Witty Little Knitter

I almost wrote 'I had to read a lot of Jack the Ripper-novels to realize my problem with them in general' but I didn't really read and finish many. I started a lot but I only made it through The Whitechapel Horrors (not sure why) and From Whitechapel (which was actually good but really not that much about Jack the Ripper).

So: I had to start a lot of Ripper-novels to realize my problem: I don't believe there was some huge freemasonic/royal/whatever conspiracy that covered everything up and protected the murderer. I believe that the Ripper died/was imprisoned for a different crime/moved away and that's the reason he got never caught.

Narrative-wise this doesn't make for the best novels. Readers want to know who did it. Readers also probably don't want a corrupt policeman who lets a murderer go free. Even if you go for the solution one of The Lodger adaptations went for (the unknown killer escapes from the police only to drown in the Thames) people would ask 'So why did they not make this public?' Of course without a body there'd still have been suspicions (and conspiracy-theories) but if the police said 'he's dead' and there'd have been no murders afterwards...

Long story short: a Ripper-novels needs a killer...and a reason why the investigating police-man couldn't arrest him. A conspiracy reaching high up into the government and/or the royal family is a good reason. It's just that I really don't like conspiracies. Not only when it comes to Jack the Ripper-novels but in fiction in general. (Yeah I sort of enjoy the From Hell movie for reasons that might or might not be connected with the lead actor...) so I will dislike lots of Ripper-novels just because they use a trope I don't like at all (and the rest will be frustrating because the killer isn't revealed or the reasons he isn't caught are forced).

I might have saved money if I thought about this earlier :P

And yes...all this came to me when I started reading the comic (I must also admit that I'm not a fan of the artwork...it's certainly not bad but I personally just don't like the style)