Amazon.co.uk Review
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 murderer?
Using 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 of the personal and the professional: as well as orchestrating a Scarpetta-like search for the identity of the Ripper, Cornwell involves several very personal connections with the task she has set herself, and this is no dry thesis. Needless to say, the more gruesome aspects of this famously grisly case give no pause to a woman who has taken us into the grimmer aspects of forensics with her unsqueamish protagonist, and we are spared no details here (but who would purchase Portrait of a Killer if they had delicate sensibilities?). The arguments here are intelligently marshalled, and laid out with the precision and attention to detail of Cornwell's novels.
In order to prove her thesis, Cornwell purchased (and made tests on) some great works of art, but the tale of how she arrived at her highly contentious conclusions is quite as fascinating as one of the Scarpetta books. You may not agree with her, but you will not put this book down. --Barry Forshaw
Review
'The world's top woman writer.' Sunday Times
Part Walter Sickert biography, part investigation into the Jack the Ripper murders, part comparative study of modern and Victorian serial killer investigations, Patricia Cornwell's book certainly provokes controversy. Author of the popular and accomplished Scarpetta crime novels, Cornwell claims that Victorian artist Walter Sickert was Jack the Ripper and describes her theory with absolute conviction. Sickert was famous for his paintings of prostitutes and music-hall dancers, with actual or threatened violence very much a presence in his work. Works entitled 'Jack the Ripper's Bedroom', 'Persuasion' (showing the murder of a prostitute) and 'He Killed His Father in a Fight' and sketches of amputated limbs and severed necks give some flavour of the morbid and violent nature of his art. His callous treatment of his wives marks him as an arrogant, calculating and obsessive man. It is, however, an almighty leap from indicting the handsome Sickert as 'a damaged diabolical man' to convicting him of the hideous Whitechapel murders. Many will dismiss much of Cornwell's theory as supposition and circumstantial evidence. However, the number of coincidences and links are astonishing. Sickert had the opportunity and the means to create disguises and hide himself away after the crimes in one of his numerous studios in poor areas of London. Jack the Ripper's letters to the police match the paper Sickert used for correspondence. Cornwell juxtaposes photographs of the dead Whitechapel murder victims with Sickert's pictures, and there are striking similarities. However, this proves nothing. Cornwell leaves many questions unanswered for lack of evidence. Sickert's physical relationships with his wives and other women and the effect of his childhood penis operation can only be guessed at. Cornwell is not averse to guessing and this does detract from the objectivity of the account. After reading the book, it is impossible to say whether Cornwell is right or wrong. The truth about Jack the Ripper will probably never be known. What the book does achieve, through a compulsive narrative, is to capture the seedy, filthy atmosphere of London at the time of the murders and tell how the Ripper's ferocity and cunning rendered a pre-forensic Scotland Yard unable to catch their man. (Kirkus UK)
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by Patricia Cornwell
by Patricia Cornwell
by Patricia Cornwell
by Patricia Cornwell
by Patricia Cornwell
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