I really don't like Patricia Cornwell...


Walter Sickert

She seems ruthless & self-assured but philisophically inept; bloody minded as my Mother would put it. Her personal crusade to prove Walter Sickert was in fact Jack the Ripper has seen her publish the book Portrait of a Killer, which in my opinion & if you have read it I'm sure you'll have to agree, is inconclusive to say the least. She has also destroyed one of his artworks so forensic tests could be carried out - inconclusive. The most frightening thing of all is she has managed to purchase a great deal of Sickert's artwork & other historical documents relating to the artist. What is she planning to destroy next in her obtuse campaign to become the most lauded of all sleuths?

Cornwell stated in a 2001 US TV interview: "I do believe 100% that Walter Richard Sickert committed those serial crimes, that he is the Whitechapel murderer." Unfortunately she does not supply anything more than conjecture to back up these claims. Another quote reads: "I began to wonder about Sickert when I was flipping through a book of his art. The first plate I landed on was an 1887 painting of the well known Victorian performer Ada Lundberg... She is supposed to be singing but looks as if she is screaming as the leering menacing men look on. I am sure there are artistic explanations for all of Sickert's works. But what I see when I look at them is morbidity, violence and a hatred of women." When Ms Cornwell writes her crime fiction does anyone accuse her of committing the crimes she portrays? No, of course not - that would be silly...

Keep your eyes peeled for forthcoming revelations from Ms Cornwell were she proves without doubt that Adolf Hitler was actually Max Beckmann, Margaret Tarrant killed Cock Robin & that the worlds most notorious serial killer is in fact a US President.

Actually, the last one sounds about right...