Not a very convincing hoax, and a very poorly written book. I've much more enjoyed reading the book being debunked online.

Absolutely could not put this down. it is interesting to think that there was a diary that was kept to be found later one day. Makes you wonder so many things.

A book which gives more questions than answers, but surely not really concerning the Ripper Case!

Interesting read about the finding of a diary that appears to be of James Maybrick, who may be Jack the Ripper. Harrison goes into many details about trying to find the truth of whether the diary is authentic and how it came to be where it was found. It also goes into details of Florie Maybrick's trial for the death of James, who appears to have been a long time addict.

Most of the time Harrison manages to do a decent job of presenting all sides, though it is clear she believes the book is the diary of Jack the Ripper. She discusses the many questions still left to be answered.

The main problem I had was occasional assertions that either she didn't state evidence for, or her support was stated earlier but was not strong enough for me to remember. The item that sticks out most in my mind is the assertion that one of James' brothers was in love with Florie; an assertion was made as if it was already established in the book, and I didn't recall hearing anything about it earlier. Later there was a reference to missing letters from the brother to Florie but didn't explain why anyone believes the letters existed.

This was an interesting book about the discovery of a diary believed to be written by Jack the Ripper. I especially enjoyed the testing processes used to authenticate the diary.

I suppose I should start off by saying that I totally believe that the diary is genuine. I was basically convinced after watching the documentary based on this book and after reading the book, I'm even more convinced. So, with that disclaimer out of the way, I want to talk about writing and overall quality of the book.

I don't think you need to believe in the authenticity of the diary to enjoy this book or find it interesting. I also don't think you need to have any interest in Jack the Ripper before you read this book, I sure didn't. However, I would recommend that you watch the documentary first and if your interest is peaked, read the book. The documentary is a good preview to the book for people who don't know anything about the diary or about Jack the Ripper.

Though this book is incredibly interesting, I found the writing to, at times, be rather irritating. She writes with a journalistic style, which is not at all meant as a complement. The writing was often unnecessarily verbose. It sometimes felt like she ate a thesaurus. Also, holy mother of exclamation points. (Okay, as much as I'm complaining it doesn't really get in the way of the information being conveyed, but I certainly wouldn't want to read any fiction from her).

Besides the writing, I don't have any complaints. This is an utterly fascinating book. I thought it was very well organized and was clear and upfront about the facts. There is so much more in the book than in the documentary (also make sure you get the most recent addition which has updates).

There are several different "narratives" in the book: there's the story of how the diary was found and what happened to the family that found it; there's the story of researching the diary and writing the book; there's, of course, the story of James Maybrick, first presented separately from the diary; the historical facts of Jack the Ripper; James Maybrick and Jack the Ripper viewed from the perspective of the diary; the story of the trial; and finally what happened to the Maybrick family. Every part is fascinating. Even if you don't believe in the authenticity of the diary, the story of the diary itself is worthwhile and so is everything that was discovered about the Maybrick family and the sensational trial of Florence Maybrick.