In the Dark: The True Story of the Blackout Ripper

by Simon Read

This terrifying true account takes readers back to the year 1942 where a man, known as the "Blackout Ripper," embarked on a five-day killing spree during the night air raids in London that baffled investigators until a slip-up revealed his true identity, shocking the world. Original.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History, Mystery, Crime, London

304 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

I'm the author of nine non-fiction books published on both sides of the Atlantic. Hachette will release my next book, THE IRON SEA, in November.

When I'm not writing, I enjoy reading (naturally), messing about on the piano, listening to classic British rock, and searching for good English pubs (I live in Arizona, where such drinking establishments can sometimes be hard to find).

Please feel free to check out my website or visit me on Twitter.

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1942, a RAF soldier went on a spree killing over the course of several days. His attacks were vicious and brutal. Killing and attacking primarily prostitutes in London's west end, he was quickly caught and stopped. The media attention was dimmed by the German bombings of the city, which is why I had never heard of the case. The fingerprint analysis evidence was fascinating and what convicted him. An intense and interesting read.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite the rather lurid title, this was a disappointingly pedestrian book. The prose is ho-hum, shot through with the occasional over-dramatic but hackneyed image. The greater part of the book reads very much like a spiced-up police report. In fact, it's fairly obvious from the scant sources cited that the research was drawn almost exclusively from the Scotland Yard case files and court transcripts.

However, those who enjoy blow-by-blow true-crime accounts might enjoy this book. I was hoping for something more atmospheric of WWII London, so I was disappointed. Here's a representative sample of an extended passage describing one of the murder victims:

"The body had not been disturbed. Her complexion was pale and her hair was fine. She had a slender face and a very thin body. For a woman she had been quite tall, and Greeno estimated her height to be nearly six feet. The stocking around her neck was made of silk and had been tied in a knot just under her chin and slightly to the left. Skin had been scraped away from her right cheek, leaving a blood mark. The wound beneath the left breast measured about four inches long. Perpendicular to this, a deep gash nearly six inches in length ran down the middle of the stomach, from below the navel to just above the vaginal entrance. A six-inch cut to the left of the groin had flowed heavily onto the sheets..."

Still awake? Hard to believe the description of such a brutal killing could be so damn DULL, but it is. The best that can be said, I think, is that this stuff is easy to skim. I finished the book in an afternoon.

Even given such a wealth of detail, the author apparently didn't have sufficient material to fill a book, so we're treated to accounts of some other spectacular murders, a brief history of the London constabulary, and personal reminiscences of key detectives assigned to the case. What is notably lacking, however, is any real insight into what motivated the killer. While this is tantalizingly mentioned from time to time (and, honestly, was the main reason I kept reading), the book ends with a quite plodding account of the hanging of the murderer with not even the slightest glimmer shed on why he committed the murders.

At one point, the author tsk-tsks over how the London media "with its flare for the dramatic" christened the killer 'The Blackout Ripper,' "a moniker more suited for a comic book supervillain than a sexual deviant." Yet, somehow, he himself couldn't help but use the same "moniker" in the title, which promises oh so much more than it delivers.

[Deanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book which tells the story of a serial killer during the blitz. Cummings was a trainee pilot in the RAF with a fake posh accent. His killings also took place over a short period of time, but because of a stupid mistake he was caught.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished this yesterday. a quick read but i have to say i was disappointed. Because of the raving reviews on amazon I had expected a great read but like the other reviewer mentioned, most of it was quite boring to read. Indeed it seems all were taken from transcripts. It is not bad but not great either. I missed the emotional touch in this book probably because most of it was taken from Scotland Yard's files.
I have read other historical true crime books were the author did manage to make it more personable so yes, it can be done.

[Fishface · Rating 4 out of 5]

REALLY hard to put down. This is the story of that guy they always mention when they're talking about Heath and Christie, and I've waited over 20 years to find who who they were talking about. As if there weren't enough going on during the Blitz, someone was killing a woman a night in the blacked-out streets of London. This had to be one of the most frantic, scary chases after a criminal I've ever read about.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This true crime book is really interesting. It's not the murderer who made it worth a read. The murderer sounds like a textbook psychopath, and they're just not all that fascinating in themselves. There's nothing to show what triggered his spree, if indeed a psychopath needs a trigger or a reason or anything beyond opportunity.

It's the setting that made it so gripping--wartime London, prostitutes trying to ply their trade in the blackout. The author included a great deal of detail and quoted neighbors and family members of the victims. That added layers of interest. This isn't just a recounting of facts, it has depth.

The only thing I took exception to was the way the author went off on side paths, like the history of Scotland Yard or forensics. A little is fine, adds to the book. But it got to be a little too much on the side topics, went on too long.

Overall that's a minor dislike. It's a good read that kept my interest.

[Bill reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The setting is London in 1942 as the German Luftwaffe were bombing the city with nightly air raids.
The influx of soldiers, both British and American, caused an explosion of prostitution as it always has at wartime. The Yanks had money and the hookers upped their prices, leading to the common line, "I want to rent it-not buy it." VD also became a health hazard, especially to the wives of the married clients.
Looting, pickpocketing and the black market for rationing coupons were another problem for the very busy police.
The "Blackout Ripper" murdered four women in a two day period in the midst of the chaos of daily power outages.
Gordon Cummins was soldier with the RAF with a reputation as a drunken womanizer. His fingerprints matched the crime scenes of two of his victims, and in 1942, justice was swift.
The logistics of the hangman's noose is quite fascinating and Mr. Read has written a good one.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the historical aspect to this. It a case that not as glorified as the Jack the Ripper cases, so it was interesting to read about. This book did jump around a lot to the point I wondered what time period I was in, especially when it talked about the history of Scotland Yard and finger prints. The ending felt rushed so it could finish up with the trial. Like there was an attempt at suspense with the question of whether he would get off. Yet there seemed to be something missing especially with the discussion of his lack of emotions regard the murders and possibility of execution. Otherwise once I recognized the style of the book it became a fast read.

[Jim Stennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well-written true crime history. Recommended for fans of the genre and even students of the WWII era for its description of wartime London. Very quick read. Only small issue for me was that at some points the timeline gets jumbled and I think that could’ve been cleaned up, but that’s not a major fault.

[Mick Meyers · Rating 3 out of 5]

thought it was an average book for this type of genre.expected more,got bogged down in trying to be to lurid.as a film it would have been made as a 'b' movie film noir.

[Jerry Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to declare an interest in this type of account. I am a normal guy, seriously, but in a similar way to the fly leaf describes the author Simon Read, I am fascinated by true crime stories such as this. I know that's kind of weird but there we are.

The story of Cummins is interesting in this regard since he is actually not well known in the sordid panoply of serial killers, largely because his crimes (which were horrendous, vile and I thought covered well in this book) took place against the backdrop of the war and the situation in war torn London.

In contrast to other reviewers I found ths backdrop well defined and an important part of this history. Cummins was a uniquely evil murderer and the way he killed and then attacked the bodies was truly horrible and he killed over the space of a few days. The question of what drove him to this killing spree is not really addressed in this book that sticks mainly to the facts of the case. Cummins always maintained his innocence so there isn't any insight coming from him. I would like to have seen some thoughts on that however.

This is not a story many will want to read I guess but it makes morbid, darkly fascinating reading.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was... ok, I guess. It was quite boring, lackluster, dull even. The information was interesting, but there were a lot of details that were unnecessary and took away from the important information. The reader doesn't need the history of the man in charge of the fingerprint department. He or she doesn't need to know about the mill and the eels when he was a kid. Also, if you're going to delve into the details of how one Bobby worked his way up, you should do it for all involved with the investigation. Understandably, the book would have been significantly longer and no one would want to read it, so it makes sense that the history of the other investigators is absent from the pages. He shouldn't have included the fingerprint department head's story though, not to mention the background of each victim. Don't get me wrong, it's great that the author tried to shed more light on the victims rather than the killer, but I don't know if this was the right way to do it. We still got a lot about the killer, and yet nothing at all while getting very little about the actual deaths of certain victims and nothing of consequence about any of them. It's quite an enigma, actually; this book tells you quite a bit for it's 283 pages, and yet it tells you nothing.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had not heard of the WWII Ripper in London until I came across this book at my swap club. The crimes were very similar to Jack the Ripper's, although, this time, they caught the culprit. Fascinating study of forensics used to capture him.

[Kenneth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great true to life story of a serial killer during WWII and during the blackout/Blitz in London. It was fascinating to read how murders were solved in that time, and also gave some great insights I have never read about the blitz.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another true crime book by Simon Read. Again, an easy read that keeps your attention and draws you in.

[Rosemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was great with the war as a back drop.