PORTRAIT OF A KILLER by Patricia Cornwell - SIGNED FIRST EDITION BOOK
See all titles by Patricia Cornwell.
Crime fiction writer Cornwell adds yet another volume to the Jack the Ripper literature.
"I knew the identity of a murderer and couldn't possibly avert my gaze," declares bestselling author and Virginia Institute of Forensic Science and Medicine chairman of the board Patricia Cornwell. Claiming to have cracked the unsolved case of Jack the Ripper, the author, combining superb investigative skills and meticulous research with modern technology, presents strong, albeit largely circumstantial, evidence as to the true culprit in this uncharacteristic work of nonfiction.
Cornwell's man is the handsome, educated actor-cum-artist Walter Richard Sickert, and she delves into his life, probing the psychological pain and sexual deformity which led to his "impotent fury", transporting readers to 19th century England, and bringing an authentic, resonating flavor to the era and to the desperate lives of London's "unfortunates" who became the killer's prey.
Despite some over-detailed readings of medical records, laws and police reports, as well as descriptive accounts of Cornwell's experiences re-opening the case, it turns potentially dry material into an enthralling exploration of the physical evidence, including DNA tests commissioned
by Cornwell are presented and new clues are sought in the accounts of
the murders of the Ripper's victims.