Meet Ripperologist, Richard Jones

I am humbled and pleased beyond words to be one of five finalists for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. The Edgar is named after Edgar Allen Poe, the father of the detective story, and is the highest award in the United States for books of my genre. Being a finalist is a huge honor that I shall treasure the rest of my life.

There are many who helped me craft my tale, and today I’d like to share with you my primary resource for all things Ripper.

The author, Richard Jones, has written three books about the Ripper, one of which is Uncovering Jack the Ripper’s London. Richard has served as a consultant to various film productions that were Ripper-related. His own story is interesting in that he began as a letter carrier in Whitechapel, and over time as he noticed various markers related to the murders developed such an interest that he devoted his life to Ripperology.

There are many resources out there which detail the facts of the murders, but what made this book so useful to me was that Richard went into the social issues of the time as well as the impact the murders had on London society. I was particularly struck by the way the murders inflamed anti-Semitic feelings within London, such that extra constables were assigned to Whitechapel as much to prevent riots as to hinder or capture the killer.

Richard was gracious enough to answer my many queries regarding the murders, and we ultimately met when I traveled to London and bought out his walking tour of Whitechapel. For something like three hours we walked the dark streets, alleyways, and courtyards where the Ripper plied his knife, and he gave me some insights that were not in his book. The most useful was that the discovery and removal of Mary Kelly’s body coincided with the installation of the Lord Mayor of London. Many people who had come to witness the ceremony heard of the discovery of another Ripper victim and left the proceedings to observe her removal. I contrasted the two occurrences happening about a mile apart in what I think was one of my most effective scenes.

Richard’s book is printed via Barnes and Noble Press, and is available through B&N and Amazon. So if you thirst for more information I give it my highest recommendation, and if you find your way to London, take the tour! It goes as advertised no matter the weather.