My thanks to Ad Lib publishers and NetGalley for a copy of “ Inside The Mind Of The Yorkshire Ripper “ for an honest review
This was a very familiar case from my childhood , and I’ve recently seen “ The Long Shadow “ tv series .
This is an informative , but not enjoyable, retelling of the case , by those in the midst of it all.
It show the failings and injustices to the victims by the police force at the time , which have now been brought to light .
Interesting to read but hard to stomach

This is the definitive guide on the Yorkshire Ripper, his crimes and his victims.

The book is impeccably researched and mentions attacks and murders including crimes abroad that were probably committed by Peter Sutcliffe. A compelling case is made for every attack and murder mentioned in the book. Some have been mentioned in previous documentaries but a large number have been attributed to Sutcliffe for the first time.

The victims are mentioned in a sensitive way which is good to see.

It mentions the police failings in some detail and relates how the failings of that investigation have not been resolved pointing out how what went wrong in the Yorkshire Ripper investigation is still happening in a number of investigations today.

So I have seen many documentaries and or programmes over the years about the Yorkshire Ripper including articles and discussions on true crime groups. I had no idea just how horrific his MO was, I think every one knew about the hammer(s) but this book gives graphic details and insight into just how depraved he really was.

There is a lot of data in the book as well as maps giving locations and routes, potentials too as there are many more victims attributed to him that those commonly posted/discussed. I never knew he was suspected of male victims too and different attack styles to throw the police off. Add into that how he tried (effectively in many ways) to put the police off his track.

The book also discusses those well knows tapes and letters from the alleged ripper and how the police blindly clung to them and just how many times Sutcliffe slipped through their fingers as a result.

The book is shocking in many aspects, the bungled investigations, time after time, how some officers were dissuaded from linking cases that they knew was the ripper. The underhanded behaviours, criminal at times, in some of the actions of lack of actions in handling victims, witnesses, statements. It is amazing he was caught and you cannot help but think how many lives may well have been saved had they not missed or ignored so many tings.

I think another jaw dropper is that despite knowing all they did wrong, when they were reached out to in more recent times they still refuse to release information or acknowledge certain similarities/cases/victims. One of the authors of this book is an ex police officer so it adds more weight and shock to some of the things you read and what was ignored. Truly shocking in so many areas and I think a lot of information in this book will raise more than a few eyebrows, like I say I had been familiar with the case, who isn't but so much information, victims, falsely accused is discussed in this book, it is actually quite scary how badly it was overall (the case handling not the book). For people who love true crime I think this is a must read as there is so much new (well for me anyway) information, it is wild how much he got away with and how many still have no closure/justice, 4/5.

I enjoy reading true crime books and so I really enjoyed learning more about the Yorkshire Ripper. This was such an interesting book and this case is always one that intrigued me.

A fascinating book about one of the most prolific serial killers in history. I remember the story well as I was about 15 and remember avidly reading about the attempts to catch him. Back in the day when the News of the World was a very large paper! I have watched the documentaries that have been written about him, but for me this book surpasses all of those, including the ones based on the story. I think it was well written and brought to life his victims and the impact it had on their loved ones. Especially poignant were the stories of the women who survived. Its hard to believe that everything was done by hand and there was no computer to give you some answers.

I didn’t really know much about the Yorkshire ripper, so this was a good book to learn more about it.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

The title of the book is misleading. There is no deep psychological insight into the most prolific murderer but the thoughts and opinions of the author. Very disappointed.

This is a fantastic book beautifully researched and written.
I sped through this book very quickly as I found it utterly fascinating, the authors have too many speculations and opinion in which there is not a lot of evidence to back this up but apart from that it is a great read and I would recommend

A shicking insight based on the timeline if all the possibke crimes of the yorkshire ŕippet. Factual and concisely told this pulls no punches. It reveals more than the public and also scary insights into the fact tgat leadins have not been learnt. I found this a really harrowing read especially the ways the police continue to make mistake and cover things
This highlights the need for true investogation and i look forward to reading more.investigation. highly recommended for anyine with an interest in true crime or the state of the police gorce and its relationships.

4 stars and would highly recommend

This was an interesting book. It was a little slow moving at some points and I felt like the author repeated himself in a few spots. But all and all I enjoyed the book.

[Thanks to NetGalley for providing a complimentary digital review copy of this book.]

One of the worst things a critic or reviewer can do, I’m told, is to write about what book he wishes the author had written instead of accepting the book on its own terms. If I were reviewing a Danielle Steel romance novel, there are many ways I can critique the material, but it wouldn’t really be fair for me to say I wish Steel (and/or her ghostwriter) had written the life story of Mr. T instead.

Of course, any book would be improved by the inclusion of Mr. T. But I digress.

When reading Inside The Mind of The Yorkshire Ripper by Chris Clark and Tim Hicks, I tried to keep this principle in mind. But the writers have to do their own part, too. At the very least, they should give their book a title which actually reflects its contents.

Because Inside the Mind of the Yorkshire Ripper, about the shocking crimes of British serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, barely gets into the inner workings of his twisted mind at all. Indeed, there is more information about the mental state of his wife, who required mental health treatment at some points during their marriage.

If only Sutcliffe had gotten some kind of treatment before he murdered at least thirteen women between 1975 and 1980.

I say “at least,” because Inside the Mind of the Yorkshire Ripper posits that Sutcliffe might have attacked and killed many more people - almost all female - than the ones which were confirmed.

Indeed, the book is effectively a list of murders, assaults and abductions, some of which were definitively the work of the Yorkshire Ripper, and many more for which he might have been responsible. And not all of them were in Britain.

One intriguing section of the book hypothesizes that Sutcliffe, whose work as a truck driver often took him to the European continent, may have carried out some murders in Sweden.

I initially dismissed this as pure speculation - sadly, there is a lot of speculation in this book, with the writers saying Sutcliffe “probably” or “might have” carried out some of these crimes - but it turns out there are other investigators who’ve come to the same conclusions about the Swedish killings.

COVID-19 died of Sutcliffe in November, 2020, so we may never know for sure just how many more killings he carried out before his arrest in 1981. One thing the book does make certain is how the incompetence, tunnel vision, disorganization and ass-covering of British police forces ensured he was left free to kill long after he could and probably should have been caught.

When reading about police bungling in serial-murder cases, I try my best to remember that true-crime writers are operating with the benefit of hindsight. If only we could catch murderers after they’d already been caught, it would be so much easier.

Indeed, if law enforcement actually did their jobs well in catching a serial killer, we wouldn’t know about it, because they’d have caught him before he killed more than one person. But that’s another post.

But there really is no excuse for how badly the Yorkshire Ripper case was screwed up. Different police forces across the United Kingdom barely communicated with each other. A hoax cassette tape purporting to be from the killer sent police on a wild goose chase after suspects with the same accent. And - as is far too common in such matters, including the Robert Pickton murders here in Canada - police failed to take many of the murders seriously because the victims were sex workers and therefore considered disposable, if not deserving of their cruel fate.

Clark and Hicks have backgrounds in law enforcement, and at the end of the book they offer some suggestions about how such matters should be handled in the future. Sadly, such insightful moments are few and far between. Inside the Mind of the Yorkshire Ripper contains some intriguing material from which a better book may someday be written.

And maybe, just maybe, that book will explain why Sutcliffe did it. Despite that title, there isn’t much about it in this one.

Following on from 'The Secret Murders' this well written book gives an in depth view into the mind of serial killer Peter Sutcliffe who escaped detection for multiple murders and attempted murders across the UK and abroad
The almost unbelievable incompetence of the police at the highest level, the bigotry and parochial jealousy allowed Sutcliffe to go on his murderous spree for 15 years
So sad for the relatives of the victims of Sutcliffe from all over the country who have never had closure for the 'unsolved' murders which were almost certainly down to his hand
The most worrying thing is that though there might be some improvements in the liaison between forces, technology has improved but there's still an awful lot of lessons that have not been learnt
The fact that three men have wrongly served long jail sentences after being coerced into making a confession emphasises just how badly things can go wrong
Openness and truth needs to be followed at the highest level

I went into this one expecting some really deep psychological exploration. But all it really ended up being was a lot of info dumping with some ‘but we thought this’ thrown in for good measure.

The facts were all very interesting, but 90% of which was already pretty much public knowledge. Similarly, their own thought process and the things they’d researched & uncovered were interesting. But almost pointless? I’m not sure.

I would definitely say this was more of listed facts with research and theories interwoven. Not a bad read by any stretch but definitely not what I was expecting.

Having recently watched the ITV series 'The Long Shadow' which detailed the Yorkshire Ripper case I was interested to read this book. It is obviously very well researched and I would recommend it. The only point I would make is that the authors seemed hell bent on attributing certain murders to Sutcliffe with a lot of inconclusive evidence being proffered.

A shicking insight based on the timeline if all the possibke crimes of the yorkshire ŕippet. Factual and concisely told this pulls no punches. It reveals more than the public and also scary insights into the fact tgat leadins have not been learnt. I found this a really harrowing read especially the ways the police continue to make mistake and cover things
This highlights the need for true investogation and i look forward to reading more.investigation. highly recommended for anyine with an interest in true crime or the state of the police gorce and its relationships.
Take you netgallery and publisher and authors for 5 star read

dnf at 43%*

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for this book's ARC.

I'm sad to say I did dnf this book, not to say that I didn't enjoy what I read but I thought I'd be getting some more out of this book which I did not get. I thought I would be getting some real depth information on The Yorkshire Ripper and the inner workings of his mind and this just wasn't it.
Clark and Hick's within this novel go into depth on Sutcliffe's real and assumed victims, not just treating them as a victim of said crime but talking about them as the human beings they were/are such as whatever information they could find of their life and history which I think is an amazing touch. This is super unique for crime fiction and I applaud them for that as often victims in true crime novels aren't even named! They go on to highlight many victims that are assumed to be Sutcliffe's but not officially proven, almost as a way to try and put these cold cases to rest. I felt as if half of the evidence and police mess ups worked in their favour and the other half sadly did not.

I am completely understanding of the fact that the police can make massive mistakes, especially in the times of poorly constructed records and misogyny. However, we could have done without the constant complaining of said mess ups and just put the facts out there for us the reader to understand, as I think complaining about the police screw ups does nothing, and in fact, makes it worse for said families and victims still fighting for justice.

There was some poor formatting in the kindle version of various maps and lists throughout which did make it difficult to understand some information - probably looks a lot better in print.

I did end up dnfing this purely for the fact it was a lot of repetition on victims, and the crimes he committed which is not what I wanted from this book unfortunately especially as a lot of it is purely speculation. I may eventually finishing reading this at some in the new year, however currently I will be putting it to one side.

What I read I would rate 3/5 as the attention to detail and humane way of speaking about the victims as the people they were/are really was something different and nice to see.

This was a really interesting true crime book. I had never heard of the Yorkshire Ripper so it works as a way to introduce the audience to the case. Chris Clark and Tim Hicks does a great job in writing this.

I’d like to thank Ad Lib Publishers and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Inside the Mind of the Yorkshire Ripper: The Final Investigation’ written by Chris Clark & Tim Hicks in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

The investigation into the ‘Yorkshire Ripper’ became one of the largest and most expensive manhunts in British history. The cases the public are aware of date from the mid-1970s to when Sutcliffe was arrested by a probationary police constable in 1981 for having false number-plates, there are very many cases that can be attributed to him that the police have preferred not to and women are still referred to as ‘missing’ although they are likely to have been his victims.

After watching the excellent TV drama ‘The Long Shadow’, I was taken back to those years when women particularly in Yorkshire were scared to go out alone, so I was keen to read ‘Inside the Mind of the Yorkshire Ripper’. This is an in-depth account of the crimes carefully and diligently documented by the two authors for which Peter Sutcliffe was convicted and many others, some of which mistakenly attributed to others.

It contains a list of the victims and also includes a damning report of the police in various regions of Yorkshire who preferred to ignore evidence that if released into the public domain would have shown how they deliberately mishandled these investigations through incompetence, corruption and/or police politics. Had they taken notice of evidence given by independent witnesses the crimes attributed to Sutcliffe would have been solved earlier and the killing stopped, but those in charge preferred to disregard or ridicule witnesses allowing the Yorkshire Ripper to remain free. I was shocked by the list of Sutcliffe’s victims who were women and men, with some cases proven but others not, and a shiver went up my back when I read of the areas his crimes took place in the London/Beds/Herts areas which were close to where I lived at the time.

It’s obvious that the authors have put a tremendous amount of time and effort into writing this book and I appreciate being given the chance to read it. The overriding impression I’ve been left with is that the whole investigation, regardless of which police force was in charge, was grossly mishandled and while I’d hope that lessons would be learnt I’m not sure they will be which is a depressing thought to end on.

I only knew the name of the Yorkshire Ripper but not much of his murder spree. This book was very informative in that regard for me, which was stimulating. This book is actually a chronological line of the Yorkshire Ripper’s spree written through his numerous victims (of the murders and the attempted murders). The emphasis is on these victims, and not the perpetrator. And I thought that it was a very respectful tribute to the victims. The book is filled with informations about the victims and who they were before they met the Yorkshire Ripper. Some of them are unidentified but they still are talked about, they are not forgotten. This book also displays the incapacities of the police, which are highly frustrating.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

After watching the ITV series, I was keen to learn more about the murderer that, the Yorkshire Ripper was. Serial killers are wired differently to that of the rest of us, and I've always had a morbid fascination with them. This title acted as a tremendous deep-diving tool surrounding the man's psychology, and it examined what his life was like and the potential factors as to why he became what he became. He hated women, especially those going against what was the grain in society. I recommend this for a great informative view of the man and the subsequent deaths he caused.