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On the Trail of the Yorkshire Ripper (Paperback)

His Final Secrets Revealed

P&S History > British History P&S History > True Crime World History > UK & Ireland > England > Yorkshire & Humberside

By Richard Charles Cobb
Imprint: Pen & Sword True Crime
Pages: 232
Illustrations: 32 black and white illustrations
ISBN: 9781399019446
Published: 6th February 2023
Last Released: 12th March 2024

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Peter Sutcliffe, The Yorkshire Ripper, remains the most infamous serial killer in British criminal history.

His reign of terror saw 13 women brutally murdered and the largest criminal manhunt in British history.

Just like Jack the Ripper, his Victorian counterpart of 1888, he remains a killer of almost mythical proportions, yet the locations and circumstances surrounding his foul deeds remain a subject of confusion to this day….. until now.

Using ground breaking new research together with the original police reports, newspaper descriptions and eye witness testimony, we can finally present the truth about what actually happened.

For the first time in over four decades we re-examine the crime scenes and deliver the real story of the Yorkshire Ripper murders.

The book is beautifully written and easy to read. Nonetheless, Cobb’s writing style is dispassionate factual and direct. So the account pulls no punches and describes the full details of each attack. Whilst it was a very stimulating read and I finished it in three evenings, I could not help but reflect on the suffering of Sutcliffe’s victims.

It was the attention to detail and evident meticulous research that impressed me about the book. The author had visited and walked all the crime scenes to get a good understanding of what happened. He has also visited the victims graves. This attention to detail land the author’s analytical ability shines through. Each crime is painstakingly analysed.

Read the full review here

North Yorks Enquirer

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This book was brilliant and helpful for a blog post I wrote for true crime week on my blog. It was education but still interesting and I read it in one sitting.

NetGalley, Lauren Brabrook

It’s an extremely detailed, very comprehensive, and at just over 200 pages, not daunting to read, next important addition to any student of true crime’s library.

Read the full review here

The True Crime Enthusiast

As featured by

Daily Star

As featured on UniLad

UniLad

This book follows the story of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, from his first non-fatal attacks on women, through to the murder of his first known victim, and to his eventual capture and trial.

The book is well researched, and author gives these involved respect something that has not been often done in the past. There is a clear narrative throughout making it easy to read and understand.

NetGalley, S Ballinger

This is a fairly short book, which concentrates on key events and does a good job of presenting the evidence clearly and concisely. If you were reading a first book on these crimes, this will give you a good overview.

NetGalley, Susan Riaz

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This is a very interesting but very scary book. Peter Sutcliffe, The Yorkshire Ripper, remains the most infamous serial killer in British criminal history. This book takes another look at the crime scenes and gives us the real story of the Yorkshire Ripper murders. The truth can now be told with the use of DNA, police reports, newspaper accounts and eye witness testimony. In the past a lot of the information was not clear and now the confusion has been set straight. I thoroughly enjoyed Cobb's book and found it very informative. It follows the timeline of the killings and shows us the ruthlessness of Peter Sutcliffe. We learn how and where he was captured, a peek at his trial and what has since happened to him. I would highly recommend this book to those who are a follower of true crime.

NetGalley, Eadie Burke

This has been extremely well done. Really well researched, the individuals involved are treated with respect
Putting forward the details of the case has been particularly well done. Completed in date order, there is a clear narrative throughout. Easy to read and understand

It seems strange to say I enjoyed it but I certainly found it a satisfying read.

NetGalley, Maria Martignetti

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This is a very interesting account of the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. It is written with sensitivity and respect to all the victims and is well researched. The attacks by Peter Sutcliffe are detailed in chronological order and the book is easy to read. Police errors are well documented, as is each murder site. A great insight into police work at that time, without the benefit of forensics and computers. A very interesting and informative read.

NetGalley, Martha Brindley

On the trail of the Yorkshire Ripper covers the murder of 13 women and the attack on several others in and around the Leeds/Bradford area of England in the seventies to early eighties. It gives an insight into the police work at that time and terrible frustration they must have felt before the age of computers to compile hundreds of thousands of pieces of information. They had no real way to cross check little bits of info so things got missed in a case of this magnitude. The book does a great job of pointing this out and the author offers his opinion on a number of issues. Good book - recommended.

NetGalley, Simonne Lambert

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

The Yorkshire Ripper murdered 13 women and attacked a number of others before he was caught and locked away. There were missed opportunities and misdirections within the search.

The book covers the trail of Peter Sutcliffe's attacks in chronological order, in addition to the attacks the book covers the police work. The book is very well researched piecing together a lot of information from a number of different sources giving a full picture.

Sadly at the time, the police missed a lot of facts - perhaps if forensics were more advanced at the time it would have been solved quickly - resulting in missed opportunities to save lives, these are all highlighted throughout the book.

Normally I wouldn't enjoy books that aren't from survivors or have a direct relation to the event however this was so well researched. I wasn't alive at the time but I as I live in the area it is something I have heard about growing up but not something I have read about before.

Overall it was a good read and is very well written, one I would recommend to anyone who is interested in the cases. I look forward to reading future books from the author should he cover other UK cases.

NetGalley, Ellesse Oakes

I’d definitely recommend this to any lover of true crime as it is extremely well written and definitely steers clear of hero worship or glorifying Sutcliffe’s crimes.

NetGalley, Jayne Heywood

I really enjoy true crime and as I child growing up in the late 70's early 80's this resonates with me. I did know most of the information provided in the book, but it was still goo to recall it in one book.

NetGalley, Marie Taylor

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

An excellent, informative read on a very difficult and harrowing subject. The research done was first class and the writing is extremely respectful towards the victims and their families. Highly reccommend this book especially if you are not fully aware of the extremities Sutcliffe went to in fulfilling his gruesome fantasies. Thank you for letting me read this. I will definitely be looking up this author from now on.

NetGalley, Craig Powley

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

An excellent read. This book was exciting and I didn’t want to put it down.
I really enjoyed how the book was put together and the writing style was very good.
Very highly recommended book.

NetGalley, Tracey Shults

An interesting and in places harrowing read about the Yorkshire Ripper. I remember some of the murders and Peter Sutcliffe being caught. This book tells about his victims and some of his possible victims and how he was eventually caught.

NetGalley, Julie Hosford

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

On the Trail of the Yorkshire Ripper was an excellent book.

It is well written, researched and is easy to read. The Author is mindful of the fact that some victims are still thankfully alive. It follows the attacks in a chronological order. Explaining what happened at each attack and giving directions as to where you would find each site now, hence being on the trail.

It explains how the police failed in charging Peter Sutcliffe much sooner due to many factors. (Sadly lots being Police error.)

An excellent book and one which I would go back to again. I enjoyed the Authors writing style and would read other books by him as well.

NetGalley, Hazel Thomson

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I thought that this book, On the Trail of the Yorkshire Ripper: His Final Secrets Revealed was excellent, it was a completely additive read and I flew through the pages.

I love reading books on true crime and this was a very detailed book that covered the horrific murders and attacks of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe.

I read the book spread over a few evenings and I have to say that the book was superb. The writing style was perfect and I really enjoyed the length of the chapters and how the book had been set out.

It was full of detail and the author really brought what happened to life, it was horrific and I can’t even image what it would have been like to have been around at that time (his reign of terror was before I was born), no-one was safe on the streets as his attacks and murders towards the end of his campaign showed. These attacks are tragic and harrowing.

It is 5 stars from me for this book – very highly recommended!!

NetGalley, Donna Maguire

A interesting and informative book about the Yorkshire Ripper. A book that was respectful to the victims. Well written and easy to read.

NetGalley, Heather Bennett

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

When the Yorkshire Ripper was on the loose I was a young child living in the North West of England. This case fascinated me especially knowing how frightened women were and I desperately wanted him to get caught. Being young and impressionable I thought that the police would catch him quickly and lock him up in prison forever, that obviously didn’t happen. Throughout the years I have watched countless documentaries and read books and news articles about this case, and I have to say that this is one of the best books that I have ever read on the subject. I have gained lots of new information when I thought I knew everything there was to know.

The book is written in a straightforward way and so is easy to read. The author is very respectful to all of the victims whether still alive or dead. Throughout the book we also get to know from Peter Sutcliffe’s POV what happened with each victim. The thing that manages to make me angry every time I read or watch anything about this case is the amount of mistakes the police made. Throughout this book I became aware of other mistakes they made that were new to me.

Whether you think that you know all there is to know about this case or just know the basics I highly recommend this book.

NetGalley, Christina Conn

I enjoyed reading this book, which covers, in chronological order, the attacks of the Yorkshire Ripper... this book feels like a good primer to the subject and does give a flavour of the emotions that surrounded this entire case.

NetGalley, Brian Hamilton

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Great book will be reading other books by this author.
Will also recommend this book to others.
Great read! 5****

NetGalley, Michelle Griffiths

Cobb's stance is clear: slack and incompetent actions (or lack of) by the Yorkshire Police resulted in the deaths of many women through a failure to pin Sutcliffe down when they had him in their sights, and after reading this book in one morning, I share his feelings.

A lot of the information in this book is already in the public domain but the way it stacks up as you read is truly horrifying. This was a time when women's accounts of assaults against them were not trusted; a deeply sexist time which I remember well but the actual disregarding of multiple concurrent photofits, the failure to follow leads, and the dogged refusal of the investigating team to drop their belief that the tapes were a hoax despite a lot of evidence to the contrary is dismaying.

This isn't a sensationalist account and the details of the women's murders didn't feel salacious.

NetGalley, Nicola

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

This case always terrified me.
The police were no nearer catching him and consequently more victims were murdered.
Then they caught him.
This book uses original police reports and all media and eye witness testimony, it gives us the truth of what really happened.
.It is really well researched and written so everybody can understand it.
It serves as one of the best books on Peter Sutcliffe that I've read.
I would recommend it to everybody interested in this case or true crime in general.

NetGalley, Angela Hunt

About Richard Charles Cobb

Richard C Cobb is regarded as one of the world's leading authorities on Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders. He is a true crime author and founder of The Dagger Club which gathers together experts and historians in the field of true crime for research projects, social occasions, conferences and events. Richard also runs award-winning tours in and around London, focusing on Jack the Ripper, the Kray twins and the cultural history of Spitalfields and Brick Lane. Originally from Ireland, he now lives in London.

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