My Review and Thoughts:
This is a thought provoking mystery and yet not. The book
explores this tragic case of true crime. An 8-year-old boy brutally murdered
and mutilated beyond words. The story takes place in the year 1888. It’s a
thick mystery sadly still unsolved. Johnny Gill never got the justice he
deserved. Gill’s mother and father and siblings never got the justice they
deserved. It’s obvious who did it. The book showcases that, but no true
criminal conviction ever took place, even though they tried. The trail was a
sham and the people who had a cheering mentality to favor the one that
basically did the crime is an asinine horror. Johnny Gill should have had his
justice. His killer should have gone to jail, but because there was no
conviction, the crime was never solved, and so the mystery has remained with
this brutal case.
Kathryn McMaster takes on this tragic case and horrible
brutal murder of a child and a justice system that horribly failed Johnny Gill
and his parents. McMaster tells a rich story of character development and a
graphic sense of surroundings. She can transport you back to 1888 Manningham
Lane in Bradford England. You can sense the tension and persona of characters
and the surroundings of the crime. During this time of Johnny Gill’s tragic
murder, Jack the Ripper was killing, and the tension and haunting reality of
these murder cases, hung over the whole of England.
That is also one of the mystery aspects of Johnny Gill’s
case. Did Jack the Ripper kill
Johnny Gill and not the one that was suspected. Letter’s
where received supposedly by Jack the Ripper claiming he killed the boy, and so
that also brought huge doubts, on who was the killer. McMaster in the Afterword
of the book explains her beliefs, and ideas on the subject, and explains in
logical, and very believable understandings of who she thinks did it, and how.
I agree hundred percent with what McMaster says. It’s logical, and basically
the most rational reality of this case. I still can’t fathom why the person was
not convicted, it’s so obvious, and totally stupid of the court, and people
that did not convict. The mob mentality of cheering this cold-blooded killer is
dumbfounding on how stupid they must have been.
But because there was no conviction the mystery remains, and
the tragic horror of Johnny Gill’s mutilated 8-year-old body remains a vibrant
unsolved ordeal. This is 250 pages of a well-crafted story of Victorian true
crime, that I feel, any person that likes a good mystery, and true crime, will
take to this, question just what the truth is. It’s so amazing to see, how this
unfolds.
I am a huge reader and researcher of Jack the Ripper. Like I
have stated some believe that Johnny Gill was a victim of Jack the Ripper, and
because there was no solved justice, sadly we will never know. It just adds
more mystery to the story. Also, there is a secret Club, a sect, a cult that
met in the area that added one more mystery, where some believe Johnny Gill was
a sacrifice, by this secret club.
Johnny Gill had his throat cut, his stomach was cut open. He
was stabbed twice in the chest, his arms and legs had been cut off, and his
ears removed. His penis cut off. His anus cut out. He was drained of blood. So,
you tell me what that sounds like.
So, you Chose:
1. Accident and Unplanned and to cover it up the killer used
brutality.
2. Sexual Rape and then murder to shut the boy up.
3. A Sacrifice.
4. Jack the Ripper Victim
Would I Return to it Again: No, one time was enough? If I
was to write about London in the Jack the Ripper era, I would return to this,
and explore it once again.
Would I Recommend: Absolutely. I think any true crime lover,
true mystery buff, will take to this. Also, great for any Ripperologist wanting
to seek out information outside the basic plot of Jack.
Four Words: Mysterious. Tragic. Emotional. Well-researched.