Book recommendations.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hi Herlock,

Belated birthday greetings for your 57th yesterday. I hate to be the bearer of sad tidings, but it's all downhill from here mate. Enjoy it while you can.

Cheers, George

Hi George,

Have I added some incorrect info somewhere on here George? My birthday is actually in December (although I will be 57)

I don’t mind being younger but adding 8 months isn’t on.

[Ms Diddles]

hi herlock
love this thread!

im an avid reader and my library has over five hundred books. im reading anywhere from 3-5 books at any one time and if its good ill read a book in one to three sittings over the course of a couple days. all genres but i lean towards non fiction as i get older.

since this is a true crime site i will recommend one of the best and craziest unsolved serial murder mysteries of all time:

The Monster of Florence

its got so many twists and turns even the author was arrested at one point!

some other greats:

Helter Skelter
Zodiac
Ill be gone in the Dark (the golden state killer)
Mindhunter
Lost Girls (LISK)
Lobster Boy

The Amityville Horror is one of the greatest page turners ive ever read. did it one sitting in sixth grade literally under the covers with the flashlight.

not recommended:
cornholes sickert book what a load of garbage. i tossed in tje circular file half way through the third chapter.
Devil in the white city. Boooooooooring

Hi Abby / Herlock!

I looked on Amazon and can see a couple of different books about the Monster of Florence.

Please can you clarify which one it is that you're recommending, and I'll look at ordering a copy.

Many thanks!

[Abby Normal]

Hi Abby / Herlock!

I looked on Amazon and can see a couple of different books about the Monster of Florence.

Please can you clarify which one it is that you're recommending, and I'll look at ordering a copy.

Many thanks!

the one by preston amd spezi

[Ms Diddles]

I'm sure many of you will have read this already, but I have recently finished Judith Walkowitz's City of Dreadful Delight (as recommended by Dr Strange on another thread).

I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend.

It looks at the social context of the Whitechapel murders from a feminist perspective, in terms of the media and social movements of the time, and concludes with an epilogue examining reactions to the Yorkshire Ripper case, with an analysis of how things have changed in the intervening century.

It's quite a scholarly book, but very accessible and engaging.

I thought it was very well researched and presented.

[Ms Diddles]

the one by preston amd spezi

Thanks Abby!

I'll have a look for it now.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I'm sure many of you will have read this already, but I have recently finished Judith Walkowitz's City of Dreadful Delight (as recommended by Dr Strange on another thread).

I really enjoyed it and would highly recommend.

It looks at the social context of the Whitechapel murders from a feminist perspective, in terms of the media and social movements of the time, and concludes with an epilogue examining reactions to the Yorkshire Ripper case, with an analysis of how things have changed in the intervening century.

It's quite a scholarly book, but very accessible and engaging.

I thought it was very well researched and presented.

Hello Ms D,

Its not the first time that this has happened but I was about to post saying that I had this book. I was so convinced that I was picturing it on my shelves next to the Major Arthur Griffiths books for some reason, but it turns out that I don’t have it so it’s another added to my list of books to get so if you want to start a whip round I won’t complain. I notice that she’s also written a book called Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class and the State.

[Ms Diddles]

Hello Ms D,

Its not the first time that this has happened but I was about to post saying that I had this book. I was so convinced that I was picturing it on my shelves next to the Major Arthur Griffiths books for some reason, but it turns out that I don’t have it so it’s another added to my list of books to get so if you want to start a whip round I won’t complain. I notice that she’s also written a book called Prostitution and Victorian Society: Women, Class and the State.

Ha!

We could start a Just Giving page, although I'm not sure how sympathetic to our cause people would be!

I suspect funding Ripperologist's literary addictions would be pretty low down on people's priority list!

The Walkowitz books are indeed quite dear, but I'd say it's money well spent.

Reading it threw up some aspects of the case which I had not previously considered, and I was relatively uninformed regarding WT Stead's "The Maiden Tribute to Modern Babylon" and it's ramifications prior to reading.

[GBinOz]

Hi George,

Have I added some incorrect info somewhere on here George? My birthday is actually in December (although I will be 57)

I don’t mind being younger but adding 8 months isn’t on.

In an old post you announced your 55th. American dates. Oh well, very early birthday greetings then.

Cheers, George

[RManny]

I would like to recommend the book, Bitten by Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Victorian Home by Lucinda Hawksley. The edition that I purchased is a reprint, but it is quite an interesting book. The textblock consists of examples of wallpapers that had been created using arsenic-based pigments, with the chapters' text placed between groupings the wallpapers. The chapters are narrower in width than the wallpaper exemplars themselves and that results in "newspaper" column-sized chapters. And, the font that is selected tends to cause my eyes to become weary, but I understand that all of this is an aesthetic choice.

That said, I have thoroughly enjoyed the book, and highly recommend it. Mrs. and Mr. Maybrick even make an appearance early on as a discussion on homicidal poisoning by arsenic. The book is engaging and is well referenced for a book that is more about the historical significance of the use of arsenic as a pigment, than about science, crime, or forensics. This is one of those books that has helped to illustrate a unique focus in toxicologic history for me, and it is a pleasure to hold and read.

I will include a link to Amazon and the publisher's sites with this brief post.

Cheers,
R

Bitten By Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Nineteenth-Century Home: Hawksley, Lucinda: 9780500518380: Amazon.com: Books

Thames & Hudson USA - Book - Bitten By Witch Fever: Wallpaper & Arsenic in the Nineteenth-Century Home (thamesandhudsonusa.com)

[Herlock Sholmes]

In an old post you announced your 55th. American dates. Oh well, very early birthday greetings then.

Cheers, George

The Queen has 2 birthdays so maybe I could too.

[Ms Diddles]

the one by preston amd spezi

I finished the Monster of Florence book.

What a strange, twisty-turny case!

I really enjoyed it, so thanks for the tip.

On a related note, this article appeared in the paper today.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...droidApp_Other

[Abby Normal]

I finished the Monster of Florence book.

What a strange, twisty-turny case!

I really enjoyed it, so thanks for the tip.

On a related note, this article appeared in the paper today.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...droidApp_Other

yoir welcome! yeah it really is. ive got it with zodiac and the ripper as one of the weirdest, craziest and biggest unsolved serial murder cases. thanks for posting that article. not sure why the case would be closed to begin with.hopefully they will reopen and catch the bastard, but with the track record of the italian LE im not holding my breath.

[c.d.]

That’s a strange story. Should be an interesting book.

Finished the book. A fascinating story. This guy was a hermit for 27 years. During that time he spoke once to a hiker he inadvertently met on the trail. He said "hi." That was the extent of his human interaction during that time. It was like being given insight into the mind of an alien. How could someone be so different from other human beings? Good book.

c.d.

[Abby Normal]

Finished the book. A fascinating story. This guy was a hermit for 27 years. During that time he spoke once to a hiker he inadvertently met on the trail. He said "hi." That was the extent of his human interaction during that time. It was like being given insight into the mind of an alien. How could someone be so different from other human beings? Good book.

c.d.

which one?

[c.d.]

which one?

Oops! I suppose the title would help.

"The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit" by Michael Finkel.

https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Woods-Extraordinary-Story-Hermit/dp/1101911530/ref=sr_1_1?crid=H9I3D1DBTLQ7&keywords=the+stranger+in+the+woods+by+michael+finkel&qid=1648500580&sprefix=the+stranger+in+the+wood%2Caps%2C1903&sr=8-1

c.d.