Dismembered corpses are discovered scattered along the banks of the river Thames, a calculating clinical multiple murderer is on the loose, and the London police have no inkling of the killers identity and, more than a century later, they still don't. In this, M.J. Trows latest re-investigation of a bizarre and brutal serial killing, he delves deep into the appalling facts of the case, into the futile police investigations, and into the dark history of late Victorian London. The incredible criminal career of the Thames torso murderer has gripped readers and historians ever since he committed his crimes in the 1870's and 1880's. The case poses as many questions as the even more notorious killings of Jack the Ripper. How, over a period of fifteen years, did the Thames murderer get away with a succession of monstrous and sensational misdeeds? And what sort of perverted character was he, why did he take such risks, why did he kill again and again?

M.J. Trow has written highly praised historical biographies as well as studies of true crime. He is also a very successful novelist. He has written lives of Boudicca, Vlad the Impaler, Kit Marlowe and the hero of the Charge of the Light Brigade, Captain William Morris. Among his most recent books are War Crimes: Underworld Britain in the Second World War, Foul Deeds and Suspicious Deaths in the Isle of Wight and the best-selling Jack the Ripper: Quest for a Killer. He has also produced best-selling accounts of criminal cases, in particular volumes on Derek Bentley, the Wigwam Murder and Jack the Ripper. But he is perhaps best known for his many novels which include the Lestrade and Maxwell series.