Investigating Charles Lechmere: Was He Jack the Ripper?

Investigating Charles Lechmere: Was He Jack the Ripper? | NEIL. NORMAN

pick

Theories about the identity of Jack the Ripper are legion & a plethora of suspects have been proposed over the decades, but is there a suspect who has been overlooked all this time? Charles Lechmere (aka Cross) was a carman who was on the way to work in the early hours when he discovered the body of the first canonical Ripper victim, Mary Ann Nichols. (continued)

OutsmartYourShelf Lechmere, along with another witness who happened along the way shortly after, alerted a police officer on his beat nearby & gave evidence at the inquest, but the fact he gave an incorrect name & that the timings were fuzzy was never picked up on. Could the Ripper have been in-situ at the first murder & hidden in plain sight all along?

1w

OutsmartYourShelf First of all this is a intriguing theory & the book is written in a very accessible way for those not familiar with the murders. It gives brief synopses of the five canonical victims, considers other possible victims, & either excludes or rules in the usual suspects. All this takes up 80% of the book, & Lechmere is not really discussed in any detail until almost the end. This could be because there is scant information about his life apart from 1w

OutsmartYourShelf the usual birth/marriage/death, but it just seems strange that the subject of the book would only appear in, at most, 20% of the book. It is very readable though & the theory is worth considering. 3.75🌟

My thanks to #NetGalley & publishers, Pen & Sword, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

Full Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7538881075
Read 22nd - 25th May 2025

#ReadAway2025 @Andrew65 @DieAReader @GHABI4ROSES 1w

DieAReader 💖💖💖 7d

23 likes4 comments

Welcome to Litsy!

Trending Hashtags

Trending Books