Maxim Jakobowski - Mammoth Book Of Jack The Ripper Stories

[dem bones]

Maxim Jakobowski - The Mammoth Book Of Jack The Ripper Stories (Robinson, 2015)

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Maxim Jakobowski - Introduction

Barbara Nadel - Bertie
Rhys Hughes - The Guided Tour
Columbkill Noonan - Martha
John Moralee - The Ripper Legacy
Martin Edwards - Blue Serge
Paul A. Freeman - The Simple Procedure
Vanessa de Sade - Jack's Back
Josh Reynolds - A Mote Of Black Memory
M. Christian - Catch Me When You Can ...
Terry Davis & Patrick Jones - Ripper Familias
Michael Gregorio - Kosher
Alex Howard - Boiling Point
Stephen Dedman - Oh Have You Seen The Devil?
Sarah Morrison - Flowers Of The Chapel
Martin Gateby - The Roebuck Cabal
Andrew Lane - A Small Band Of Dedicated Men
Nic Martin - Dear Boss
K. G. Anderson - His Last Victim
Violet Addison & David N. Smith - The Face Of The Killer
Keith Moray - A Head For Murder
William Meikle - The Keys To The Door
Cara Cooper - It's All In The Genes
Brett McBean - A Child Of The Darkness
Andrew Darlington - My Name Is Jack
Betsy van Die - An Anatomically Inspires Tale
David Bishop - The Ballad Of Kate Eddowes
Nick Sweet - They All Love Jack
Steve Rasnic Tem - Monkeys
Erin M. Kennemer - Knowledge Of Medicine
Adrian Ludens - The Monster's Leather Apron
Catherine Lundoff - Bluebeard's Wife
Martin Feekins - Signed Confession
C. L. Raven - Autumn Of Terror
Nicky Peacock - Madame X
Alvaro Zinos-Amaro - The Ripper Is You
Sally Spedding - Trespass
Adrian Cole - In The Wake Of The Autumn Storm

Blurb:
Jack the Ripper as he has never been seen before . . .

Countless theories have been put forward by Ripperologists as to the identity of the notorious Victorian serial killer, but in the absence of proof how can we hope ever to unearth his real identity? How many more plausible new theories based on the known facts can the experts hope to come up with?

In this wonderful collection of newly-commissioned stories, Jakubowski has compiled an extraordinary array of fresh explorations into the identity and activities of Jack the Ripper - this time unabashedly fictional, unrestrained by the facts of the case. Contributors include Vanessa de Sade, Sarah Morrison, Betsy van Die, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro and Sally Spedding

Cumulatively, they propose numerous possible identities, some already suggested by historians, others more speculative, including some famous names from history and fiction - even Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are on the case!

****

Library loan. Not sure I'll find time/ stamina/ inclination to comment on all forty, but will note any personal picks as and when I hit them. A case in point being:

Paul A. Freeman - The Simple Procedure: Holmes nonchalantly confronts the Whitechapel Monster with concrete proof that he is not only the Ripper, but also the notorious 'Strangling Stan' of Afghanistan. Rather than hand him over to the Police - quite frankly, those bunglers don't deserve to catch him - the man who put the mental in elemental has a sensible proposition. If the Ripper agrees to undergo simple corrective brain surgery as performed by Holmes himself, there will be no more said about the matter.

[Jojo Lapin X]

Nothing by Caitlin Kiernan? (Private joke; sorry.)

[dem bones]

Another good 'un.

Chrissie Demant Essex Wharf, Durward Street, c. 1988

Martin Gateby - The Roebuck Cabal: The Roebuck Public House (RIP), junction of Brady Street & Durward Street, Whitechapel, 1920. For thirty-two years a thirteen-strong extra-Judicial secret society have used the upstairs rooms as their meeting place. The Cabal - who include Inspector Frederick Abbeline, Dr. Llewellyn, Dr. Bell, Rabbi Coriell, Prof. Van Dusen, Walter Sickert, Dr. Oxley, Colonel Openshaw and Harry Dickson (American action detective) - are sworn to destroy the person(s) responsible for the Ripper murders. At last they believe they have their man, namely Charles Allen Lechmere, 76, of Driffield Street, Bethnal Green, a meat porter made good. Abbeline and Llewellyn suggest a raid on his premises as they believe Lechmere will still be in possession of a grisly trophy he liberated from Millers Court ....

Even as late as the 'nineties, The Roebuck was a proper Whitechapel pub. Grotty, surly landlord, sinister locals, outside bogs, By The Time I Get To Phoenix on the jukebox, etc. There's a photo and report on its later years on Ripper-Land.

Chrissie Demant Board School, Durward Street, c. 1988

[jamesdoig]

At least a couple of Aussies in there - Stephen Dedman and Brett McBean.

[dem bones]

Not sure I've read any Brett McBean, but Stephen Dedman's football-is-horror classic, The Wind Sall Blow For Ever Mair in Gathering The Bones.

Happy Australia Day, James, Mark and Monker.

[lena01]

Maxim Jakubowski (1944) is a crime, erotic, science fiction and rock music writer and critic.

Jakubowski was born in 1944 in England to Russian-British and Polish parents, but raised in France.Jakubowski has also lived in Italy and has travelled extensively. Jakubowski edited the science fiction anthologies Twenty Houses of the Zodiac (1979), for the 37th World Science Fiction Convention (Seacon '79) in Brighton, and Travelling Towards Epsilon, an anthology of French science fiction. He also contributed a short story to that anthology.

He has worked in book publishing for many years, which he left to open the Murder One bookshop, the UK's first specialist crime and mystery bookstore. He contributes to a variety of newspapers and magazines, and was for eight years the crime columnist for Time Out and, from 2000 to 2010, the crime reviewer for The Guardian. He is also the literary director of London's Crime Scene Festival and a consultant for the International Mystery Film Festival, Noir in Fest, held annually in Courmayeur, Italy. He is one of the leading editors in the crime and mystery and erotica field, in which he has published many major anthologies, including the annual Mammoth Books of Best New Erotica and Best British Crime. In addition, he has over 80 other anthologies to his credit, including titles on Vintage Crime, Pulp Fiction, Jack the Ripper, the Kama Sutra and countless areas of popular culture. He has edited several classic lists such as Black Box Thrillers for Zomba Books, Blue Murder for Simon & Schuster and (later) Xanadu, Eros Plus and Neon and the MaXcrime imprint for British publishers John Blake Publishing. He is a past winner of the Karel and the Anthony awards. He is also a translator from French and Italian.

His novels include It's You that I Want to Kiss, Because She Thought She Loved Me, The State of Montana, On Tenderness Express, Kiss Me Sadly, Confessions of a Romantic Pornographer and I Was Waiting for You. His short story collections are Life in the World of Women, Fools for Lust and the collaborative American Casanova. He is a regular broadcaster on British TV and radio and was voted the fourth Sexiest Writer of 2007 on a poll on the Crimespace website. His latest novel was published in 2011, Ekaterina and the Night.

He is strongly rumoured to be one of the authors behind the bestselling erotic author Vina Jackson, but this has never been confirmed.

For many years, Jakubowski was Chair of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and is now chair and judge for the Crime Writers' Association Debut John Creasey Dagger; he is also on the committee of the Crime Writers' Association and a frequent commentator on radio and TV. He is currently joint Vice Chair of the Crime Writers' Association.

He wrote the short story "Un Avocat pour Dolorès" under the nom de plume of "Adam Barnett-Foster". When asked why he took the name when he was already known and well-respected, he is quoted as shrugging and saying Le pseudonyme fou vient de frapper - "The mad pseudonym just hit me..."
Jakubowski also wrote a number of books on rock music during the 1980s.
His website is at www.maximjakubowski.co.uk, and lists his complete bibliography.