[Street Team Blog Tour] Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco

Hello my lovelies!

I am so lucky to be a part of the Knights of White Chapel -- the street team for Kerri Maniscalco's Stalking Jack the Ripper!

Here's some information if somehow you haven't heard of this novel yet:

ABOUT

Title: Stalking Jack the Ripper

Author: Kerri Maniscalco 

Series: Untitled
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson
Release Date: September 20th 2016
Synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Audrey Rose Wadsworth was born a lord's daughter, with a life of wealth and privilege stretched out before her. But between the social teas and silk dress fittings, she leads a forbidden secret life.

Against her stern father's wishes and society's expectations, Audrey often slips away to her uncle's laboratory to study the gruesome practice of forensic medicine. When her work on a string of savagely killed corpses drags Audrey into the investigation of a serial murderer, her search for answers brings her close to her own sheltered world.

So for my post, I decided I'd like to do some background on Jack the Ripper, so both you and I would be informed of the historical events this novel is based on.

(tw: murder, gore) 

Jack the Ripper

The Whitechapel murders are famously attributed to an unknown serial killer given the name of Jack the Ripper. Though the file on these murders contains 11 victims, only some were committed by Jack, some by copy cats and some were most definitely not committed by him.

His victimology revolved around heavily drinking prostitutes and his modus operandi was slitting their throats and disemboweling them.

Due to the nature of these ghastly murders, it was decided that an inspector with the knowledge of the area and the criminal world there was necessary. This decision brought Inspector Frederick George Abberline into the mix, around the general time that the second canonically accepted victim was murdered.

The prostitutes working the area were questioned and they had come up with a man they had nicknamed "Leather Apron" who would apparently threaten to rip them open if they didn't hand over their money. The papers emphasised his "Hebrew appearance" leading to an increase in anti-Semitism in Whitechapel. Later John Pizer was arrested as the suspect known as "Leather Apron" only to provide solid alibis and cleared of allegations of his involvement.

In an effort to combat the terror caused by Jack the Ripper, vigilance committees were created to supplement the police forces and to raise funds to offer a reward for any information that would lead to the arrest of Jack the Ripper.

Following the double murder at the end of September of 1888, a letter written in red ink purported to be written by the serial killer was sent to a London news agency. The author of the letter signed as Jack the Ripper and the name caught on after the letter was made public, sparking international attention.

This letter spawned many hoax letters sent to various news agencies and the like. This influx of hoax letters threatened to derail the investigation on Jack the Ripper. The most famous of these letters was one sent to George Lusk, the president of one of the Vigilance committees. It was addressed as "From Hell" and contained half a kidney that purportedly belonged to one of the victims. However, it was agreed upon by doctors and the police that it was a prank committed by a medical student.

The last generally believed victim of Jack the Ripper was also the most gruesome, as Mary Kelly was skinned "down to the bone" and was only identifiable to her lover through her ears and eyes. Several more names appear in the file on the Whitechapel murders, but they are considered not to be committed by Jack the Ripper.

Eventually, the file on the Whitechapel murders was closed, and nobody was any closer to finding the identity of Jack the Ripper. The fact that he was never caught is one that has brought his violence and terror into infamy and to this day, we are still morbidly fascinated by the murders and the identity of this killer.

Sources:

FBI victimology of Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper

Obviously, two sources wouldn't be enough for an academic paper, but I feel like this is sufficient for a general idea of the historical background of Jack the Ripper. I definitely learned a lot more after doing some research.

I myself still find the "Jack the Ripper" thing interesting. I'm looking forward to reading this novel and I'm so excited!

Happy Reading!