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The Man Who Would Be Jack
In 1893, two years after the last Ripper murder, Detective Inspector William Race met with two journalists working for The Sun and told them that he knew the identity of Jack The Thomas Hayne Cutbush. This book re-examines Race's and the journalists' findings.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 8, 2017
Read in one sitting the best Jack the Ripper novel I have read, with a lot of intriguing evidence and before reading this book I had never heard of Tomas cutbush.
We will never know the truth but after reading this account,I strongly believe we have identified jack.
We will never know the truth but after reading this account,I strongly believe we have identified jack.
June 20, 2024
There have been many theories put forward over the years, as to the identity of Jack the Ripper. He was believed to have been a doctor, a butcher, even a member of the royal family. A diary surfaced in the 1990's, allegedly written by Manchester businessman James Maybrick, in which he claimed to be the Ripper.
The Man Who Would Be Jack introduces a new candidate: Thomas Cutbush.
Bullock makes a good argument for Cutbush, and Cutbush is a plausible suspect.
The Man Who Would Be Jack is a compelling, read, interesting and informative.
The Man Who Would Be Jack introduces a new candidate: Thomas Cutbush.
Bullock makes a good argument for Cutbush, and Cutbush is a plausible suspect.
The Man Who Would Be Jack is a compelling, read, interesting and informative.
October 8, 2023
I dunno…I guess there’s something about speculating on the perpetrator of crimes that are over 100 years old and will never be solved that’s inherently disappointing. Plus some of the punctuation in this book was questionable at best. Enjoyable but not terribly well written. I’ll stick with my Jack the Ripper fiction so as to not be let down.
March 19, 2021
Worth a read
Very convincing, and plausible. Different from the usual suspects. Well written with more background information adding a greater feeling to the time and place.
Very convincing, and plausible. Different from the usual suspects. Well written with more background information adding a greater feeling to the time and place.
December 22, 2020
I think the author makes a compelling case for the identity of the Ripper, and it is definitely the most plausible and fleshed out theory I have come across. It's a quick and engrossing read to which I was eager to return each time I had to put it down.
Part of what makes it compelling is that the author isn't coming up with a new theory with 100+ years of hindsight, but is following up on contemporary theories and evidence. Some of the connections the author draws weren't made at the time, but there is no "new" evidence from questionable sources that came to light recently.
In addition to the "canonical five," the author attributes several other similar murders to Cutbush. These murders extend the timeline of the Ripper series of murders and stretch until Cutbush's unrelated arrest. This would help explain the mystery of why the Ripper suddenly "disappeared" after Mary Kelly -- he didn't, his crimes just weren't attributed to him because of gaps in time or small changes in MO. They only stop altogether once he is incarcerated. I thought the theory of the "second double event" in the appendix was particularly interesting.
The only thing I find myself still wondering about after finishing the book are the "dear boss" letters that were sent to the press and the police, supposedly by the killer. The author mentions them, but it's never clear if he thinks Cutbush wrote them or they were from a fraud. He mentioned seeing an example of Cutbush's handwriting at one point, and even suggests in the appendix that another letter signed by "Jim the Cutter" had come from Cutbush. That letter was also addressed "Dear Boss", which might suggest that all came from the same source, though he mentions that the canonical letters had a very distinct handwriting.
Part of what makes it compelling is that the author isn't coming up with a new theory with 100+ years of hindsight, but is following up on contemporary theories and evidence. Some of the connections the author draws weren't made at the time, but there is no "new" evidence from questionable sources that came to light recently.
In addition to the "canonical five," the author attributes several other similar murders to Cutbush. These murders extend the timeline of the Ripper series of murders and stretch until Cutbush's unrelated arrest. This would help explain the mystery of why the Ripper suddenly "disappeared" after Mary Kelly -- he didn't, his crimes just weren't attributed to him because of gaps in time or small changes in MO. They only stop altogether once he is incarcerated. I thought the theory of the "second double event" in the appendix was particularly interesting.
The only thing I find myself still wondering about after finishing the book are the "dear boss" letters that were sent to the press and the police, supposedly by the killer. The author mentions them, but it's never clear if he thinks Cutbush wrote them or they were from a fraud. He mentioned seeing an example of Cutbush's handwriting at one point, and even suggests in the appendix that another letter signed by "Jim the Cutter" had come from Cutbush. That letter was also addressed "Dear Boss", which might suggest that all came from the same source, though he mentions that the canonical letters had a very distinct handwriting.
October 3, 2021
A interesting look into the beginning of investigative journalism and the findings of the journalists who named Jack The Ripper. With Victorian politics and policing battling each other we'll never know the true identity of The Ripper. With compelling evidence presented I am left with little doubt that Thomas Cutbush was Jack The Ripper, I would find him guilty if I was a juror.
February 16, 2022
This person, Thomas Cutbush, suspected of being the Ripper fits the profile of a serial killer best. It is surprising this information wasn't latched onto more firmly in its day especially by the police. They didn't have the luxury of modern forensics. The familial link to mental illness is very interesting as well.
May 6, 2024
Absorbing!
Amazing to hear of such a promising candidate for the Ripper after so many others floated over the years. It isn’t at all surprising how he may have been hushed up due to his family connections.
Amazing to hear of such a promising candidate for the Ripper after so many others floated over the years. It isn’t at all surprising how he may have been hushed up due to his family connections.
October 30, 2024
Rather convincing
May 10, 2019
2.5 stars.
This book is a mix of fact and fictionalised interactions between the characters which I feel detracts from a book purporting to identify the man who was Jack the Ripper. At times it seems like the author was in two minds as to whether to write a Ripper or a biography of the two Sun journalists, who investigated Cutbush and published their stories in 1984.
As with most Ripper books any evidence suggesting the authors preferred suspect might have been the Ripper is used and any which isn't is disregarded.
For example:
1. The killings of Alice Mckenzie and Frances Coles are widely thought not to be Ripper murders, whilst the murder of Martha Tabram is. David Bullock includes these two and states Martha Tabram could not have been a Ripper victim because the modus operandi was different and yet later in the book states because Cutbush stabbed two women from behind in the bottom he was the Ripper – a more different MO could not be imagined. These instances are also thought to be an imitation of an earlier series of stabbings in the same suburb by Edward Colicott.
2. The “Dear Boss letters” are generally accepted to be the work of a journalist and not Jack the Ripper.
3. At the time of the murders Cutbush was 23 years of age, younger than the eyewitness descriptions of the Ripper, and lived in Kennington, some distance from Whitechapel.
4. Is it feasible that a serial killer would remain dormant for two years, then re-emerge only to stab women in their bottoms?
5. It is also debatable as to whether Cutbush was actually the nephew of the late Superintendent Executive, Charles Cutbush who retired from the Metropolitan Police in August 1891 and committed suicide in May 1896. It has been reported that the family tree of both men has been traced to their great great-grandfathers, without an ancestor in common.
The book would also have befitted from the inclusion of maps showing the locations of Cutbush’s alleged crimes, including the other incidents cited in the book as proof that he was the Ripper.
This book is a mix of fact and fictionalised interactions between the characters which I feel detracts from a book purporting to identify the man who was Jack the Ripper. At times it seems like the author was in two minds as to whether to write a Ripper or a biography of the two Sun journalists, who investigated Cutbush and published their stories in 1984.
As with most Ripper books any evidence suggesting the authors preferred suspect might have been the Ripper is used and any which isn't is disregarded.
For example:
1. The killings of Alice Mckenzie and Frances Coles are widely thought not to be Ripper murders, whilst the murder of Martha Tabram is. David Bullock includes these two and states Martha Tabram could not have been a Ripper victim because the modus operandi was different and yet later in the book states because Cutbush stabbed two women from behind in the bottom he was the Ripper – a more different MO could not be imagined. These instances are also thought to be an imitation of an earlier series of stabbings in the same suburb by Edward Colicott.
2. The “Dear Boss letters” are generally accepted to be the work of a journalist and not Jack the Ripper.
3. At the time of the murders Cutbush was 23 years of age, younger than the eyewitness descriptions of the Ripper, and lived in Kennington, some distance from Whitechapel.
4. Is it feasible that a serial killer would remain dormant for two years, then re-emerge only to stab women in their bottoms?
5. It is also debatable as to whether Cutbush was actually the nephew of the late Superintendent Executive, Charles Cutbush who retired from the Metropolitan Police in August 1891 and committed suicide in May 1896. It has been reported that the family tree of both men has been traced to their great great-grandfathers, without an ancestor in common.
The book would also have befitted from the inclusion of maps showing the locations of Cutbush’s alleged crimes, including the other incidents cited in the book as proof that he was the Ripper.
November 5, 2017
The Man Who Would Be Jack: The Hunt for the Real Ripper
Apr 4, 2017
by David Bullock
I voluntarily received a copy of this book for review purposes
Another book for Ripperologists, presenting yet another suspect. However, rather than ripping up priceless paintings like a certain author, Bullock writes like a journalist/scholar with extensive background and end-notes while leaving out the gore and blood that most Ripperologists seem to dwell on.
Handled more like a dissertation or a lengthy news report, everything is laid out by time, place, data and witness. This take more effectively builds a case than many other Ripper theories that involve arcane rituals, missing (burned) doctor notes or Goddess save us, Johnny Depp movies.
Some of the book reads like a novel but this does not take away from the well-built case.
The beauty of the book is not only the well laid, perhaps best laid case, for the serial killer, but the story of the journalists who chased the story with the drive of Woodward and Bernstein.
There is also a dark, Dickensian beauty in the description of the horror of these destitute women's lives and the men who used and abused them well before Saucy Jack got to them.
Truly unfortunate is the Victorian journalist's habit of using initials so that the reader, as well as the writers, face a certain frustration in tracking back sources properly.
Great book, excellent research, a credible suspect that we haven't heard much about and perfect end-notes and incredible documentation.
I'm a very amateur Ripper kind of girl, but this was very well done. The only problem is that you accidentally breathe on a notation you zip to the end and it takes forever to find where you were.
This killer book is Book Nerd approved.
4 out of 5 slashes!
https://smile.amazon.com/Man-Who-Woul...
June 1, 2017
Princess Fuzzypants here:
More than a century and a quarter after the events in Whitechapel, Jack the Ripper still fascinates. I confess. I am enthralled with the stories and, like so many, have swayed to and fro on the identity of the real killer. So many books and movies have tried to answer the big question: who was he?
This is an excellent, well written, highly researched and compelling piece of journalism. Bullard has taken an expose from 1894 and examined it from all sides to come to the conclusion that Thomas Cutbush was Jack. He has built a case that is so tight, there is hardly any room for doubts. In fact, it was so convincing that it lead me to look up the recent story on DNA definitively identifying Jack. It has quite frankly left me in a quandary.
DNA evidence from a shawl from one of the victims has shown that Kominski, another of the suspects, was Jack. DNA evidence is pretty conclusive.. Yet this book is so well documented and the case so well established that I wonder if a mistake might have been possible. It is that good.
Of course, do not take my word for it. Judge for yourself. See if you too wonder....
I give it five purrs and two paws up.
More than a century and a quarter after the events in Whitechapel, Jack the Ripper still fascinates. I confess. I am enthralled with the stories and, like so many, have swayed to and fro on the identity of the real killer. So many books and movies have tried to answer the big question: who was he?
This is an excellent, well written, highly researched and compelling piece of journalism. Bullard has taken an expose from 1894 and examined it from all sides to come to the conclusion that Thomas Cutbush was Jack. He has built a case that is so tight, there is hardly any room for doubts. In fact, it was so convincing that it lead me to look up the recent story on DNA definitively identifying Jack. It has quite frankly left me in a quandary.
DNA evidence from a shawl from one of the victims has shown that Kominski, another of the suspects, was Jack. DNA evidence is pretty conclusive.. Yet this book is so well documented and the case so well established that I wonder if a mistake might have been possible. It is that good.
Of course, do not take my word for it. Judge for yourself. See if you too wonder....
I give it five purrs and two paws up.
July 25, 2017
As I fell asleep too many times during this book, I only finished half of it before I threw in the towel for it. I really wanted to like the book, because the mystery of Jack the ripper is one that I find quite interesting. Unfortunately I found the book a little bit boring. I do not know what to say more than that because I could never connect with the book long enough to have an other opinion about it.
The book is filled with information, and as there are footnotes everywhere I belive them to be facts (without checking for my selv). But because of all the information, my brain never got a break from the text and I at times felt I was reading a boring school book. As this is not something I would like from a book I read for fun, I choose to close it. It might become more interesting as the story got to progress some more, but it was too slow for me to figure out if that was the case.
*Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
The book is filled with information, and as there are footnotes everywhere I belive them to be facts (without checking for my selv). But because of all the information, my brain never got a break from the text and I at times felt I was reading a boring school book. As this is not something I would like from a book I read for fun, I choose to close it. It might become more interesting as the story got to progress some more, but it was too slow for me to figure out if that was the case.
*Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
October 18, 2012
Although this is just another book about Jack the Ripper,it put more emphasis on the victims and the social condition at the time. Those women were not just victims in the hand of 'Jack' but also the victims of the Victorian society in 1880s. Yet the book was not heavy going like some books laced with quotations from newspapers or books from that period.
If you want gory details and gruesome scenes like most books of the same subject, you will still get that from this book. However,to me it was rather like a simple study of the class and role of women in that period of time.
If you want gory details and gruesome scenes like most books of the same subject, you will still get that from this book. However,to me it was rather like a simple study of the class and role of women in that period of time.
August 10, 2013
It is obvious that the author has done his homework. An interesting theory but as always a theory. Since there is very little evidence from the time, and who knows what has disappeared from the official case file available at the British archive, we will continue to live with theories. Your theory is as good as mine. Still an enjoyable read.
Someone should write a book about the often forgotten victims, now that would not only be a new take but also very interesting.
Someone should write a book about the often forgotten victims, now that would not only be a new take but also very interesting.
July 1, 2014
I've always been fascinated by the Jack the Ripper case and this book was an interesting look into the lives of all involved. Not only does it discuss the murders, it focuses a lot on the lives of the victims and the police and journalists who aided in the case. This book comes from a different angle than most true crime books. The appendix in the back also tell the story of the mystery involved and how there were many other people thought to be the ripper and his victims.
June 4, 2015
This book is very useful to understand better the suspect position of Thomas Cutbush as Jack the Ripper. A lot of documents and newspapers reports are used as reference and sources for the author work.
November 4, 2017
This book is very useful to better understand Thomas Cutbush as suspect Jack the Ripper. Many documents and newspapers are used as references and sources by the author. A volume that surely every Ripperologist should have on his shelf.
May 10, 2015
This book was so intriguing that I finished it in two days. I won't spoil this book for anyone so all I will say is I agree with who the author thinks the real Jack was.
July 5, 2016
Have always been fascinated about Jack the Ripper and this book delivered a lot of great details! Next time in London, I MUST do the tour.
April 24, 2017
Great read and analysis of the evidence and time!
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews