" THE BELL TOWER " - r. graysmith

[Jor-L5150]

anyone read the 1999 book : " the bell tower " by robert graysmith ?
is it worth my time ?

( i once read patricia cornwells " portrait of a killer and was completely sold- till i found this site and it was debunked { evidently } )

the same author claims to have solved the ZODIAC serial killer case as well.

i did not see the aforementioned graysmith book mentioned on the site.

thanks -

[George Hutchinson]

Hi and welcome. I've had a copy for years but have never read it. It's not a book people tend to ever mention and in that I think you MIGHT have your answer!

PHILIP

[Jor-L5150]

anyone read the 1999 book : " the bell tower " by robert graysmith ?
is it worth my time ?

( i once read patricia cornwells " portrait of a killer and was completely sold- till i found this site and it was debunked { evidently } )

the same author claims to have solved the ZODIAC serial killer case as well.

i did not see the aforementioned graysmith book mentioned on the site.

thanks -

ok- i officially apolgise for wasting your time. i read some reviews and it appears that " the bell tower " is an interesting true-crime, it evidently has nothing to do with jack the ripper. sorry.
not actually very big in the " true-crime" genre- but the ripper is fascinating and i was puzzled that " bell tower " was not listed on the site.

as an aside- what are the most popular books on the " ripper " ??
( and by that i mean most informative and repsected , debunking the bunk etc )

[Jor-L5150]

Hi and welcome. I've had a copy for years but have never read it. It's not a book people tend to ever mention and in that I think you MIGHT have your answer!

PHILIP

indeed , phil !

thanks-

recomendations?

[truebluedub]

I've read the book, it's riddled with factual errors and when I read it I thought that the theory was deliberately constructed to sell the book in the US.

Chris Lowe

[Roy Corduroy]

as an aside- what are the most popular books on the " ripper " ?? ( and by that i mean most informative and repsected , debunking the bunk etc )

Hi Jor-L,

I recommend Jack the Ripper - Scotland Yard Investigates. A new (2006) book with many photographs and drawings from the period, produced in a high-quality, large page format. Written by Evans & Rumbelow, two top shelf experts.

Roy

[sdreid]

I thought the book was OK as I took the Ripper connections with a grain of salt. Graysmith is a good illustrator and I learned a few things about Durrant that I didn't know before. Likewise, I didn't think Cornwell's book was that bad when I filtered out the Sickert stuff.

Graysmith had a good suspect in Arther Allan for the Zodiac murders. The problem though was that he didn't do it.

[George Hutchinson]

The general rule of thumb is to search out anything with the names of Begg, Sugden, Evans, Rumbelow, Fido, Skinner (and dare I say Clack & Hutchinson if you can find one?!) and know that you're not on suspect-only territory (or, if you are confronted with a suspect, know that the info going with it is given with knowledge) if you want a no-nonsense overview.

Every other thread on this board screams Sugden first.

PHILIP