Product Description

Between 1959 and 1965, eight prostitutes were murdered in West London by a serial killer. These murders were the most notorious unsolved crimes of the 20th century. The killer's motive and identity were the subject of endless speculation by the media, who dubbed him 'Jack the Stripper'. Links to the Profumo scandal, boxer Freddie Mills and the notorious Kray twins were rumoured. By the time the body of the eighth victim was found in February 1965, a massive police operation was underway to catch the killer. The whole country waited to see what would happen next. The police had staked everything on the murderer striking again. But he didn't...By October that year, the "Daily Express" was asking 'Is the Nude Killer Dead?' In 1970, the detective who had led the enquiry announced in his memoirs that the police knew the identity of the killer - that he had committed suicide as the net closed around him, and that the police had vowed never to reveal his identity. And that was that - until now. Seabrook has interviewed surviving police officers, witnesses and associates of the victims and examined the evidence, the rumours, and half truths. In this unique book, he reconstructs every detail of the investigation and recreates the dark, brutal world of prostitutes and ponces in 1960s West London. He questions the theory that the police's prime suspect was Jack the Stripper, and confronts the disturbing possibility that the killer is still at large.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #401243 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 400 pages

Review
"'Seabrook is to be congratulated not just for revealing the skull beneath the skin, but for polishing it so effectively as well' Robert Carver, TLS"

Sunday Telegraph
"His solution to the mystery is plausible ... a brutal, breathless
ride"

Observer
"At his best, Seabrook fills his lungs with an atmosphere as
mordant as tar...Don't have nightmares"

Customer Reviews

a dark tale
This book is something of a paradox: finely written and fantastically detailed, but also gratuitous and even prurient in its descriptions of the women's hideous deaths and miserable lives. They may have not been paragons, but they were victims, and David Seabrook shows little humanity to them in these pages. But if nothing else, the book certainly lifts the lid on the seamy side of 60s west London.

A Decidedly Odd Work
I will begin by saying that in terms of new, and in many cases surprising, information about the nude murders of the early to mid 1960s, this is a four star book and worthy of at least one read-through.

However, I can honestly say that I have never before read a true crime book that treats the victims in such a vulgar and, frankly, disturbing manner. One passage, worth quoting (mostly) in full, illustrates this. Concerning victims Hannah Tailford and Irene Lockwood's mug shots:

"Mind you, Hannah Tailford's is more like a morgue shot. 'She has told me often that a geezer has had it up --- ----' recalled window cleanrer Frederick Townsend, and hers is a face, I suppose, that only a b--ger could love. And if Tailford is Nora Batty's understudy, Lockwood is Freddy Starr in drag. Just look at them. You wouldn't trust these two as far as you could throw them. You wouldn't pay them either, not unless you were truly hard up."

Had these comments been made by pre-"Sensitivity Training" officers, original to the case, discussing the women in a ca. ,1966 report, they would still be distasteful but somewhat excusable. The fact that they were made in the 21st century, by an author describing two murder victims, makes these remarks not only loathesome but also depressing. And the book is full of such moments.

I wish that Mr. Seabrook had spent more time quoting directly from the 1960s reports, and less time offering editorial comment about the victims.

Review
This book concerns a series of murders which took place between 1959-1965, but are almost unknown. This book is the most detailed one to date and discusses the lives of the unfortunate victims in great detail. Yet there is not much about the polcie investigation or how the media worked. It brings a lot more information to the fore than was already known and so the author has to be congratulated on that. It is a sordid and disagreeable tale - but reflects reality.

However, the style of writing is confused and the book is difficult to read. Given that these crimes are not well known, some sort of introduction would have been helpful, letting the reader know where he is going and what to expect. Instead it jumps about in an episodic manner. It is a hard slog.

The other odd point is that though the author does not name the man suspected of these appalling crimes, he does give us a lot of information about him; certainly enough for him to be identified by cross referencing birth and marriage indexes and electoral registers. Given the man is still alive, this does seem rather dangerous.

Finally, as a fellow crime writer, I am puzzled as to how the author ahs bene given access to files which relate to a recent unsolved murder; usually the closure period is far more stringent.