What do you think?
Rate this book
Yorkshire Ripper
Describes the desperate five-year search for a psychopathic killer who murdered at least thirteen British women
255 pages, Paperback
First published May 26, 1981
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 12, 2022
A "Just the facts, ma'am" contemporary account of the crimes of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, that lacks the psychological insight and excoriation of slipshod police work that you'll find in later analysis of the Ripper case, Roger Cross' The Yorkshire Ripper is an engaging true crime book that ultimately lacks depth (despite its subtitle's claim to the contrary). So much of what's now known about the Ripper saga is missing from it: the conclusion of the Wearside Jack subplot, the different shades of sexual deviancy that motivated Sutcliffe, Sonia Sutcliffe's stormy relationship with the British media, the sheer scale of error in the police investigation, and so on. It's a good starting point for those newly interested in the case but it offers little for true crime aficionados outside of the firsthand interviews with Sutcliffe survivors and relatives.
February 13, 2024
Roger Cross was chief crime reporter for the Yorkshire Post, and took on major investigative stories not just in Britain but abroad too for a ten year period before the Yorkshire Ripper case came along: doubt there were many others as shocking as this. Cross, being there right from the beginning, and forming close ties with the detectives handling the case, writes a chilling document which includes details of all the murders and extensive background information on Sutcliffe through the first hand accounts of those who knew him. From the man hunt side of things, and trying to delve into the psyche of the killer then I really can't complain as Cross is very thorough; however, I was a bit disappointed by the end that none of the interviews with Sutcliffe after his capture and imprisonment were included. Despite Sutcliffe slipping up further on in his killing spree, and the fact his arrest was something of an accident, I still found the British police weren't as incompetent as the LAPD trying to track down Richard Ramirez in the mid 80s. (When it comes to true crime, I did find Philip Carlo's Night Stalker book much more engrossing than this one)
September 28, 2025
The title of "In-Depth Study" feels a little ironic considering the book is relatively short and the information inside is almost painfully compact. It does make for a good, quick read, but in-depth? Not so much. As an introduction to the case it works wonderfully, but definitely not as expansion on the barest of information in any way.
That said - it is very, very well written. Not only Cross comes through as respectful and tactful to a degree not expected from a book published in 1981, and I have read some true crime prints that were far less respectful to the very same victims between these pages as among those, but also he raises good questions about the quality of the investigation and how the inquiry has been handled from the get-go. Something, I'm sure of it, police officers at the time did not appreciate either hearing or reading about.
As for the case of Sutcliffe himself, we only get a view that of a reporter and nothing else. Except for the last bit. A piece of poetry that wraps up the book with a chilling and strange feeling, written by Peter himself. Again, readers are guided to wonder just what kind of man exactly would do the things Sutcliffe has done and once again we are left with no answers. By now Sutcliffe has died and yet there have been no more revealing answers than there had been in 1981. Perhaps more emphasis that he was a sexual pervert, but even the jury at the time had known so.
Finally, I want to emphasize again how respectful Corss has been towards the victims, calling out even police's own behavior when it was directed at the women because of their choices. In the end - those lives have been tragically taken away from their families, friends and relatives. Peter Sutcliffe has done that and despite never leaving prison, the shadow he cast still remains, strangely, to this day. In the dark alleys and in the minds of people, most likely women, who find themselves alone at night and outside of security of their homes.
That said - it is very, very well written. Not only Cross comes through as respectful and tactful to a degree not expected from a book published in 1981, and I have read some true crime prints that were far less respectful to the very same victims between these pages as among those, but also he raises good questions about the quality of the investigation and how the inquiry has been handled from the get-go. Something, I'm sure of it, police officers at the time did not appreciate either hearing or reading about.
As for the case of Sutcliffe himself, we only get a view that of a reporter and nothing else. Except for the last bit. A piece of poetry that wraps up the book with a chilling and strange feeling, written by Peter himself. Again, readers are guided to wonder just what kind of man exactly would do the things Sutcliffe has done and once again we are left with no answers. By now Sutcliffe has died and yet there have been no more revealing answers than there had been in 1981. Perhaps more emphasis that he was a sexual pervert, but even the jury at the time had known so.
Finally, I want to emphasize again how respectful Corss has been towards the victims, calling out even police's own behavior when it was directed at the women because of their choices. In the end - those lives have been tragically taken away from their families, friends and relatives. Peter Sutcliffe has done that and despite never leaving prison, the shadow he cast still remains, strangely, to this day. In the dark alleys and in the minds of people, most likely women, who find themselves alone at night and outside of security of their homes.
April 16, 2017
I'm only gonna do a short review because now I've found this, I'm definitely going to reread this. Some quick notes from what I remember, however:
The information in this is portrayed clearly and is easily understandable.
The author has done so much research into the Ripper and it really, really shows.
This has all the information I was looking for at the time.
The writing does seem very educational at times, and it interrupts the flow of the words quite a bit, and that was annoying.
Hopefully, my reading style has matured a little so I'll be able to read all this again without being interrupted and feeling annoyed.
The information in this is portrayed clearly and is easily understandable.
The author has done so much research into the Ripper and it really, really shows.
This has all the information I was looking for at the time.
The writing does seem very educational at times, and it interrupts the flow of the words quite a bit, and that was annoying.
Hopefully, my reading style has matured a little so I'll be able to read all this again without being interrupted and feeling annoyed.
May 14, 2020
This is a decent book about the Yorkshire Ripper and his crimes. It's not overly detailed and the fact that it was written in the early 80's means the story stops there. I think it's a good introductory book on Peter Sutcliffe and it shows that not all killers have warped childhoods.
I liked that there are photos of his murder victims on the back of the book, as they are the most important people in these stories. Cross doesn't spend much time on the problematic handling of "Prostitutes and Innocent women", but he does mention it a few times, which I was pleasently surprised about.
Cross discusses the crimes themselves, Sutcliffe's life, and the police investigation. He mentions the tapes and letters but doesn't swell on them, probably because they were fake. If anyone is interested in learning more about them, there's a mini series of the podcast En Clair where the host dissects the linguistic challenge of finding where the voice and accent originated.
Overall, a good read.
I liked that there are photos of his murder victims on the back of the book, as they are the most important people in these stories. Cross doesn't spend much time on the problematic handling of "Prostitutes and Innocent women", but he does mention it a few times, which I was pleasently surprised about.
Cross discusses the crimes themselves, Sutcliffe's life, and the police investigation. He mentions the tapes and letters but doesn't swell on them, probably because they were fake. If anyone is interested in learning more about them, there's a mini series of the podcast En Clair where the host dissects the linguistic challenge of finding where the voice and accent originated.
Overall, a good read.
June 12, 2016
This book was very informative about the facts surrounding the case however I felt a few points let it down. Firstly, the author kind of jumps around a lot which disrupts the flow of the book noticeably. Secondly, at points there are so many names and dates being mentioned that it is hard to keep track. I feel like resolving the first issue would help with this. Finally, there was really not much discussion on the motives of the crimes, just a brief mention at the end of the book. I found this quite disappointing as, without wishing to sound too morbid, that is one of the more interesting aspects of the case.
Read
January 17, 2017You do NOT want to know why I ended up reading this book. Hospital appointment boredom does weird things to people, okay?
July 22, 2020
I was tempted to give this book 4 stars however my enjoyment of it was based more on the subject of the book than that of how it was written. Having been written so long ago, it is clear how things are quite different now in respect of policing methods and technological advances.
September 14, 2017
Disturbing stuff in there. Definitely not a bedtime book.
November 19, 2015
Armchair detective that I am I read The Yorkshire Ripper to try and get into the mind set of the original Jack the Ripper. My favoured suspect for the Whitechapel murders was George Chapman who was a violent man and could easily be shoehorned into the role. Having read Roger Cross, I'm no longer sure, the ripper could have been anyone.
A fascinating read into the life of an ordinary man to every extent, barring his brief forays into terrible and brutal murder, that left victims and their relatives destroyed.
A fascinating read into the life of an ordinary man to every extent, barring his brief forays into terrible and brutal murder, that left victims and their relatives destroyed.
February 11, 2021
Very excellent explanation of the whole saga of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, who killed over a dozen women in the north of England, in the 70s etc. I've read a couple or three books on it. This is the best one. Sutcliffe ended up in Broadmoor Asylum for life. That is the only area that is missing from this account. I would like to know how doctors and law enforcement decided he was crazy. If they hadn't he would have been given the death penalty as far as I know.
July 30, 2011
Very interesting read. I found that the last third of the book was a a bit disjointed though. The author seemed to be jumping from one date to another and it got a little confusing, especially when reading it late at night.
January 7, 2015
I loved this book. I think it was written well and gave great insight into the mind and life of a serial killer
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews