The Thames Torso Murders of Victorian London [Paperback]

R. Michael Gordon (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0786413484 | ISBN-13: 978-0786413485 | Publication Date: July 2002

The Thames Torso Murders have been overshadowed by Jack the Ripper and his crimes, but were just as brutal and gruesome. They began in 1887 in London's East End, just north of the Thames River in Rainham, England. The killer took one victim that year, another in 1888, and two more in 1889. He resumed his crimes in 1902, taking his last victim south of the Thames and leaving her body in a pile of dismembered parts as he had done with most of his other victims.

This work delves deep into the case of the Thames Torso Murders. It begins with a look at London in the late 1800s, a time of great confusion and tremendous population increase, and the killer's path to London, which seems to include a murder in Paris in 1886. The book then examines in great detail each murder and the investigation that may have been hindered by the search for Jack the Ripper. It also raises the idea that Jack the Ripper and the Torso Murderer may have been the same man--Severin Klosowski, better known as George Chapman, the Borough Poisoner. It ends with an examination of Serial Killers; the Ripper, Torso, and Borough Poisoner murder cases; the search for clues to the serial killer responsible for the five Thames Torso murders; and Wolff Levisohn, a dark horse who seems to have known much about all three sets of murders, testified at Chapman's murder trial, and then faded away as Chapman was sent to the gallows.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Writer R. Michael Gordon is also the author of Alias Jack the Ripper: Beyond the Usual Whitechapel Suspects (2001, $39.95, impressive...exhaustive--Ripperologist). He lives in Long Beach, California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 257 pages
• Publisher: McFarland & Company (July 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786413484
• ISBN-13: 978-0786413485
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,140,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Torso Murders and Jack the Ripper, August 28, 2010

By 

Talia (Santa Fe) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Thames Torso Murders of Victorian London (Paperback)

Luckily I'm kind of interested in the Ripper case as well as the torso case; if I were not, the book would have been really annoying to read. About half of this book is really just about Jack the Ripper, who may or may not have been the torso killer as well (general thought is that they were not the same man since the MO is so different.) Furthermore, the author seems to firmly believe he has identified Jack the Ripper and only in the final chapters does he ever even suggest but vaguely that George Chapman might be at all in doubt by anyone as the killer.

Interspersed between chapters about the Ripper murders, are the known details about the torso cases. Since anyone buying a book called "The Thames Torso Murders of Victorian London" probably is most interested in these parts, I'll try to focus on them. Details are admittedly scant, more the fault of the circumstances (most victims never identified, many of the original police files now lost) than of the author's abilities. There is usually a description of the discovery of the body parts, and of the coroner's inquest. Other information is provided if available, such as the police reactions, what became of the bodies, and suchlike. Now, obviously as the case was never solved, there's not much in the way of closure or conclusion when you get done reading the book; but if you wanted to know more about the details of these cases, this is the best source I have found so far. (I've been interested in the torso killings for many years.)

As my star rating indicates, I didn't by any means hate the book -- in fact I rather liked it, and found it was the most exciting non-fiction book I've had the pleasure to read in some time. I was disappointed though, that the book wasn't more focused on the supposed subject of the Victorian torso killings.