Portrait of a killer
Subtitle: Jack the Ripper-- case closed
By: Patricia Cornwell
Publisher: Putnam's
Published: 2002
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Format: [electronic resource] :
Number of pages: 387
ISBN-13: 9780786540051
Subjects: TRUE CRIME; History; Murder; Serial murders; General
Description: In this new work of nonfiction, Cornwell turns her trademark skills for meticulous research and scientific expertise on one of the most chilling cases of serial murder in the history of crime--the slayings of Jack the Ripper that terrorized 1880s London. With the masterful intuition into the criminal mind that has informed her novels, Cornwell digs deeper into the case than any detective before her--and reveals the true identity of this elusive madman. Enlisting the help of forensic experts, Cornwell examines all the physical evidence available: thousands of documents and reports, fingerprints, crime-scene photographs, original etchings and paintings, items of clothing, artists' paraphernalia, and traces of DNA. Her unavoidable conclusion: Jack the Ripper was none other than a respected painter of his day, an artist now collected by some of the world's finest museums. It takes the world's premier crime writer to solve the greatest whodunit in history. Now, once and for all, the case of Jack the Ripper is closed.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [367]-379) and index.

Description based on print version record.
Table of contents: title: Mr. Nobody; title: Tour; title: Unfortunates; title: By some person unknown; title: Glorious boy; title: Walter and the boys; title: Gentleman slummer; title: Bit of broken looking glass; title: Dark lantern; title: Medicine of the courts; title: Summer night; title: Young and beautiful; title: Hue and cry.