***WINNER*** Indie Reader Award for Best True Crime Book*** ***WINNER***Independent Publisher (IPPY) Bronze Medal Award for Best History Book 2014*** ***FINALIST*** Indie Excellence Award for Best True Crime Book (second place)*** Jack the Ripper stalked the streets of London’s East End from August through November of 1888 in what is dubbed the ‘Autumn of Terror’. However, the grisly ripping of Polly Nichols on August 31st was not the first unsolved murder of the year. The April murder of Emma Smith and the August murder of Martha Tabram both occurred on bank holidays. They baffled the police and press alike and were assumed by the original investigators to have been the first murders in the series. Where they correct? In this provocative work of literary archeology, author Tom Wescott places these early murders in their proper historical context and digs to unearth new evidence and hard facts not seen in over 125 years. The Bank Holiday Murders is the only book of its kind. It eschews the tired approach of unsatisfying ‘final solutions’ in favor of solid research, logical reasoning and new information. The clues followed are not drawn from imagination but from the actual police reports and press accounts of the time. The questions asked by Wescott are ones first suggested by the original investigators but lost to time until now. The answers provided are compelling and sometimes explosive. Among the revelations are: • New information linking the murders of Smith &amp; Tabram to the same killer(s). • Proof that the police did not believe key witnesses in either case. • Proof that at least one of these witnesses was working with the murderer. • New evidence connecting many of the victims that may lead to their actual slayers. • Information on Emily Horsnell, the ACTUAL first Whitechapel murder victim. • The hidden truth of ‘Leather Apron’ and its role in unraveling the Ripper mystery. • Proof of a corrupt police sergeant who thwarted the investigation. Was he protecting the Ripper? • Much more. The Bank Holiday Murders: The True Story of the First Whitechapel Murders brings us closer than ever to the actual truth behind the Jack the Ripper story and is sure to appeal to fans of Paul Begg, Stewart P. Evans, Philip Sugden, Donald Rumbelow, Ann Rule, Patricia Cornwell as well as readers of Victorian true crime, true life mysteries and historical cold cases in general.

The Bank Holiday Murders: The True Story of the First Whitechapel Murders (Jack the Ripper)

Biographies & Memoirs

Wescott, Tom

True Crime

Crime Confidential Press

Groundbreaking history and exciting investigative journalism combine in a work jam-packed with newly unearthed finds and fresh insights that pull us deeper into the world of Jack the Ripper and closer to the man himself. Wescott does not promote a suspect but instead comprehensively investigates the murders of Polly Nichols and Elizabeth Stride, bringing to light new medical evidence, crucial new material on important witnesses, and – revealed for the first time – the name of a woman who may have met Jack the Ripper and survived to tell the tale. Also discussed in this book: Charles Lechmere, recently named as a suspect in the Jack the Ripper documentary, Conspiracy: The Missing Evidence, is restored to his proper place in history as an innocent witness. Walter Sickert, the subject of Patricia Cornwell’s Jack the Ripper books, was not the Ripper, but is revealed here to have been only one of several artists and poets who may have been acquainted with victim Mary Kelly. Bruce Robinson’s Jack the Ripper book, They All Love Jack, controversially endorsed the myth that fruiterer Matthew Packer sold grapes to Liz Stride which were later found on her hand. Around this was constructed an intricate police conspiracy. In Ripper Confidential the truth is exposed and these events are proved beyond doubt to have never taken place. Was Elizabeth Stride a Ripper victim? For the first time, all the myths are cleared away and the facts are looked at in great detail. The contemporary investigators speak out from the past and tell us what they thought of one of the Ripper’s most enigmatic and controversial clues – the chalk-written message on the wall in Goulston Street. Did the Ripper write it and what might it actually have said? A comprehensive look is taken at Berner Street witness, Israel Schwartz. Why did he disappear within weeks from the written record? Was or was he not a legitimate witness? This and much more is discussed, and for the first time it’s revealed why he did not give evidence at the inquest, why the two best known versions of his story are inconsistent, and – most crucially – that he was not the last person to see Liz Stride with a man who was probably her killer. From the author of the award-winning The Bank Holiday Murders: The True Story of the First Whitechapel Murders.

Ripper Confidential: New Research on the Whitechapel Murders (Jack the Ripper)

"Ripper Notes: Written in Blood" is a collection of essays about the famous unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper and related topics. Julie Stangeland starts things off with a look at a rarely-seen photograph of the Whitechapel division of London's Metropolitan Police in which, the author argues, Inspector Frederick Abberline can be identified here for the first time. David A. Green then names John Barlas, a Victorian decadent poet and anarchist who was locked up in asylums for the rest of his life shortly after the Whitechapel murders, as the previously unknown lunatic Ripper suspect described in a contemporary newspaper account. Vance McLaughlin follows with a look at three early serial killers in the United States who wrote messages to police and their victims' families. John Bennett reports on his first-hand examination of a 'Dear Boss' letter signed Jack the Ripper and dated September 17, 1888, but that may be a modern hoax slipped into the National Archives to mislead researchers. Tom Wescott has two essays: the first compares the wounds on Polly Nichols, the first canonical Ripper victim, to other area murders, and the second examines the various individuals named "McCarthy" living on Dorset Street in London's East End to try to determine which was the landlord of victim Mary Jane Kelly. Don Souden then argues that John McCarthy was not just a grocer but also Kelly's pimp, and Stephen P. Ryder contributes some Victorian letters to the editor discussing the problems of pimps of prostitution. Dan Norder presents four period paintings to see if a conclusion can be made about which, if any, was featured in "The Fisherman's Widow" print found in Kelly's room at the time of her death. Wolf Vanderlinden reports from the 2006 Jack the Ripper conference in Baltimore, Maryland; Kelly Robinson reviews a production of Chris George and Erik Sitbon's "Jack - The Musical" in Charlotte, North Carolina; and various writers critique a number of recent Ripper books and DVD. Profusely illustrated with photos and engravings from the Victorian era, Ripper Notes is a nonfiction anthology series covering all aspects of the Jack the Ripper case.

Ripper Notes: Written in Blood

History

Norder, Dan

Vanderlinden, Wolf

World

Inklings Pr

"Ripper Notes: Jack the Slasher" is a collection of essays about the famous unidentified Victorian serial killer Jack the Ripper and related topics. Wolf Vanderlinden starts things off with an overview of suspect Hyam Hyams, an insane East End Jew sometimes named as being the Whitechapel murderer. This includes a never-before seen photograph of Hyams in an asylum. Wolf then provides an in depth look at Henry G. Dowd, the New York maniac known as Jack the Slasher. When he was caught the newspapers tried to link him to the more famous killings in London. Next Bernard Brown, editor of the Metropolitan Police History magazine, theorizes about what a New York Ripper would find most familiar in Whitechapel. This is followed by Tom Wescott with a thorough examination of the neighborhood where victim Elizabeth Stride was killed, including a large number of period photographs and illustrations. He then uses information about other murder scenes to try to determine the exact methods the Ripper used to subdue and kill Stride. Next "ESM" provides the facts and never before crime scene illustrations and photos of the little known case of the Vienna Ripper, another killer and mutilator of prostitutes in the late 19th century, one whose methods and personal characteristics could be directly comparable to the London murders. This is followed by Wolf again, this time detailing the known facts of a Lascar sailor named in some news reports as having been the Ripper. Profusely illustrated with rare and never before seen illustrations, Ripper Notes is a nonfiction anthology series covering all aspects of the Jack the Ripper case.

Ripper Notes: Jack the Slasher

Sixteen tales of the undead, all set in the colder months. Learn the definition of chilling in Tom Wescott's "Coffin Dirt" and James Simpson's "Mit Den Augen Der Toten". Meet dead family members in Neil Davies' "Abandoned" and Sylvia McIver's "Candles Against the Dark" - but be careful - not all reunions are loving. Read tales of ancient undead from D.J. Tyrer and Carl Thomas Fox - and a modern variant from Jason Purdy. Find out what Dickens’ Ghost of Christmas Future does once her job is over in “Fear of the Future” by Gareth Barsby. What are zombies like in the winter? Jay Wilburn and Spencer Carvalho will be happy to show you. Interested in adventure? Alex Azar takes you “Under the Hood of Winter”. Take a lonely road into fear with Guy Burtenshaw, find unusual allies in the forest with Ryan Tandy, and learn about true survival in Stephanie Stamm’s “Phantom Pains”. Prefer to stick close to home, where it’s safe? Shenoa Carrol-Bradd and Lance Zarimba will make you feel a lot less secure. So, grab a blanket before settling down to read this book… but you might want to keep a firearm handy, just in case.

Undead of Winter

Literature & Fiction

Zarimba, Lance

Wilburn, Jay

Tyrer, D.J.

Stamm, Stephanie

Glenn, Sarah E.

Tandy, Ryan

Simpson, James C.

Purdy, Jason

Genre Fiction

Mystery & Horror, LLC

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