Portrait Of A Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed
By (Author) Patricia Cornwell
Little, Brown & Company
Little, Brown & Company
1st November 2002
United States
General
Non Fiction
364.1523092
Hardback
400
Width 153mm, Height 234mm
Using the firsthand expertise she has gained through writing the bestselling Dr Kay Scarpetta novels, Patricia Cornwell has used the demanding methods of modern forensic investigation to re-examine the contemporaneous evidence in the Jack the Ripper murders. These include state-of-the-art DNA testing on various materials, computer enhancement of watermarks and expert examinations of hand-writing, paper, inks and other relics. She has also used her knowledge of profiling on the possible suspects, as well as consulting experts in the field. On presenting her conclusions to a very senior Metropolitan Police officer she learned that had the investigators of the time been presented with the facts she has unearthed her suspect would definitely have been arrested and would probably have faced trial.
On an ABC Prime Time documentary in December 2001 Patricia Cornwell named the killer as the artist, Walter Sickert. This book details the reasons and evidence for her compelling and credible conclusion.'An excellent criminal case-study and a fine account of Victorian life.' Big Issue
'She has brought so much circumstantial evidence to bear that only a genuine posthumous confession by someone else will now be enough to clear Sickert's name.' Daily Mail'The resultant book is absorbing ... Cornwell has written a great account of the Ripper era.' Time Out'Fascinating.' Sunday Express'Compassionate, intense, superbly argued, fluidly written and impossible to put down ... the most important true-crime book ... of the 21st century.' Publisher's Weekly'Few books receive the kind of pre-publicity that Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper--Case Closed generated. Some of it was good, some of it not so good, but all was calculated to get reader interest running at fever pitch. In fact, Patricia Cornwell's actions in trying to solve the world's most famous serial-killer mystery (just who was Jack the Ripper) have been highly controversial, but since when has controversy undercut interest in a book And who better than a writer whose name is synonymous with the scientific solving of crime to tackle London's legendary mass murdererUsing the methods of her character Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell's forensic investigation has pointed the bloody finger of guilt at a figure who has long figured prominently in the Ripper files. The investigation here is an intriguing mix oPatricia Cornwell's first novel was published in 1990. Since then she and her creation, Kay Scarpetta, have become household names and she has earned widespread critical acclaim. She has helped to establish the Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine and serves as its Chairman of the Board.