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1. 

   BrianPorter Submitted 4 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   First of all, I’d like to thank Mike Covell for inviting me to join this group, and I’m very happy to be here.

   I’m Brian L Porter, and I’m the author of the novel ‘A Study in Red – The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper’, and a number of other novels, novella, and novelettes, as well as a host of short stories, all of which have been or are in the process of being published. If I can help anyone with aspirations to be a writer with advice or just a few words of encouragement, then please feel free to ask me questions which I’ll try my best to answer.

   As for ‘A Study in Red’ I’ve been fortunate that the book has so far been awarded a Recommended Read Award by one review company, and has recently won another award for its cover design, and sales are doing rather well. The book is currently available in both paperback and e-book editions and will soon be released in audio book format.

   Here’s a little information about the book.

   A Study in Red – The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper by Brian L Porter (Double Dragon Publishing), tells the story of Robert Cavendish, a modern day psychiatrist who is bequeathed a strange set of papers which purport to be the journal of the long-dead infamous Whitechapel Murderer whose crimes gripped the hearts and minds and instilled terror on the streets of Victorian London. As he begins to read the journal, Robert becomes convinced of it’s authenticity and finds that the words of the Ripper have a strange and compelling effect on him. Unable to cast the pages aside he finds himself being drawn into the dark and sinister world of the killer until he is unable to distinguish what is fact and what is fantasy. In short, Robert Cavendish begins to feel as though he is being taken over in some way by the soul of the long-dead Ripper. What happens as he progresses through the journal will disturb and shock the reader as the close dividing line between sanity and madness is explored to the full.

   My other books include the award winning ‘Purple Death’, ‘The Nemesis Cell’ (Award Nominated), ‘Pestilence’, ‘Avenue of the Dead’ and ‘Glastonbury’

   It’s great to be here and I look forward to hearing from you all if you’d care to get in touch.

   A Study in Red is avalable from a variety of sources including Amazon.co.uk at http://www.amazon.co.uk/Study-Red-Secret-Journal-Ripper/dp/1554045274/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202482660&sr=1-1

   Brian www.freewebs.com/brianlp www.freewebs.com/astudyinred

2. MikeCovell Submitted 4 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   Thanks Brian, How do you go about formulating ideas, and getting them down on paper?
3. 

   BrianPorter Submitted 4 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   I thoguht the members might be interested in reading the review from CK2S Kwips & Kritiques that accompanied the ‘Recommended Read’ Award. It might help others to see the type of things that reviewers look for when they assess a book. So, without further ado, here it is:

   Robert Cavendish is bereft with grief at his father’s recent passing. He was also surprised to learn his father bequeathed Robert a mysterious journal to be read after his death. Read by him and him alone. As he reads the journal, he comes to realize that he holds in his hands the actual rantings and admissions of Jack the Ripper! But that, as they say, is only the beginning. From those pages Robert discovers the answer to old mysteries and atrocities, answers that lead him down a path of horror and insanity. What affect can the secret ravings of a murderer such as Jack the Ripper have on a person? And what connection did Robert’s father have to this secret journal?

   I was immediately struck by the enormous amount of research that went into A Study in Red (The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper). It brought 18th century London to life, making the story almost palpable. For over a hundred years, the mystery of Jack the Ripper has been investigated, written about, and discussed, but never like this. I could feel the cobblestones under my feet, hear the horses and carriages and smell the foul air of the London back alleyways.

   The journal was an interesting tool, bringing the reader directly into Jack’s world and the insanity inflicting him. Experiencing the journal with Robert was intense as the mysteries unfold page by page. The suspense kept me engrossed well into the late evening hours, just as Robert had… I can feel the goose bumps now.

   The identity of Jack the Ripper has been explored, but never in such a deliciously nail biting manner. Although fiction, the possibilities of who Jack really was and where he came from as well as his unfortunate victims felt all too real thanks to the obvious hard work of the author to create this sensational tale.

   Reviewed by Terri http://www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com/astudyinred_terri.html
4. 

   BrianPorter Submitted 4 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   Hi Mike,

   Hmm, a short question, but one that leads to a very complex reply. I’ll try to be as brief as I can.

   My ideas for my books come from various sources, and I’ll take ‘A Study in Red’ first as it’s probably the easiest to answer. I’ve had an interest in the Ripper murders since I was a teenager, so, after thirty five or more years of trying to figure out ‘whodunnit’ and being unable to satisfy myself one way or another, someone suggested to me that I write a novel on the subejct. That way, I could indulge my wilder theories and ideas, and add them to the facts to create a weave of fact and fiction that i hope people find enjoyable an an entertainign read, which, after all, is the object of a novel. Some people seem to think that a novel has to follow the same formula as a non-fiction book if it is about a real-life event, but I don’t think that applies at all, as otherwise the book would just be a pseudo non- fiction tale. A novel must entertain and hold it’s readers from start to finish and that’s what I set out to achieve with ‘A Study in Red’. I recently wrote an article for The Journal of the Whitechapel Society 1888 on how the book was born and I’d be happy to post that artivle here if anyone requests it.

   As for the others, the answersare a little harder to provide. I spent some time in Mexico a few years ago, and fell in love with the country and its people. whe I came home, I realised that I had a welter of information about the place that could be used in a series of stories set in Mexico. I created my fictional Mexican detective Juan Morales, featured him in a short story called ‘The Devil You Know’ which was published and got great reviews, so I wrote him into a novella called ‘Avenue of the Dead’, which again got great reviews, and he next appears in a full-length novel ‘Under Mexican Skies’. Morales is based on a man I met and spent a lot of time with in Mexico, who taught me much about his people and his country. Most of my books are inspired by real-life events, as I study true crime and history extensively. Every one of my thrillers has some form of root in the past, often with some true event as it’s inspiration. I usually set them in places I’m familiar with to give the background some factual creedence, and the biggest thing of all is that I spend a VAST amount of time in research. I can’t stress the value of effective research, even for a novel, as it is vital in order to give fiction a ring of truth, without which the whole edifice of a book can come crumbling down. I use police forces, the internet, professionals in many fields who are willing to help in the putting together of a book. Some are happy to help, some refuse, but I keep approaching the experts until one agrees to help. So far, I haven’t been disappointed.

   I get my best ideas while out walking my dogs, and often find that I begin a book by thinking of a great ending to a story, and I quickly get it down on paper and then start working towards the end, rather than starting at the beginning and hoping I’ll find a suitable ending along the way.

   I also have a great team of critique readers, to whom I send every chapter of my work as it’s written. They give me their thoughts, advice and criticisms, and the book is therefore well-read and critiqued long before it reaches a publisher or even my agent. Those readers are spread around the world, are of varying ages, and from different socio-economic groups, so I have a great cross-section of opinion when they come back to me.

   I could go on forever, but I said I’d be brief, so I hope this goes some way towards answering your question. If there’s anything you’d like me to be more specific about, please let me know and I’ll be happy to respond.

   Brian

5. MikeCovell Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   Brian, Tell us about the awards you have won, and the current awards which are running at the moment for such books as "Glastonbury"
6. 

   BrianPorter Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   Hello Mike,

   I’ve been fortunate to have won a number of awards for my books so far. ‘A Study in Red – The Secret Journal of Jack the Ripper’ won a ‘Recommended Read Award in Febraury 2008 from the review body, CK2S Kwips & Kritiques in the USA. The book was also the winner of The Authors Lounge Best Cover Illustration Award for May 2008. My forthcoming novel ‘Purple Death’ won the Authors Lounge award for June 2008. Previously my thrller ‘The Nemesis Cell’ won a Top Ten Finisher Award in the 2007 Preditors & Editors Readers Awards, as did my short story antholgy ‘Murder Mayhem and Mexico’. ‘The Nemesis Cell was an e-book at that time but will be availble in paperback in about two months from now.

   Currently, my upcoming release ‘Glastonbury’a thriller of ‘epic’ proportions is nominated for the Authors Lounge Best Cover award for August 2008 and if anyone would care to place a vote for my book the voting page is at http://www.talauthors.com/TAL/RomanceandMoreAwards.htm Simply check the box beside the title and then click on ‘vote’ at the bottom of the voting box. Thank you to anyone who decides to back my nomination agaisnt all those American authors. (I’m the only Brit in there).

   Also, ‘A Study in Red’ has been nominated as Book Cover of the Month in the Ern Aislinn Awards. One voter will recieve a copy of the wining book, so if it wins, that will of course be copy of ‘A Study in Red’. To vote, and therefore stand a chance of winning a copy of the book, please go to http://www.erinaislinn.com/BookCoveroftheMonth.htm and click on ‘Vote for a Study in Red’. You will then see a blank email page appear, and just press ‘send’ and your vote will be registered. No purschase is necessary and the winner will be notified by email of how to claim their prize.

   Thanks again Mike for giving me the opportunity to tell the readers a little more about my work and about the various awrds I’ve been lucky to receive.

   I’d like to say a big thank youin adnvacne to anyone who takes the time and trouble to vote for my books, and in return, here’s a little information about ‘Glastonbury’ which I hope might whet a few appetities.

   Time is running out!

   Hired by millionaire businessman Malcolm Capshaw to search for a hitherto fabled historical artefact in the shadows of Glastonbury Tor, Joe Cutler and his team from Strata Survey Systems are drawn into a web of sex, lies, deceit, murder and betrayal as the artefact is revealed to be bogus and the real purpose of their search is slowly exposed. A menacing background presence in the form of an old-established London crime family appears to display an abnormal interest in the goings-on in the ancient town where Christianity laid its roots in England, and where, aided by the enigmatic and flamboyant university professor Lucius Doberman, Joe and his team must solve the mystery of Glastonbury before the sinister historian Walter Graves makes the discovery that could cost the whole team their lives!

7. MikeCovell Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   Thanks Brian.

   I was lucky enough to win a copy of Brian’s "A Study In Red" when he launched a competition on the "JTR Forums". It is an excellent read and readily available on Amazon.

   Brian, are there any major retailers, other than the online ones such as Amazon, stocking your works?

   I know some people don’t like ordering off the internet.

8. BrianPorter Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   Hi Mike,

   Although not actually on the shelves of bookstores in the UK, it can be obtained from Tesco online, and from Waterstones online. Also it is possible to go into W H Smith and order the book either for collection in store or via their home delivery service. You would just have to quote the ISBN number and title and author. The ISBN is 1-55404-527-4

   Regards

   Brian

9. BrianPorter Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

   Hi Mike,

   Although not actually on the shelves of bookstores in the UK, it can be obtained from Tesco online, and from Waterstones online. Also it is possible to go into W H Smith and order the book either for collection in store or via their home delivery service. You would just have to quote the ISBN number and title and author. The ISBN is 1-55404-527-4

   Regards

   Brian

10. BrianPorter Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

    I should have mentioned that W H Smith may ask for the name of the publisher as well, which is Double Dragon Publishing, from Markham, Ontario, Canada.

11. MikeCovell Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

    Great stuff, Thanks Brian.

    I suppose for the benefit of those who are not published, I should ask about that aspect.

    How did you get a publisher?

12. BrianPorter Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

    Hello again Mike,

    Like many authors, finding a publisher wasn’t the easiest job in the world. Having had about 24 short stories published, I entered the big wide worl of novel writing, and lo and behold, I suffered multiple rejections at first and could have wallpaperd a room with the rejection slips and letters. Then I changed my strategy, and decided to try and build myself some writing ‘credits’ and build a name within the business by trying to have my works published electronically. Good E-publishers use the same criteria as traditional ones, but tend to have a larger portfolio of books, and therfore acceptance can be easier. I succeeded and had one of my nvoels, and a novella, plus a collection of short stories published as e-books. then, one of those e-books, ‘The Nemesis Cell’ almost won the readers award I mentioned above in a previous post and things started to happen. Within a week I was approached by an agent who wanted to represent me. She quickly got me a number of contracts for my various novels, and I haven’t looked back since. As for ‘A Study in Red’ I’d already had that one accepted by Double Dragon Publishing in Canada after persevering by myself in sending the manuscript to various publishers around the world. According to the publisher, what really swung it, apart from it being a good book in his eyes, was the fact that international bestselling author Tess Gerritsen had given me a message of support and good luck to add to the cover. (A case of not what you know but who you know perhaps?). I’d been in correspondence with Tess for some time and she was excited by the idea of my Ripper novel as she is a ‘fan’ of the case herself, and did the Ripper tour when she first visited London.

    I’m really lucky in that I’ve always stuck to my guns and had belief in my work, which I would advise any budding author to do, and have never ever paid to have my work published either by way of vanity publishing, (a total waste of time), or self-publishing, (again, not a total waste, but no marketing or logistical back-up and no certainty of getting the book into any retailers hands, either stores or online retailers.)Basically, if a manuscript is good enough to appear in print, the publisher should assume all the financial risk for producing and editing the book and getting it out to the public, which is why author’s royalties aren’t that big. The publisher takes the majority of the risks, especially the financial ones, but that’s their job. They are supposed to know what sells and what doesn’t and they have the knowledge of the market to tell them if a book will do well or not.

    Anyway, I now have three print publishers, one who produced ‘A Studyin red’ and has already commissioned the sequel, another who is producing my five paperbacks for release this year, and yet another who has taken me on to produce eight children’s books over the next two years, (under a psuedonym of course).

    In short getting a publisher isn’t easy, but it can be done.

    I hope this goes some way towards answering your question Mike.

    Best regards

    Brian

13. MikeCovell Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

    Perhaps I can beg you for a quote for the ripper book!!

    What about an agent?

    Do you think it’s important for an author to have an agent?
14. 

    BrianPorter Submitted 3 months ago Unsuitable Content? Report it!

    Hi Mike,

    Having an agent isn’t a necessity, but it helps. Many publishers won’t accept submissions unless they are received from an agent, who is after all, a good judge of what a publisher is looking for. Unfortunately, finding an agent can be as hard, if not harder, than finding a publisher. I got lucky, but many very good authors never have that piece of luck. An agent does mean that an auhtor has achieved a sort of standing in the business, as publishers then knwo that an important step has been takebn. the agent would not represent an author unless he/she thought they could make money from representing them. Bear in mind that like the publisher, the agent only gets paid if the book sells, usually between ten and fifteen percent of the author’s royalties, but well worth it for all the work an agent takes off the author’s shoulders. Put simply, publishers know that agents don’t waste time taking on authors who can’t write well, so that gives the author an advantage in getting their work read by a publisher, although it still doesn’t guarantee acceptance.

    I will now try and post ane xcerpt from the book, though I’ve tried a couple of times and they’ve been rejected as having ‘unsuitable content’. The book is quite graphic after all…

    CHAPTER ONE A Revelation

    My great grandfather was a physician, with a penchant for psychiatry, as were my grandfather and my father and it was always a given thing that I would follow in the family tradition, as, from childhood, I wanted nothing more than to follow in my forebears footsteps, to alleviate the suffering of the afflicted, to help ease the mental pain experienced by those poor unfortunates so often castigated and so badly misunderstood by our society. My name? Well, for now let’s just call me Robert. My father, whom I admit to idolizing for as long as I could remember, died just over four months ago, a sad waste, his life snuffed out in the few seconds it took for a drunk driver to career across the central reservation of the dual-carriageway he was driving along, and to collide head-on with Dad’s BMW. By the time the ambulance reached the scene of the crash, it was too late, there were no survivors! Dad was buried in our local churchyard, beside my mother, who passed way ten years ago, and the private psychiatric practice I had shared with him for so long became my sole domain. As a mark of respect, I took the decision to leave Dad’s name on the brass plaque that adorns the pillar beside the front door. I saw no reason to remove it. A week after the funeral, I was surprised to receive a phone call from Dad’s solicitor, saying he was in possession of a collection of papers my father had bequeathed to me. This was strange, as I thought the will had been straight forward, everything shared equally between my brother Mark and myself. I had received Dad’s share of the practice, Mark a substantial and equivalent cash sum. As I drove to the solicitor’s office I wondered what could be of such importance that Dad had left it to me in such a mysterious fashion. As I drove away from the solicitor’s office, I stared at the tightly bound sheaf of papers, wrapped in brown paper, and tied up with substantial string, that now resided on the passenger seat of the car. All that David the solicitor could tell me was that Dad had lodged the papers with him many years earlier, together with instructions they were to be passed to me alone, one week after his funeral. He told me Dad had placed a letter in a sealed envelope that would be on top of the package when I opened it. He knew nothing more. Knowing there was little I could do until I got home, I tried to put the package out of my mind, but my eyes kept straying towards the mysterious bundle, as if drawn inexorably by some unseen power. I was in a ferment of expectation as I drew up on the gravel drive of my neat detached suburban home, I felt as if Dad had something important to relate to me, from beyond the grave, something he obviously hadn’t been able to share with me during his lifetime. My wife Sarah was away for the week, staying with her sister Jennifer, who had given birth to a son four days after Dad’s funeral. Jennifer had been married for three years to my cousin Tom, a brilliant if somewhat erratically minded computer engineer, who she had met at a dinner party at our house. Sarah had been reluctant to leave me so soon after Dad’s passing, and the funeral, but I insisted she go and be with Jennifer at such an important and emotional time. I’d assured her I’d be fine, and, as I locked the car and made my way to the front door of our home, I actually felt relieved that I was alone. Somehow, I felt the papers I now carried under my arm were reserved for my eyes only, and I was grateful to have the time to explore their contents in private. I still had the rest of the week off, having paid a locum to baby-sit the practice during my official period of mourning, so the next few days were mine to do with as I chose. Little did I know that, as I closed the heavy front door behind me, I was about to enter a world far removed from my cosy suburban existence, a world I had barely perceived from my history lessons at school. I was about to be shocked, all my conceptions of truth and respectability were to be rocked to the very core, though I didn’t know it yet. I quickly changed into casual clothes, poured myself a large scotch, and retired to my study, eager to begin my investigation into Dad’s strange bequest. After seating myself comfortably in front of my desk, I took a sip of the warming, golden liquid in my glass, then, taking a pair of scissors from the desk, I tentatively cut the string around the bundle of papers. Sure enough, as the solicitor had indicated, there on top of a very thick loosely bound stack of papers was a sealed brown envelope, addressed to me, in the unmistakable handwriting of my father. My hands were unconsciously trembling with a sense of anticipation and curiosity as I reached out for the solid silver sword-shaped paper-knife Sarah had bought me for my last birthday. In one swift movement I slit the top of the envelope, reached inside and removed the letter within. The letter, handwritten by my father and dated almost twenty years earlier was a revelation to me, even though I was still unaware of the true significance of the loosely bound papers that accompanied it. The letter read as follows: To my dearest son, Robert, As my eldest son, and also my most trusted friend, I leave to you the enclosed journal, with its accompanying notes. This journal has been passed from generation to generation of our family, always to the eldest son, and now, as I must so obviously be dead, it has passed to you. Be very careful, my son, with the knowledge this journal contains. Within its pages you will find the solution (at least, a solution of sorts) to one of the great mysteries in the annals of British crime, but with that solution comes a dire responsibility. You may be tempted, my son, to make public that which you are about to discover; you may feel the public deserves to know the solution to the burning mystery, but, and I caution you most carefully, Robert, should you go public with the knowledge, you will risk destroying not only everything that our family has stood for through over a hundred years of medical research and progression in the field of psychiatric medicine, but you may also destroy the very credibility of our most cherished profession. Murder most foul Robert! It is of that most heinous crime that you will read, as I read following the death of your grandfather, and he also before me. But are there worse things than murder in this world? Do we have the right as doctors to make the judgments that the courts should rightly dole out? My son, I hope you are ready for what you are about to learn, though I doubt I was at the time I read the journal. Read it well my son, and the notes that go with it, and judge for yourself. If, as I did, you feel suitably disposed, you will do also as our family have always done, and keep the knowledge of its contents a closely guarded secret, until the time is right to pass it on to your own offspring. The knowledge is, I fear, the cross the family must bear, until one day perhaps one of us feels so ridden by conscience or some form of need for absolution, to reveal what the pages contain. Be strong my son, or, if you feel you cannot turn the first page, go no further, reseal the journal in its wrappings, and consign it to a deep vault somewhere, let it lie forever in darkness, where perhaps it should rightly belong. But, if you do read the contents, be prepared to carry the knowledge with you for ever, in your heart, in your soul, but worst of all, in your mind, a burden of guilt that can never be erased. You are my eldest son, and I have always loved you dearly. Forgive me for placing this burden upon you, Yours with love, Dad As I finished reading the letter, I suddenly realized that I’d been holding my breath, such was the tension I felt inside, and I took a deep breath and sighed. The trembling in my hands had increased, and I reached for the bottle of amber liquid at the side of the desk, and poured myself another large one. Suddenly, I felt as if whatever was contained within these papers lying unopened before me was about to irrevocably change my life, not outwardly perhaps, but I knew before I even looked at the documents that whatever was contained within these pages was obviously of grave significance. If not, why had my family gone to such pains to protect the secret contained within them? I gulped the scotch down, too fast, the liquid burned my throat, and I coughed involuntarily. At this point of course, I had no idea what the papers contained, though my father’s words had given me a sneaking suspicion that I knew where this was leading. Unable to wait any longer, I broke the tapes around the journal, and there it was, the family secret, about to be unveiled! The first sheet of paper, resting on top of the rest, was definitely old, and written in the typical copperplate handwriting of the nineteenth century. There was no date or address at the top of the paper, it seemed to be little more than a series of notes, there was no signature, nothing at all to identify the writer. I read as follows: How do I begin to relate all that has happened? Would anyone believe the incredible story? Is it the truth? Is he really the man? The journal could be the work of a clever man, an attempt to deceive those who read it, but no, I knew him too well, spoke with him too often. He was telling the truth! As for me, what of my part in all this? Am I guilty of complicity, or have I done the world a favour by my actions? That he will trouble the people of London no more is now certain. That he was deranged I could testify to myself, but what of proof? What of evidence? Apart from the ravings of the lunatic, all I have is the journal, and I had it too long, knew too much too soon, to bear the disgrace of admitting that I could have stopped it all if I had spoken sooner. Now I cannot speak at all for to do so would destroy me, my work, and my family. Who would understand that I held silent because I thought him mad, too mad to believe, and yet his madness was the very thing that drove him, and I should have believed? It was too late, I could do no more, God help me, I should have stopped him, stopped him right at the beginning when he told me, when he laughed and laughed and told me that no-one would ever catch him. After the most hideous death of that poor girl, Mary Kelly, I had to do something, and I did, but, knowing what I know, what I knew already, I should have acted sooner. May God forgive me; I could have stopped Jack the Ripper! I was holding my breath again, and, as I exhaled, my eyes moved to the final note at the bottom of the page, seemingly written some time later than the rest of the notes, the writer’s hand less bold, as though he were shaking as he wrote these final words. Jack the Ripper is no more, he’s gone, forever, and yet, I feel I am no better than the monster himself? I swore an oath to save life, to preserve, not to destroy, I am naught but a wretched, squalid soul, as squalid as the streets he stalked in life, and will forever, I am sure haunt in death. I bequeath this legacy to those who follow me; judge me not too harshly, for justice may be blind, and I have acted for the best as I saw it at the time. I have despoiled my oath, his blood is mine, and that of those poor unfortunates, and I must bear what I have done within my heavy conscience and my aching heart for the rest of my days! Jack the Ripper! My heart almost leaped into my mouth at the astonishing thought that I was about to learn something that few others had shared. I knew from our family history that my great-grandfather had spent some time as a consulting psychiatric physician at the Colney Hatch Lunatic Asylum during the 1880s, and it now seemed that he’d been privy to knowledge the rest of the world had been seeking for over a century, or, at least, he believed himself to have been. Yet, what did he mean by the references to his complicity, what action had he taken? Another sip of scotch, more fire in my throat, and I was ready to take the next step. I had to see the journal, had to know what my great-grandfather knew. If he’d solved the mystery of the Ripper murders, why hadn’t he revealed the truth? What could possibly have enticed him to keep silent about the most celebrated series of murders ever to strike at the heart of the great metropolis that was nineteenth century London? What part did he play in the tragedy; how could he, a respected physician and member of society have been complicit in the foul deeds perpetrated by Jack the Ripper? He was my great-grandfather after all, I refused at that point to believe that he could be in any way connected with the murders of those poor unfortunate women, and yet, in his own words, he’d stated that he could have stopped the Ripper. Again I asked myself, what could he have known, what could he have done? Looking at the loosely bound journal on the desk in front of me, I knew there was only one way I was going to find out!

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