The Many Faces of Jack the Ripper

by M.J. Trow

A psychological and pictorial account of the gruesome "Ripper" murders which shocked a nation. The mystery behind the world's most infamous serial killer is revealed through photographs of the victims, suspects and atmospheric images of the crime scenes as they are today.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1998

About the author

Meirion James Trow is a full-time teacher of history who has been doubling as a crime writer for seventeen years. Originally from Ferndale, Rhondda in South Wales he now lives on the Isle of Wight. His interests include collecting militaria, film, the supernatural and true crime.

Reviews

[Katherine Addison · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a kind of weird book. It's like it wants to grow up to be a coffee-table book. It's oversized, glossy paper, and full of photographs, but the photographs are either the same double-handful of photographs you get in every Ripper book (and bad reproductions, too) or photographs of Whitechapel as it is now, which are all kind of small and cramped. And then there's the one photo with the girl posed as a chestnut seller Jack the Ripper allegedly spoke to, where she's all young and smooth-skinned and lovely and as a reader I am all WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT OVER. So a coffee-table book where the budget got slashed mid-project? I don't know. Trow's style is breezy and sensationalist, and his research is sloppy, but on the other hand, he has a lovely, common-sense attitude toward the various sources/theories about the Ripper's identity and assesses them realistically.

[Meaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was compulsively readable, and unlike many Ripper books it gives you a good idea as to what it was like to live in the East End during that time, and how the police force worked (and didn't work). It also covers some suspects I had not previously seen. However, some of the photos were mislabeled, and I noticed a few inaccuracies and sweeping generalizations (i.e. "the Ripper was deranged and surgeons are not deranged; therefore he could not have been a surgeon," and "he could not have been an immigrant because the immigrant population was not violent") I would recommend this in conjunction with other Ripper books, such as of course my favorite, Sugden's The Complete History of Jack the Ripper.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great Ripper book. Went through the evidence and applied it to the favorite suspects and other obscure ones and really kept an open perspective. Full of facts and little known theories and corrections to the many mis-perceptions that have occured over the years. I loved it.