This is the story of Frances Coles. Seen by many as the last Jack the Ripper murder. But is that true? Was Frances Coles his last victim or was she murdered, in the manner of the Whitechapel killer, by someone else?
The purpose behind the narrative is to examine that single premise and ask the question, did Jack re-appear three years after the murder of Mary Kelly, and strike Frances Coles down beneath the railway arch at Swallow Gardens?
The killing certainly has all the hall marks of the Ripper, time of night, location, weapon used, etc. which is what brings it into the Ripper Compendium of murder. It was also widely accepted by press and public alike back in 1891 that that is where it belonged. But police investigating her murder were never truly convinced.
So, using their records, inquest accounts and accounts of other similar murders committed in London police’s H Division district during the 1880’s, the book examines the veracity of those Ripper claims and assesses, in detail, the evidence both for and against.
Frances Coles brutal death, much overlooked by writers since the turn of the nineteenth century, is here given a modern, in-depth analysis. Something much needed if we are to understand not only how Jack the Ripper operated, but also just how difficult policing was in the 1880’s. Particularly in Whitechapel where, during that decade, murder was rife and justice absent.
Buy “Return of the Ripper? The Murder of Frances Coles”
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