Portrait of a Killer vs The complete Jack the Ripper: Which Should You Read?

Cover of Portrait of a Killer Portrait of a Killer Patricia Cornwell · 1960 ★★★☆☆ 3.5 391 pages · ≈ 7 h 14 m · Moderate
“Monday, August 6, 1888, was a bank holiday in London.”

"Between August and November 1888, at least seven women were murdered in London's Whitechapel area. The gruesome nature of their deaths caused panic and fear in the East End for months, and gave rise to the sobriquet…

1★2★3★4★5★
vs
Cover of The complete Jack the Ripper The complete Jack the Ripper Donald Rumbelow · 1975 ★★★★☆ 3.9 305 pages · ≈ 5 h 39 m · Moderate

Discover the theories and facts surrounding the Whitechapel murders in David Rumbelow's The Complete Jack the Ripper... It is 1888 in London's Whitechapel district, where one by one a group of prostitutes are brutally…

1★2★3★4★5★

The verdict

How to choose

Scores by source

Portrait of a KillerThe complete Jack the Ripper
Goodreads 3.5 (36446) 3.9 (2145)
Hardcover 2.8 (39) 4.0 (5)
Google Books 5.0 (1) —
Apple Books — 4.0 (5)

Reception

Portrait of a KillerThe complete Jack the Ripper
Ratings 36446 2145
Editions 37 14
Film adaptations 1 —
Want to read 20488 —
Reading it now 442 —
Written reviews 1719 —
Wikipedia attention 469 —
Pages 391 305

Side by side

Portrait of a KillerThe complete Jack the RipperEnjoymentDifficultyInfluencePopularityClassic

Shared themes