powerfully interesting nonfiction elucidation that hooks the reader to follow along as if Dr. Scarpetta was working the crime scene. Ms. Cornwell shows she could rule the true crime genre if she permanently switched fields perhaps to try to uncover the identity of Deep Throat next.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 30, 2002

Summary

The number-one New York Times-bestselling novelist Patricia Cornwell is known the world over for her brilliant storytelling, the courage of her characters, and the state- of-the-art forensic methods they employ. In this headline-making new work of nonfiction, Cornwell turns her trademark skills for meticulous research and scientific expertise on one of the most chilling cases of serial murder in the history of crime-the slayings of Jack the Ripper that terrorized 1880s London. With the masterful intuition into the criminal mind that has informed her novels, Cornwell digs deeper into the case than any detective before her-and reveals the true identity of this elusive madman. Enlisting the help of forensic experts, Cornwell examines all the physical evidence available: thousands of documents and reports, fingerprints, crime-scene photographs, original etchings and paintings, items of clothing, artists' paraphernalia, and traces of DNA. Her unavoidable conclusion: Jack the Ripper was none other than a respected painter of his day, an artist now collected by some of the world's finest museums.