What is the worst Ripper book you've ever read?

[George Hutchinson]

Rubbish though Pamela Ball's book is, it does have a very high print quality on the images used in the central photo section.

PHILIP

[Mike Covell]

Psychic Investigation.....biggest waste of time
Steve

They should have seen those negative reviews coming!!

[John Bennett]

Psychic Investigation.....biggest waste of time

Gosh, I forgot that one. VERY DODGY!!!

[DVV]

Herfort, of course.
Cornwell's garbage seems a masterpiece once you have read Herfort.

[halomanuk]

I voted for that one too earlier Belinda.
I didn't even keep the book after stopping before half way through.

[belinda]

That garbled load of claptrap by Cornwell

[Steve S]

Hmm......Ripper Suspect....Yes,most boring...
Black Magic Rituals...Lost the plot completely,BUT good topographically
Psychic Investigation.....biggest waste of time
And another cheer for Autumn of Terror...first book I read on the subject around 1970.....
Steve

[sdreid]

What makes a bad Ripper book; one that's poorly done or one where you don't like the conclusion? I don't agree with Cornwell's take but her book is not poorly written.

[nickie]

Hello All,
I too would have to say the worst one I've read so far has to be Patsy Cornwell's Portrait of a Killer. I still can't believe I wasted money on that rubbish. She really needs to stick to fiction, as she's much better at it obviously...all she did with this book was try to turn fiction into reality and it didn't work at all. I haven't read many books on the subject, but I am always looking to expand my knowledge.
All the best,

[JustForJolly]

The awful boring book about MJD that I couldn't remember was Ripper Suspect by D J Leighton. Admittedly you can't get much of a book out of the known facts of Druitt's life, maybe a pamphlet but to fill up with going on and on about cricket is just evil. Unless you like cricket that is.

Elizabeth

[Uncle Jack]

The worst Ripper book in my opinion (and I am surprised to have not seen it mentioned so far) is Richard Wallace's Jack the Ripper: Light Hearted Friend, naming Lewis Carroll as the Ripper. So bad I only got a quarter way through.

Best regards

Adam

[JustForJolly]

Have we all forgotten the Duck, and the clunk of his Samsonite briefcase?

Will Cap'n Jack or someone please explain this quote to me? It's got nothing to do with Keith Harris has it?

Elizabeth

[aspallek]

A bit of a belated response on my part but yes, Stephen, that was an eerie photo of Tower Bridge under construction. I'd never considered the possibility that it might have been underway in 1888. Nice meeting you are the WS as well.

[dlew919]

Absolutely agreed on Patricia Cornwell! Awful, awful, awful.

[Salome]

I'm going to reserve judgement on my worst Ripper read until the much-heralded docu-novel by a certain descendant of Mr McC comes out. If you think that's harsh, try reading 'A Variety of Orchids' by the same author, available on Amazon for 1p!