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Saturday, September 8, 2018

Review - The Man from the Train by Bill James

The Man from the Train: The Solving of a Century-Old Serial Killer Mystery
Premise: an undiscovered serial killer operating from 1892 - 1912, now re-investigated decades later with the revelation of viable suspect.

This is an interesting tale of "connect the dots" as the authors painstakingly cover the many crimes linked, but then discounted, so that not every crime is attributed to the suspect that they have in mind. There is a fair amount of detail though when the body count rises close to 100, the facts begin to merge and blur.

The book is divided into sections covering the crimes themselves mainly 1909 - 1912); the trials of various suspects and a look at dodgy detectives, public pogroms, false accusations, witness tampering, the inadequacies of crime detection, over-zealous prosecutorial procedures; a recap of the history of the times in questions; and finally a summation as to why these crimes have not been linked by both investigators and writers alike.

The authors' style of story-telling is such that the reader feels as if they are merely sitting across from them. However, I did warn you that the body count was high and the investigation long, so make sure you are comfortable, and have everything you need to hand before you begin.

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