Includes bibliographical references (p. [367]-379) and index.

1. Mr. Nobody -- 2. The tour -- 3. The unfortunates -- 4. By some person unknown -- 5. A glorious boy -- 6. Walter and the boys -- 7. The gentleman slummer -- 8. A bit of broken looking glass -- 9. The dark lantern -- 10. Medicine of the courts -- 11. Summer night -- 12. The young and beautiful -- 13. Hue and cry -- 14. Crochet work and flowers -- 15. A painted letter -- 16. Stygian blackness -- 17. The streets until dawn -- 18. A shiny black bag -- 19. These characters about -- 20. Beyond identity -- 21. A great joke -- 22. Barren fields and slag-heaps -- 23. The guest book -- 24. In an horse-bin -- 25. Three keys -- 26. The daughters of Cobden -- 27. the darkest night in the day -- 28. Further from the grave.

In this new work of nonfiction, Cornwell turns her trademark skills for meticulous research and scientific expertise on one of the most chilling cases of serial murder in the history of crime--the slayings of Jack the Ripper that terrorized 1880s London. With the masterful intuition into the criminal mind that has informed her novels, Cornwell digs deeper into the case than any detective before her--and reveals the true identity of this elusive madman. Enlisting the help of forensic experts, Cornwell examines all the physical evidence available: thousands of documents and reports, fingerprints, crime-scene photographs, original etchings and paintings, items of clothing, artists' paraphernalia, and traces of DNA. Her unavoidable conclusion: Jack the Ripper was none other than a respected painter of his day, an artist now collected by some of the world's finest museums. It takes the world's premier crime writer to solve the greatest whodunit in history. Now, once and for all, the case of Jack the Ripper is closed.