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The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper - Maxim Jakubowski
by CarolineR-D In 1888 five prostitutes were brutally murdered in a small area of London's East End. The killings took place over an 11-week period and the culprit was never apprehended. For more than 100 years, the Whitechapel Murders have baffled and fascinated experts and non-experts alike and the identity of Jack the Ripper remains an intriguing ... but frustrating mystery. I have always had an interest in true crime, coupled with a love of Victorian history so recently I decided it was time to brush up my limited knowledge of the Jack the Ripper case. I was looking for a book that would provide me with a good grasp of the background information but would not limit itself to the discussion of one particular suspect, as so many books seem to do. When I spotted The Mammoth Book of Jack The Ripper on Amazon (priced from £2.50) it seemed to be just what I was looking for as it offered me a comprehensive account of the case and a compilation of the evidence for and against the different suspects all in one volume. The first part of the book provides the undisputed facts surrounding the Whitechapel murders. The next part of the book is made up of a series of essays by different 'ripperologists'. In the first section of the book, Just the Facts, the editors, Jakubowski and Braund provide a lot of detailed factual information about the case. This provides an essential framework so that, when you come to read the essays and compare the theories put forward, you are in a better position to follow the debate and make your own judgments. I was impressed with the information that was provided about each of the murdered women. This was presented in such a way that we were reminded that they were real people, not just 'Jack the Ripper's victims.' For instance, we are told where they were born, who they married, how many children they had, a little about their early lives, who they associated with, what they looked like, etc. I felt that this part of the book also painted a clear, atmospheric picture of 19th century Whitechapel, which drew me in. I could picture the maze of narrow alleyways, the alehouses, yards and doss houses. I was able to imagine the abundance of prostitutes, thieves and immigrants, the gangs bullying the prostitutes for 'protection money', the horses and carts passing by and the gin-swilling culture of poverty that prevailed. At times the book descends into particularly unpleasant, graphic detail when discussing the post mortems and autopsy reports, but this is necessary in order to explain such things as the position the victim was in when the Ripper struck and the modus operandi of the killings and subsequent mutilations. The 'Dear Boss' and 'From Hell' letters received by the police, believed to be from the killer, are discussed and we are introduced to the principal police officers involved in the investigation, such as Inspector Frederick Abberline, Sir Robert Anderson and Sir Melville Macnaghten, contrasting their approaches to the investigation. After reading this section I certainly felt as if I had learned a lot about the case. The next section of the book is a collection of essays by 17 different 'ripperologists.' The quality of these essays varies considerably and, whilst some put forward a fairly convincing case for their chosen suspect, others offer little more than speculation. As one contributor puts it, advancing a theory can sometimes be akin to "trying to fit the wrong piece into a slot in a jigsaw puzzle." My feeling about a lot of these essays was that the writer tried too hard to make the evidence fit the candidate of their choice, often making quite weak points and clutching at straws. Having said this, the essays introduced me to theories and suspects I had not come across before, as well as broadening my knowledge of those I was already vaguely aware of. For instance, until I read Gary Rowland's essay, The Mad Doctor I had never heard any suggestion that Dr Thomas Barnardo was linked to the Whitechapel murders. The essay suggests that the philanthropist who devoted his life to working with the destitute, developed a pathological hatred towards the prostitutes he was supposed to be helping. This was certainly an entertaining piece of writing, although I remain far from convinced it is true. I was somewhat more persuaded by the essays by Euan Macpherson and William Beadle, claiming that Jack the Ripper was a man called William Bury. As a former butcher, Bury certainly had the basic anatomical knowledge many believed the Ripper possessed. His presence in the East End coincided with the five murders and the killings stopped after he left for Scotland, where he strangled his wife, Ellen, mutilated her body and was hanged for her murder. I was intrigued by Bruce Paley's contribution, in which he names Joseph Barnett, the boyfriend of the final victim, Mary Jane Kelly, as Jack the Ripper, painting a quite convincing picture of a man consumed by jealousy, who tries to frighten his partner away from prostitution by perpetrating a series of gruesome killings, then takes his brutal revenge on her when she tries to leave him. Paley shows how Joseph Barnett fitted the profile of a typical serial killer, as devised by top criminologists. In addition, there are essays about Liverpool cotton merchant, James Maybrick and the so called 'Diary of Jack the Ripper', which I already knew a little about. The essays make a good case for the diaries being genuine. There does seem to be quite a lot about James Maybrick's involvement that can't easily be explained away, despite the best attempts of rival 'ripperologists' to prove it nonsense. Another writer, Nick Warren, examines some of the conspiracy theories that have been put forward, including the influence of the Freemasons and the suggestion that a member of the government and/or the Royal Family may have been involved in the killings. Peter Turnbull's essay suggests that the murders were copycat killings carried out by different men. Would I recommend this book? If you are interested in the Jack the Ripper case, this is a good starting point to find out the basic information. Considering this is a rather long book (472 pages excluding the bibliography) it is not written in a ponderous style. I found the content easy to follow, even the medical evidence. I don't think the absence of photographs makes it any less readable because the writing is sufficiently descriptive without the need for pictures of crime scenes, mortuary shots and the like. The book certainly provides a fascinating look at how cases were investigated in the days before forensic science and even finger printing and how the reliance on often contradictory eyewitness accounts made the police investigation a frustrating process from the start. Although the book presents many different viewpoints, you are left to decide for yourself. There are no definite answers. I note that on the back of the book is a quotation from Crime Time, which says, "Closes the book on Jack as comprehensively as possible." I have to disagree with that comment! Far from closing the book, it made me realise that there were even more potential suspects than I'd originally thought - and no doubt new ones will keep emerging and new books will keep appearing. If anything, this book left me even more clueless about who Jack the Ripper was than before I started reading. It remains an intriguing subject, however, and perhaps all the more so because it seems set to remain unsolved for ever. I think this is an excellent reference book to have. It also includes an extensive bibliography for anyone who wants to go on and read further into the subject. Read the complete review |
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The Murder Room - Michael Capuzzo
by collingwood21 Twenty years ago, three uniquely talented men decided that there was far too much unsolved crime in the world, and set out to use their talents to do something about it. Put like that, this sounds like a story about a batman-style avenger of the wronged, but the true tale of The Murder Room is something altogether more remarkable. These ... three men - a former FBI agent, a forensic artist and a criminal profiler - are the founder members of the Vidocq Society, a pro bono crime-fighting society based in Philadelphia, named in honour of Eugene Vidocq, the head of the first known private detective agency. The Society is little publicised but has done a huge amount of valuable work over the years. The Murder Room is the name given to the society's meeting place in Pennsylvania, where Vidocq Society Members (VSMs) meet once a month for a gourmet lunch and the chance to discuss a cold case that has baffled the law enforcement agencies that have thus far investigated it. The Society has many applications to consider cases, and filters them based on three criteria - the case must be at least two years old, to give regular agencies a fair chance to solve it themselves; the victim of the case must have committed no crime, and there must be an element that would be of interest to or may be helped by discussion by the Society. The Society is made up of 82 invited members from a variety of criminal and forensic agencies from around the world, and is able to offer new perspectives, ideas and lines of enquiry to those presenting their cold cases - sometimes they may even be able to come right out with who the likely culprit is. Over these twenty years, the Society has consulted on over 300 cases, and claims a success rate of 90%. Capuzzo bases his book around the three founder members of the society (William Fleisher, the FBI agent; Frank Bender the artist, and Richard Walter the profiler), making it in part a biography of these three men and their remarkable careers, and partly a history of the society and its work. We are introduced to over a dozen of the most significant and interesting cases the society has consulted on - some of these are quite famous if you are familiar with American news or true crime, while others less well known. The Society provides a solution to many of these unsolved crimes, some of which have led to arrests and convictions, but others have sadly failed to provoke a response from the agencies involved. While the society may be able to offer a consultation on the cold cases, they lack the authority to make the necessarily arrests and bring charges themselves. In one such memorable example, a victim's friend presents a cold case to the society, only to be accused by profiler Richard Walter straight after lunch of being the murderer himself; not happy with just deriving pleasure from the crime, Walter argues, he now wishes to enjoy himself by toying with the detectives investigating the case. Based on the evidence presented the accusation seems reasonable, although the local police force refused to act on this information and man was never formally investigated for this crime. Capuzzo has clearly had a very high level of access to the Society - which usually works behind the scenes and remains uncredited in media reports - presenting not only a fascinating tale, but giving these men and women the praise and acknowledgement they so richly deserve from all the unpaid hours they have put into bringing justice to murder victims. The book is arranged in short chapters and whips along at a cracking pace, drawing you into each new case quickly and totally. The information is clearly presented, and while gruesome in places, it does manage to steer clear of crime thriller cliché and CSI-style storytelling. The variety of material contained within The Murder Room is also sufficient that if you feel one case, anecdote or biographical section doesn't interest you, there will be another one along in a few pages that almost certainly will. While I found The Murder Room to be a compelling read, I did get exasperated by the poor organisation of the narrative. The book regularly repeats itself, and jumps around, introducing an intriguing crime one minute and then dropping it, only to randomly pick it up again a few chapters later. Perhaps this was to keep the reader pressing on through the text, but I got a little annoyed by it in places. Even now, when I wish to go back to the book to retrieve a few choice quotes for this review, I can't find what I am looking for because the structure is so elusive and there is no index. So no quotes, I'm afraid. The lack of pictures was also a minor niggle for me, and at several points I broke off reading to look things up on the web to get a more visual dimension to back up what I was reading about. This is a book that should appeal to fans of crime novels and true crime books alike, who will find The Murder Room to be 400+ pages of hard-to-put-down material. However much the author lionises the three protagonists, it is hard not to be impressed by their work, their dedication and their detection skills - it is not for nothing that they are referred to as the heirs of Sherlock Holmes. Recommended. == Book Details== The Murder Room by Michael Capuzzo Penguin Books, pbk, 426 pages RRP £7.99 == With thanks to Penguin for providing a review copy of this book == == This review originally appeared on www.curiousbookfans.co.uk === Read the complete review |
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Parkhurst Tales - Norman Parker
by CarolineR-D Parkhurst Tales is the first book by Norman Parker, recounting his prison memoirs. Parker was convicted of murder in 1970 and spent 24 continuous years in jail, one of which was the notorious Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, considered by many to be the end of the line, full of criminals the system had given up on and described chillingly ... as "half prison, half lunatic asylum." Within its walls are some of the most violent, disturbed individuals it is possible to imagine. Parker provides an insight into a world that is shocking, dangerous and quite bizarre, introducing us to a range of characters, many of whom you would not wish to meet on a dark night. However, he also manages to inject some humour into what would otherwise be a very dark, depressing read, often having us rooting for the cons in their ongoing battles with the 'screws.' At times it felt like reading something that was a cross between Porridge and a horror film. Unlike certain other prison memoirs I have read (such as No More Tomorrows by Schapelle Corby and Inside Out by Rosie Johnson) which provide a chronological account of the prison experience from incarceration through to release, this book feels a bit more disjointed in structure, taking the form of a series of anecdotes and a collection of character sketches. This is not a criticism, however. I liked the book's structure, the way that each chapter dealt with a new character or a new anecdote. I wouldn't describe this as a book that I could not put down. On the contrary, because its content was often quite shocking, I needed to put it down. I found that reading it in small doses was the best way for me, so having self-contained chapters helped me to do that. Because each chapter focussed on something new, I found it easy to pick the book up again after a little break and get straight back into it, without feeling I had to recap on what I'd read before. Parkhurst Tales is not the life story of Norman Parker. This isn't a sob story of someone who uses the book as a vehicle for protesting their innocence. On the contrary, Parker is refreshingly frank about his crimes. Just a page and a half at the start of the book are devoted to his background. The details are rather sketchy but we learn that his parents were 'ordinary' and that he was a quiet boy who did well academically, so not the typical dysfunctional background we have come to expect from those of a criminal persuasion. He met a girl from a troubled, violent background and with a history of mental instability. He shot her during an argument over her infidelity and got 6 years for manslaughter when he was only 18. When he came out he was "clinically depressed and consumed with rage." He killed again, this time a fellow convict, and was sentenced to life for murder. I did find myself wanting to know more about Parker's background but I don't think Parkhurst Tales is really intended to be a reflection on his crimes. As to how he fell into crime, he merely tells us - "I have always been a troubled spirit. A deep sentimentality, combined with a profound feeling that the world is oh so unfair, made me too sensitive." I was intrigued by this and wish he had expanded on it more. Maybe that is a whole different book. Parker's writing style is highly evocative. He really made me imagine the place, not only through the visual description he provides but also the references to the sounds and smells of prison life. He has a great eye for irony. In one chapter he describes a glistening pond full of fish and lily pads in an enclosed yard near to the prison hospital and comments that - "in the midst of all this ugliness and suffering, there was a place that was an oasis of peace and beauty." In another part of the book Parker uses surprisingly poetic language to describe his first impressions of the prison with all its chipped brickwork and rusting paintwork. "It was as if all the grief and misery it had witnessed had lined and cracked its façade, just as misery cracks and lines an old face." I did find the book quite thought provoking. In the media we are constantly hearing about 'cushy' prison conditions, so it was interesting to hear the voice of someone who has been, "through the bowels of the system," as he puts it, and can show the other side of the coin. Having worked in the courts for over 20 years, I am familiar with all the different arguments about punishment, deterrence and rehabilitation. Parker's book certainly made me ponder the relationship between loss of liberty and loss of dignity and how far the two have to go together. Why is there such a high rate of recidivism in this country? Is it because prisons like Parkhurst make people even harder and angrier? Are some people just too 'damaged' ever to change? These are just some of the questions I found myself reflecting on. I was fascinated by the accounts of what solitary confinement is like and how shifts occur in a prisoner's mental state as he spends more and more time in isolation. As Parker puts it - "if a psychopath is someone who is unable to form meaningful relationships with others, then solitary confinement is just the process to develop psychopathy." Another of the ironies of the system. The book introduces us to many of the residents of the "Kingdom of Parkhurst." Some made me laugh out loud. These include 'Shuffling Bob', who insists on being first in the dinner queue and whose fellow cons play a trick on him to teach him a lesson for pushing in. Then there is Lennie, whose voice only has two volume controls , one minute silent and the next booming! Lennie takes great pride in his job, picking up rubbish, until one day he discovers 'something nasty in the prison yard' as Les Dawson might have described it. (Let's just say this is not the sort of parcel Father Christmas hands out!) There follows some shrewd detective work to catch the culprit. We meet Dave the Rave and his mate Jeff, affectionately described as "a pair of poofs" but live wire escapees. Then there is the Manchester Yank, who claims to be from the Bronx but whose Mancs accent comes through when he speaks, described by Norman as an "all round berk." More disturbing are the tales we hear about Albert the Terrorist, who claims to see the devil when he's on solitary confinement, so resolves to get out of there pronto and about the terrifying, certifiably insane Vic, who "walked bent over, with his long arms hanging down by his sides, giving him a definitely ape-like appearance." Vic is responsible for one of the ugliest scenes in the whole book, which is definitely not for the faint hearted. There is also a chapter about Ronnie and Reggie Kray, referred to as 'The Twins', which makes them sound as harmless as Topsy & Tim, but which is clearly not the case, as one prisoner, Scouser Roy, finds out to his cost. I did find it intriguing to read about homemade bombs, escape attempts and roof top protests. Whenever an escape attempt was thwarted I found myself feeling deflated and frustrated and really identifying with the cons involved. Parker really succeeded in putting me on the side of the crooks most of the time. He tends to paint all the 'screws' as humourless, uncaring and cold, seeing them as "mercenaries conditioned to obey", whereas the cons are portrayed as having principles and fighting for what they believe in, so therefore coming across as more heroic and honourable. I am sure this is a bit simplistic and at times I did feel some sympathy for the prison officers, who must've been doing a horrendous job. To be fair, Parker does occasionally acknowledge certain prison officers who have behaved decently, but it always seems to be a grudging acknowledgement, as if it is much easier for him to see them all as the enemy. Although I would find myself cheering the cons on each time they hatched a plan, just occasionally I would read something, which left a bad taste in my mouth. For instance, when Parker is referring to an escape plan he speaks about how they had to work out a way of getting off the island. He mentions in a rather casual way - "we resolved to drag the lifeboatman out of his bed in the middle of the night and force him to take us across." The dismissive nature of the comment just made me feel uncomfortable, reminding me of the very different world/values some people hold. Similarly, when he refers to armed robberies as 'work' I inevitably think about the consequences for the victims and suddenly I'm not sure I should be rooting for the 'chaps' at all! I would recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the prison system and the debate about how to deal with offenders. It certainly held my interest and I appreciated the glossary at the back, which helped me to get to grips with a lot of prison jargon. The other prison memoirs I have read have been by women and I have obviously related more to them, seeing what loss of liberty means from a woman's perspective. Parker's account showed me that for male prisoners there is the added pressure to show you can handle whatever is thrown at you, not to lose your 'hard' reputation and there seems to be a sense of camaraderie, a feeling that you mustn't crack up because you don't want to unnerve the others. I found it very interesting from a psychological point of view and also to contrast the male experience of prison with what I've learned from accounts of women. It is not a book for anyone of a squeamish disposition. There is a lot of reference to blood, beatings and excrement, which doesn't make exactly pleasant reading. I was fascinated to be taken on a tour round Parkhurst but glad that I could choose for myself how much I wanted to take in at any one time - a luxury that the inmates obviously didn't have. I'm not sure if 'enjoyable' is the right word for a book like this, but I certainly felt I'd gained a valuable insight. Parker writes well. The book is available from amazon.co.uk new from £3.79 plus post and packaging, with very cheap copies available used. There are follow up books entitled Living with Killers, Parkhurst Tales 2 and Life After Life. I might be tempted to read another in the future. I also understand that there is a compendium edition, The Complete Parkhurst Tales, which combines this book with Parkhurst Tales 2 priced at £5.75 new from Amazon. Read the complete review |
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Genre: Crime / Non-Fiction Book / Author: David Copperfield / Paperback / 288 Pages / Book is published 2012-02-23 by Monday Books |
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Genre: Crime / Non-Fiction Book / Author: Ed Vulliamy / Paperback / 416 Pages / Book is published 2011-10-06 by Vintage |
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1 review Genre: Crime / Non-Fiction Book / Author: Bill James / Paperback / 448 Pages / Book is published 2012-07-05 by Simon & Schuster Ltd |
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1 review Genre: Crime / Non-Fiction Book / Author: Maxim Jakubowski / ISBN: 1845297121 / Publication Date: 2008 / Publisher: Robinson Publishing |
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Genre: Crime / Non-Fiction Book / Author; Robert Jeffrey |
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1 review Genre: True story / Non-Fiction Book / Publisher: Blake Publishing - New edition (16 Mar 1995) - Revealing the secret world of one of Britain's highest security jails as no one on the outside could possibly imagine, Norman Parker has spent over half his life in prison. He was released from prison after 23 co... |
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Genre: Crime / Non-Fiction Book / Author: Maurice Crow / Publisher: Igloo Books - Why does someone become a serial killer, murdering not once, but over and over again, in a planned and methodical way? Ted Bundy, Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, Fred and Rosemary West - all are portrayed here, along with the lives... |
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1 review Genre: Crime / Non-Fiction Book / Author: Michael Capuzzo / / Publisher: Penguin |
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