ONE-ARMED JACK - Sarah Bax Horton

Jack the Ripper. The mystery, the legend, the search for his identity never lets up and every few years someone presents their case for uncovering the true identity of the Ripper. The latest in this long line of discoveries is Sarah Bax Horton's One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper.

Horton claims a bit of genealogy to the Ripper case - her great, great-grandfather was one of the police officers tasked with the Whitechapel murders at the time. Using lots of the police notes, as well as coroners' reports and court reports, Horner tells us flat out who she believes committed the atrocities attributed to Jack the Ripper (and a few others).  I won't reveal the name of the suspect, but he is someone that has been among the names bandied about over the last century-plus, and he is not anyone of fame or repute.

Like every book purporting to identify the Ripper before this, Horton does a very good job of laying out her facts and reasoning.  But that's kind of the problem with the Ripper, isn't it?  Everyone who researches it and hopes to capitalize on some book sales makes their argument convincing (there wouldn't be any sales if they didn't).

I think that I first became interested in the Jack the Ripper crimes back in the mid-1970s after watching, of all things, a Star Trek episode in which Jack the Ripper was an alien being that thrived on the energy of the fear it caused and had been known by many names (including Jack the Ripper). I picked up my first 'Ripper revealed' book shortly thereafter (1981) I bought my first of the Ripper research books (Prince Jack : The True Story of Jack the Ripper by Frank Spiering) and I've been casually hooked ever since.

While there's some good research, there's also that bit of presumption that can get in the way of solid research.  For instance: "(suspect)'s eccentric behaviour, marked by increasing rage and incoherence, must have made him a well-known figure on Wentworth Street, and beyond that locality, extending to a radius of a couple of miles." Must have?  But there's no reports, no local diary entries, no newspaper gossip, no constable notes to the effect?

Horton's research is generally good and for all we know, she may be exactly correct.  For all we know.  But I've said the same thing about other Ripper-revealed books.  What was new and interesting to me here were the names of other victims she attributes to the Ripper, including one who doesn't die after the attack.  Maybe this is a common theory among true, deep-diving Ripper junkies (I just like buying the books), but this is the first I've heard anyone name more than the commonly named five victims.

I wouldn't say I'm overwhelming convinced at Horton's theory more than any others out there, but some points seem valid.  If interested, you should decide for yourself.

Looking for a good book? One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper by Sarah Bax Horton is yet another attempt, more than 100 years after the serial murders to identify the infamous killer. I'm sure Scotland Yard is delighted to finally close the case.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

3-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

 One-Armed Jack: Uncovering the Real Jack the Ripper 

author: Sarah Bax Horton

publisher: Michael O'Mara Books

ISBN: 9781789295160

hardcover, 304 pages
 

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