Jack the Ripper - Prey Time
via Amazon
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The Whitechapel Murders
I don't know about you but I'm not normally one for scary movies, horror stories or true crime, but recently books about Jack the Ripper seem to have fallen into my lap. When that happens I take it as a sign and don't ignore it. (Though I do dread to think what this sign means!) This book Prey Time by Trevor Marriott is a fictional story about the real events that took place in Whitechapel, London, in 1888 and it didn't half give me the creeps! I think normally if I'd read a story like this I could have shaken it off, putting it down to just another tale by a writer with a great imagination. But the thing with this book was knowing it was based on something real, something that actually happened, and that just freaked me out! (I'm just a big wuss though... fingers crossed you're better at dealing with this stuff than me.) |
The Background
Image via Ben Sutherland
If you don't know the details about Jack the Ripper, let me give you a bit of background. Starting in August 1888 and lasting over a period of about two and a half years, a series of brutal murders of 'street' women took place in the East End of London. I won't go into detail, but needless to say it was all quite horrific. At least five women were killed at the time and some believe (including the author) that it was actually eight.
Whitechapel was a poor part of London in the 19th century, with narrow streets and alleys, and these awful murders really caused upset and concern within the community. No-one thought they were safe and the police, though working hard and following up leads, never caught the mysterious killer. The press, of course, took up the story and it became quite the sensation, with questions asked in Parliament and so on.
Whitechapel was a poor part of London in the 19th century, with narrow streets and alleys, and these awful murders really caused upset and concern within the community. No-one thought they were safe and the police, though working hard and following up leads, never caught the mysterious killer. The press, of course, took up the story and it became quite the sensation, with questions asked in Parliament and so on.
The Book Itself
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Prey Time takes the known facts and interprets what could have happened. It follows the story from the point of view of the investigating officers. It guesses at what could have happened in each murder case, what evidence was found, how it was interpreted with the sort of resources they would have had at the time and the effects each murder had on the community.
The real investigation lasted for many years and this story takes that into account too. It looks at how the police might have gone about following up leads, the suspicions in the community and what they could have done about it, and there's even a indirect link with Sherlock Holmes! There's a couple of twists and turns and then in later years after the case is reopened, it takes an exciting step towards finding the killer, only for things to change dramatically again, but I'm not going to give the ending away... The author, Trevor Marriott, is a retired murder squad detective who has looked into the Jack the Ripper case over many years, so his factual background is great. I enjoyed this book, in its creepy and horrible way, as it brought to life something I would have never read in a non-fiction book, and the twists and turns kept me entertained. It's not as brutal as reading about the real thing and there's certainly some fictional elements to it that made it lighter than a true crime book. Overall, for a person who doesn't normally read this kind of thing, it was a good yarn and kept me wondering along the way. Take a look and see if you can solve the crimes, and join the detectives on a journey into the foggy and dimly lit 1888 London streets. |
