Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper - Case Closed
by Patricia Cornwell
published
March 31st 2007
(first published 2002)
by Berkley Publishing Group
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binding
Paperback, 400 pages
isbn
0425205479
(isbn13: 9780425205471)
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For weeks, I attempted to finish Patricia Cornwell's "Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed" I haven't written a real book review, (or even been inclined to write one,) since High School English Lit., but this book frustrated me enough to write one.
I've heard from many people what a wonderful piece of forensic investigation it is, how interesting, and that it seems the most plausible answer to the question of "whodunit."
It must be confessed, that though I...more
I've heard from many people what a wonderful piece of forensic investigation it is, how interesting, and that it seems the most plausible answer to the question of "whodunit."
It must be confessed, that though I...more
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Read in June, 2008
First and foremost, the Case of Jack the Ripper is still open. This was an interesting account of a very interesting theory, depicting how with a lot of speculation one man could be the Ripper. A lot of frustration towards this book comes from her confidence and almost egotistical "I know who the killer is" attitude -- when as a reader you find out quickly she is simply "speculating" who the killer may have been. With many ideas beginning with, "one can only imagine h...more
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Read in February, 2007
(Hätte am liebsten 1,5 Sterne vergeben, da es irgendwie zwischen didn't like it und it was ok liegt)
Cornwell macht sich hier auf die Suche nach der wahren Identität des Rippers und ist überzeugt, dass der Maler Walter Sickert der Täter ist.
Sie erbringt dafür einige Beweise, womit zumindest starke Ähnlichkeiten zwischen dem Phantom und Sickert aufgezeigt werden.
Ich denke, es wird nie eine stichhaltige Aufklärung der Ripper-Morde geben und dieser Verdacht ist genauso 'gut' wie die...more
Cornwell macht sich hier auf die Suche nach der wahren Identität des Rippers und ist überzeugt, dass der Maler Walter Sickert der Täter ist.
Sie erbringt dafür einige Beweise, womit zumindest starke Ähnlichkeiten zwischen dem Phantom und Sickert aufgezeigt werden.
Ich denke, es wird nie eine stichhaltige Aufklärung der Ripper-Morde geben und dieser Verdacht ist genauso 'gut' wie die...more
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I am torn nearly in two over Patricia Cornwell's Jack the Ripper - Case Closed.
On one side, I enjoyed the reading immensely, and even found myself scared of being awake late into the night while I was reading. The book awoke enough paranoia in me to send me around the house before bed, peeking in the dark corners, opening closets and locking all the doors, something I rarely do. Moreover, parts of Cornwell's argument that the Ripper was, in fact, the famous artist Walter Richard Sick...more
On one side, I enjoyed the reading immensely, and even found myself scared of being awake late into the night while I was reading. The book awoke enough paranoia in me to send me around the house before bed, peeking in the dark corners, opening closets and locking all the doors, something I rarely do. Moreover, parts of Cornwell's argument that the Ripper was, in fact, the famous artist Walter Richard Sick...more
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Read in June, 2008
I'm one of those people who can't start a book without finishing it. If I watch a movie, no matter how bad, I feel compelled to see it through to the bitter end. With this book, I only made it halfway through before closing it for good.
The author obviously completed a great deal of research on this subject. But the book's description, about how the author has applied modern forensic techniques to solve one of the greatest-ever unsolved crimes, is misleading.
Most of the book (at least m...more
The author obviously completed a great deal of research on this subject. But the book's description, about how the author has applied modern forensic techniques to solve one of the greatest-ever unsolved crimes, is misleading.
Most of the book (at least m...more
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As it has been a while since I read this I'm almost reluctant to write a review since I can't go over specific instances in the text.
However, perhaps that says more about the book than about me.
The writing isn't bad, in my opinion. And as someone who enjoys reading about serial killers and has read a few on Jack the Ripper I didn't mind expostulating about a particular suspect. However, the truth is that for a book that claims that its evidence will close the case on the mystery, it fa...more
However, perhaps that says more about the book than about me.
The writing isn't bad, in my opinion. And as someone who enjoys reading about serial killers and has read a few on Jack the Ripper I didn't mind expostulating about a particular suspect. However, the truth is that for a book that claims that its evidence will close the case on the mystery, it fa...more
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I was so excited to read this book originally, having visited the Ripper sights in the Whitechapel district of London. When Cromwell came forth and claimed she had in fact "solved" the Ripper mystery I couldn't resist the temptation to read this book. Unfortunately her evidence is more or less purely based on letters recieved by police during the Ripper investigation. Instead of merely passing these letters off as "rubish" by most Ripper historians she firmly states that the ...more
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Read in July, 2007
so, patricia cornwell has solved the ripper case. she's convinced she has; and she doesn't tire to try to convince you, too. which makes portrait of a killer an extremely annoying read. you'll be forced to wade through plenty of the brackwater of standard bourgeois reaction to anything and anybody involved with prostitution (hey compassion - hey contempt!), the standard true-crime-solved insight about the psychological mechanism (yes, singular: one mechanism, and one mechanism only) that prod...more
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Read in September, 2008
I have picked this up to start about 100 times. I have done a bit of research on the subject, and think her theory is ridiculously far-fetched. I thought that would make the book interesting, but it seems to be a turn-off instead.
I'm now about halfway through. I keep coming back to it. I like her style of writing, generally, but am so distracted by her assertions as fact. She seems to be careful, in places, to soften her accusations with "possibly", "we may never really know&q...more
I'm now about halfway through. I keep coming back to it. I like her style of writing, generally, but am so distracted by her assertions as fact. She seems to be careful, in places, to soften her accusations with "possibly", "we may never really know&q...more
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I don't believe that the case will ever be solved because there was no analysis of forensic evidence conducted at the time they took place and there are so many inconsistencies on the part of the police at the time the murders occured for us to know for sure what really happened. It is fun to read the various theories about who JTR really was. I thought Cornwell presented a strong circumstantial case against Walter Sickert. If her research was correct as far as his letters and family history ...more
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Read in July, 2008
Although this book did give interesting information on England in the late 1800s/early 1900s and did also help the reader to understand better the events surrounding the murders of Jack the Ripper, Patricia Cornwell writes smugly that she has the "case closed" on a crime that happened over a 100 years ago. While her suspect, Walter Sickert, does seem to be a perfect candidate for the role of Jack the Ripper and she has found a mountain of circumstantial evidence against him, she has a...more
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Read in June, 2007
This was not what I expected. I thought it would be a sort of historical re-cap of the Jack the Ripper killings with Cornwell revealing the person that she thought to be the killer, with evidence to substantiate her opinion. I did not expect to be lectured over and over and beaten over the head with her opinion on the identity of the killer.
From what I've read, Cornwell went a little bonky in the head with trying to prove that her guy was the one, spending millions of dollars to acquire ...more
From what I've read, Cornwell went a little bonky in the head with trying to prove that her guy was the one, spending millions of dollars to acquire ...more
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I liked this book because Patricia Cornwall presented quite a stirring case for her argument that the killer was a rather famous artist named Walter Sickert. She compared pictures painted by the artist with photos from the crime scene and of the victims, postmortem, and the similarities gave me shivers! She created this protrait of Sickert with such passion, convinced she really has solved this case, that I couldn't help but get excited, too. It didn't hurt that I read it the week leading up to ...more
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Read in September, 2008
I didn't know anything about Cornwell before I picked up this book.
The book's central theory is viable and the detailed information included about the Ripper murders is interesting. The book begins as an argument to convince readers that Cornwell's suspect was in fact Jack the Ripper, though it divolves about midway through. At that point, the chapters and book as a whole seem to lose any sense of organization, become redundant, and, frankly, self-indulgent on the part of the author.
...more
The book's central theory is viable and the detailed information included about the Ripper murders is interesting. The book begins as an argument to convince readers that Cornwell's suspect was in fact Jack the Ripper, though it divolves about midway through. At that point, the chapters and book as a whole seem to lose any sense of organization, become redundant, and, frankly, self-indulgent on the part of the author.
...more
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Read in January, 2008
I found this book extremely annoying; in fact, I didn't finish it. I stopped with about 30 pages left to read because it was so frustrating. The author's arrogance was evident in every page. She starts with the premise that she knows who Jack the Ripper was, but her "evidence" consists mostly of supposition ("Sickert lived only 6 miles away; he could easily have been on the scene") and imagination. Her theory rests entirely on her assumption that Walter Sickert, a well-known...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
History and true crime fans
It's interesting to observe how "common knowledge" sometimes lags behind real knowledge. Just the other day, I heard someone on television say what I've heard all my life: that the true identity of Jack the Ripper has never been discovered.
Not true. Patricia Cornwell figured out who he was, made her case compellingly, and closed the file in 2002. The only mystery left in my mind is how some people can read the book and not be convinced. It should not be surprising that the murdere...more
Not true. Patricia Cornwell figured out who he was, made her case compellingly, and closed the file in 2002. The only mystery left in my mind is how some people can read the book and not be convinced. It should not be surprising that the murdere...more
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Read in December, 2005
It looks like a lot of people on this site hated this book, and some of the criticism was justified. After all, a person has to have an incredibly strong and solid case to conclusively proclaim "Case Closed" on a notorious crime spree that has remained one of the world's great mysteries for over a century. And Cornwell's case is nowhere near that strong. She pretty much admits in the introduction that she became obsessed with this case and nearly lost her mind - and I think she l...more
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Read in October, 2006
recommends it for:
no one
I admit to having a great interest in the Jack the Ripper case and have for many years. I was interested to see what Cornwell could come up with as to who could have done the killing. I was thoroughly disappointed with this book. It was basically filled with Cornwell's guesses that she put out as facts. What really set me off was that part of the book where she was walking down the street with her editor (I think) and says, "I know who did it." From then on, I had a feeling I wasn...more
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Read in May, 2004
I had never read a Cornwell book before. In fact I hadn't really heard of her until a coworker insisted that this bit of nonfiction was a convincing assertion about the identity of the most legendary serial killer in history. At the time I thought it rather bold that someone would claim to have solved that grand mystery and I decided I had to read it. I found a lot of the history fascinating and some of Cornwell's arguments seemed sound to my amateur mind. But in the end she was making argu...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in July, 2008
Cornwell's conspiratorial take on the Ripper murders reads like a book written in a hurry and you have to feel it could make a better case if assembled in a better order. On the plus side her forensic based approach offers some interesting insights into the nature of the killings, as is her analysis of a number of the Ripper letters. But her thesis - that the Ripper was the respected victorian painter Walter Sickhert seems to leave more open questions than it can answer. Yes Sickhert's painti...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.40 (1820 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.64 (14 ratings) number of reviews: 264
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