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Book Review, © Copyright 2002, Jim Loy
The subtitle is: "Jack the Ripper case closed." Is it? A lot of authors claim to solve one mysterous case or another. Most do nothing of the kind. This book seems to be an exception; Ms. Cornwell seems to have solved the case, once and for all. Walter Sickert, famous artist and part-time actor fits the profile. And, DNA evidence shows that he did write the Jack the Ripper letters, at least he licked the envelopes. There is quite a bit of lesser evidence. And the mystery is almost certainly solved. Well done. I haven't read the whole book yet, but it looks very interesting.
OK, the DNA evidence is not as convincing as I thought. Think about it, isn't it amazing that someone kept the evidence in pristine condition for all these years? The DNA is mitochondrial DNA which is not nearly as unique as regular DNA. There was certainly contamination of the evidence over the years. And most investigators are certain that the Jack the Ripper letters were all hoaxes. Most of the rest of the evidence against Mr. Sickert is ambiguous. And Mr. Sickert has an alibi for some of the murders. I think that Mr. Sickert must remain a suspect. But the mystery is not exactly solved. Interesting book, though.
To order this book, click Amazon.com (goes directly to this book).