627. Jack The Ripper: From Hell (Part 4)

December 18, 2025

Description

Why was Jack the Ripper’s final murder the most appalling of all? Who was the mysterious Mary-Jane Kelly, his unfortunate victim? And, what enduring impact would his crimes have upon the cultural...

Books Referenced

The Five

Author: Hallie Rubenhold

Context:

Referenced as a source for detailed accounts of the lives of Jack the Ripper victims, described as 'expertly sourced' with information drawn from written material

Nana

Author: Zola

Context:

Mentioned as a comparison for Mary Jane Kelly's alleged backstory about being a courtesan, described as a novel about a courtesan in Paris that people would have been familiar with at the time

The Complete Jack the Ripper

Author: Donald Rumbelow

Context:

Explicitly cited as 'his book' when discussing theories about witness George Hutchinson's testimony and possible motivations

City of Dreadful Delight

Author: Judith Walkowitz

Context:

Described as 'a wonderful book on all this' that the host highly recommends, quoted regarding how witness descriptions matched stage villain stereotypes

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Context:

Described as 'the great literary sensation of the 1880s' and 'an incredibly famous novella' published in 1886, discussed in relation to how the public understood the Ripper's dual nature

A Study in Scarlet

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Context:

Referenced as the story in which Sherlock Holmes made his debut in 1887, discussed in context of amateur detection and the Ripper case

The Sign of Four

Author: Arthur Conan Doyle

Context:

Mentioned as the source of Holmes's famous maxim about eliminating the impossible, published in 1890 after the Ripper murders

The Last Sherlock Holmes Story

Author: Michael Dibdin

Context:

Referenced as one of many books featuring Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper, described as having a major twist connecting Holmes to the Ripper's crimes

Psychopathia Sexualis

Author: Richard von Krafft-Ebing

Context:

Described as 'a vast compendium of sexual deviancy' published in 1886, which introduced terms like sadism and discussed lust murder, later including Jack the Ripper as 'case 17'