Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell

Decades passed, then fifty years, then a hundred, and the Ripper’s bloody sexual crimes became anemic and impotent fodder for puzzles, mystery weekends, crime conventions, and so-called “Ripper Walks” that end with pints of ale in the pubs of Whitechapel. He had struck out of nowhere and then vanished from the scene. And then the Ripper’s violent spree seemingly ended as abruptly as it had begun.

Police seemed powerless to stop the killer, who delighted in taunting them and whose crimes were clearly escalating in violence from victim to victim. An elusive madman calling himself Jack the Ripper was brutally butchering women in the slums of London’s East End. (Nov.In the fall of 1888, all of London was held in the grip of unspeakable terror. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Forecasts, Nov.

Despite some tedious and over-detailed readings of medical records, laws and police reports, as well as descriptive accounts of Cornwell's experiences re-opening the case, this audiobook turns potentially dry material into an enthralling exploration. Transporting listeners to 19th century England, Burton easily transitions between American and English accents, bringing an authentic, resonating flavor to the era and to the desperate lives of London's 'unfortunates' who became the killer's prey. Cornwell's man is the handsome, educated actor-cum-artist Walter Richard Sickert, and she delves into his life, probing the psychological pain and sexual deformity which led to his 'impotent fury.' Screen, stage and TV actress Burton's splendid, professional narration deserves much of the credit for the book's smooth translation to abridged audio format. Claiming to have cracked the unsolved case of Jack the Ripper, the author, combining superb investigative skills and meticulous research with modern technology, presents strong, albeit largely circumstantial, evidence as to the true culprit in this uncharacteristic work of nonfiction.

'I knew the identity of a murderer and couldn't possibly avert my gaze,' declares bestselling author and Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine chairman of the board Cornwell ( The Last Precinct).

Portrait of a Killer by Patricia Cornwell