85 books like The Whitechapel Virgin

By Carla Acheson,

Here are 85 books that The Whitechapel Virgin fans have personally recommended if you like The Whitechapel Virgin. Shepherd is a community of 10,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of The Dragonbone Chair

John Morris Author Of The Gatekeeper and the Guardian

From my list on fiction for curious minds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to read a good story, but I also get the greatest satisfaction from writing one, or several. I believe good fiction can say what factual books cannot, and done right, they can offer differing perspectives to any accepted norm. The trick is to let the characters speak, regardless of whether I agree with what they say, or not. The secret to good presentation is to offer the reader the choice to think about what has been said, consider and delve deeper, or not and pass by.

John's book list on fiction for curious minds

John Morris Why did John love this book?

This book introduces a very good series and was responsible for encouraging my love of science fantasy – some of which I write. While I have tried to keep away from more famous authors, this one got through because it really is that good.

As with all good science fantasy, it has various levels, some of the deepest making one think, or you can just go with the flow and enjoy the yarn. That is something I also strive to do with readers, well, I try to.

By Tad Williams,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Dragonbone Chair as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The first book of the trilogy "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" tells the story of Simon, a kitchen boy and sorceror's apprentice, who must find the solution to the riddle of the long-lost swords of power, in order to combat the evil of the undead Sithi Ruler, the Storm King.


Book cover of Silent Fear

John Morris Author Of The Gatekeeper and the Guardian

From my list on fiction for curious minds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to read a good story, but I also get the greatest satisfaction from writing one, or several. I believe good fiction can say what factual books cannot, and done right, they can offer differing perspectives to any accepted norm. The trick is to let the characters speak, regardless of whether I agree with what they say, or not. The secret to good presentation is to offer the reader the choice to think about what has been said, consider and delve deeper, or not and pass by.

John's book list on fiction for curious minds

John Morris Why did John love this book?

Silent Fear is a stunning mystery novel, scary because it is set in an institute for the blind during a lockdown. There is a serial killer on the loose and no inmates have the ability to see their persecutor. Yes, this one gets right inside your mind and I felt privileged to read it.

By Lance Morcan, James Morcan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Silent Fear as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

When you can't hear...death comes silently.

Scotland Yard detective Valerie Crowther is assigned to investigate the murder of a student at a university for the Deaf in London, England. The murder investigation coincides with a deadly flu virus outbreak, resulting in the university being quarantined from the outside world.

When more Deaf students are murdered, it becomes clear there is a serial killer operating within the sealed-off university. A chilling cat-and-mouse game evolves as the unknown killer targets Valerie and the virus claims more lives.

A stunning, claustrophobic, "whodunit" murder mystery, Silent Fear (A novel inspired by true crimes) is…


Book cover of Blood Work

Stephen B. King Author Of Forever Night

From my list on catching a serial killer and how they became monsters.

Why am I passionate about this?

Like most people I know, I have always been fascinated with serial killers, and more importantly why they do what they do. What makes one man murder multiple victims while another with a similar upbringing sells white goods and wouldn’t attract a traffic ticket. In my books, I am as interested in showing my readers why a killer kills, as I am in the hunt to catch him. My goal is to not so much get the reader to ‘like’ the antagonist but to understand, and dare I say even feel sorry for him. We are all products of our environment and upbringing, yet some of us murder others for fun.

Stephen's book list on catching a serial killer and how they became monsters

Stephen B. King Why did Stephen love this book?

Retired FBI profiler Terry McCaleb is recovering from a heart transplant he required after a heart attack he suffered while hunting a serial killer. When a woman urges him to help investigate the murder of her sister who was shot dead during a robbery, Terry discovers it is her heart he received. Possibly the killer wanted McCaleb to recover so he could resume his pursuit. This is one of the finest stories I have ever read; deeply moving, and a very exciting read.

By Michael Connelly,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Blood Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Terry McCaleb, one of the most effective serial-killer investigators in the history of the FBI, hunts down his heart donor's killer. An unputdownable story from the award-winning No. 1 bestselling author.

'Blood Work' - that's what Terry McCaleb used to call his job at the FBI. Eight weeks ago he was a dead man, but now someone else's heart is keeping him alive. Then a newspaper report of his brush with death brings him an unwanted visitor. Graciela Rivers reveals to McCaleb that the anonymous donor of his heart was her murdered sister, and that the police investigation into the…


Book cover of The Trail West

John Morris Author Of The Gatekeeper and the Guardian

From my list on fiction for curious minds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I love to read a good story, but I also get the greatest satisfaction from writing one, or several. I believe good fiction can say what factual books cannot, and done right, they can offer differing perspectives to any accepted norm. The trick is to let the characters speak, regardless of whether I agree with what they say, or not. The secret to good presentation is to offer the reader the choice to think about what has been said, consider and delve deeper, or not and pass by.

John's book list on fiction for curious minds

John Morris Why did John love this book?

This guy writes great Westerns and detective novels, this book being an excellent place to begin. I’ve followed his works online and remain impressed with the characters he creates and the detail plus development of his works. But mostly, I can lose myself in his stories, grab a buzz of ‘feel-good,’ and forget about the outside world for a while.

By Woody Leach,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Trail West as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Four stories concerning a core group of characters and their adventures during the turbulent time after the War Between the States.


Book cover of Lestrade and the Ripper

Jacqueline Beard Author Of Vote For Murder: A Suffragette Murder Mystery

From my list on the bloodiest true crimes that inspired fiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

An experienced genealogist, I became fascinated by true historical crime reports when I found murderers in my family tree. Since then, I have written ten historical mystery books featuring true unsolved crimes. My novels re-imagine what might have happened had the killers been brought to justice. My background in genealogy and vast experience trawling through historical newspaper reports has given me a passion for the past and a desire to resolve the unknown.

Jacqueline's book list on the bloodiest true crimes that inspired fiction

Jacqueline Beard Why did Jacqueline love this book?

No true crime list would be complete without reference to the infamous Jack the Ripper, and of the many books I have read, this one stands out. True, the subject is gory, and for that reason, some might think that humour is out of place, but I like the bumbling detective Lestrade, and the author clearly knows his stuff. The detailed historical research accurately portrays the setting and times of the novel. Trow brings a different approach to a Sherlock Holmes-type story with an easy-to-read and witty style in a book well worth trying.

By M. J. Trow,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lestrade and the Ripper as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book three in the Inspector Lestrade series.

In the year 1888, London was horrified by a series of brutal killings. All the victims were discovered in the same district, Whitechapel, and they were all prostitutes. But they weren’t the only murders to perplex the brains of Scotland Yard. In Brighton, the body of one Edmund Gurney was also found.

Foremost among the Yard’s top men was the young Inspector Sholto Lestrade and it was to his lot that the un-solved cases of a deceased colleague fell. Cases that included the murder of Martha Tabram, formerly a prostitute from Whitechapel, and…


Book cover of Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper

Sharon E. Cathcart Author Of Bayou Fire

From my list on set in New Orleans.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by New Orleans ever since hearing Bobby Bare’s novelty record “Marie Laveau” when I was a child. I had wanted to visit for ages, and Hurricane Katrina made me despair of ever getting there. Now that I’ve been there, New Orleans owns a piece of my heart. When I set out to write Bayou Fire, I was determined to do it right. I read everything I could get my hands on, fiction and non-fiction, about 1830s New Orleans. I wanted not only the facts but the atmosphere. Furthermore, I made several research trips, not only to Crescent City but to the plantations. I immersed myself in the period and the culture to the greatest degree possible to bring an authentic tale to light.

Sharon's book list on set in New Orleans

Sharon E. Cathcart Why did Sharon love this book?

Fanny Newcomb is the daughter of a New Orleans lawyer. Having shunned a marriage proposal from her late father's partner, she comes to work at the Settlement House. There, she teaches reading, accounting, and other skills to young immigrant women in Crescent City. When her most promising student is murdered, Fanny starts looking into matters herself. Why?

One of the other women at Wisdom House, Olive Giddings, is a physician -- she was first on the scene and knows that Nora was strangled. Soon, though, the papers are claiming that Nora is the victim of the Irish Channel Ripper. And then, the House's German carpenter is arrested for the crime. So, Fanny has a vested interest in finding the real assailant and proving Karl innocent.

What I love about this book is the rich historical detail. We not only get a look at women’s roles but also at New Orleans’…

By Ana Brazil,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Fanny Newcomb and the Irish Channel Ripper as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"...a promising start from a new author" —Historical Novel Review.Winner of 2018 IPPY Gold Ben Franklin in Historical Fiction. Gilded Age New Orleans is overrun with prostitutes, pornographers, and a malicious Jack the Ripper copycat. As threatening letters to newspaper editors proclaim, no woman is safe from his blade.
Desperate to know who murdered her favorite student, ambitious typewriting teacher Fanny Newcomb launches into a hunt for the self-proclaimed Irish Channel Ripper.
Fanny quickly enlists the help of her well-connected employers—Principal Sylvia Giddings and her sister Dr. Olive—and together the women forge through saloons, cemeteries, slums, and houses of prostitution.…


Book cover of A Night in the Lonesome October

John Haas Author Of Cults of Death and Madness

From my list on Lovecraftian fiction you might have missed.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been reading Lovecraft, and those inspired by him, since I was in high school. I’ve always been fascinated by the idea that there could be a whole world just outside of sight that we never see, and once we do see we can never un-see. After I’d been writing for a few years a friend of mine suggested/demanded I write a story for him inspired by Lovecraft’s world. Mostly I started it to satisfy him but once the jar was open it all spilled out. I wove in real elements from history, including historical figures. This story ended up winning a major award, but there was still so much more to tell.

John's book list on Lovecraftian fiction you might have missed

John Haas Why did John love this book?

This is such a wonderful mash-up of different elements all brought together.

Frankenstein, the werewolf, Dracula, Jack the Ripper, elder gods, and so much more. This book showed me that a writer can take a traditionally bleak subject and turn it around into something fun. One of the most interesting parts of this book comes from the readers rather than the author.

The book is split into thirty-one chapters, one for each day in October. Fans of this novel will read it one chapter per night throughout that month, experiencing each occurrence at the same time as the characters.

By Roger Zelazny, Gahan Wilson (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked A Night in the Lonesome October as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"One of Zelazny's most delightful books: Jack the Ripper's dog Snuff narrates a mad game of teams to cause or prevent armageddon." NEIL GAIMAN

All is not what it seems.

In the murky London gloom, a knife-wielding gentleman named Jack prowls the midnight streets with his faithful watchdog Snuff - gathering together the grisly ingredients they will need for an upcoming ancient and unearthly rite. For soon after the death of the moon, black magic will summon the Elder Gods back into the world. And all manner of Players, both human and undead, are preparing to participate.

Some have come…


Book cover of Passport to Terror: A Time Travel Adventure

Tom McCaffrey Author Of The Wise Ass

From my list on bringing magic into your daily life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have a Walter Mitty view of the world. If I were a movie character, I would be Edward Bloom, in Big Fish. I have been a lawyer in the entertainment industry for almost four decades. As a result of my personality and profession, my books mix fantasy, science fiction, and the mystical into our everyday world, and I do it in a way that makes you wonder if what I’m telling you is true, causes you to hope it is true and compels you to wish you could join in the adventures.    

Tom's book list on bringing magic into your daily life

Tom McCaffrey Why did Tom love this book?

A time travel book that is clever and fast paced. Spoiled Hollywood types.

A trip back to Victorian London and a fateful meeting with Jack The Ripper. What’s not to love? As a matter of fact, I loved the female lead, Madison Taylor, so much that I included her (with permission) as a cross-over character in my latest novel, Finding Jimmy Moran.

Enough said.  

By Christy Cooper-Burnett,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Passport to Terror as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What really happened to Jack the Ripper?

They always say, "Be careful what you wish for."

I wish I had been careful.

I could've easily sold my time travel machine for billions and walked away. Instead, I opened The Taylor Travel Group where I take the elite on vacations into history, to a time and place of their choice.

But when a big-time movie studio hired my company, I sold my soul.

What was supposed to be a few days of method-actor immersion in nineteenth-century London went horribly awry. Now America's hottest starlet is dead, and Jack the Ripper is…


Book cover of The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie

Jennifer Trethewey Author Of Saving the Scot

From my list on regency romances featuring hot highlanders.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am passionate about historical romance and romance readers. My favorite era in history is the Regency, the period during which the Prince of Wales was named Regent. It is also the time during which Jane Austen wrote. Austen readers are particular about details so it’s daunting to write Regency fiction. Still, I love to write it and read it. I’m also passionate about Scotland, its history, the land, the people, the customs, the folklore, the food, and the music. If you’ve never been, put Scotland on your bucket list. They say it’s the oldest rock on earth. There’s magic there, too. Really and truly. Magic.

Jennifer's book list on regency romances featuring hot highlanders

Jennifer Trethewey Why did Jennifer love this book?

I’ve often wondered what happened to people who didn’t comfortably fit into society prior to modern psychiatry. A condition we now might label as “on the spectrum” was viewed as madness during the Regency. Families would often place their loved ones in asylums thinking they were being kind. Needless to say, asylums were not nice places during the 1800s. Jennifer Ashley tackles the scenario beautifully in The Madness of Lord Mackenzie. After spending many years in an asylum, Ian’s brothers rescue him. But Ian is lost in a world that makes no sense until he meets Beth. Oh! The love!

By Jennifer Ashley,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A woman is drawn to a dangerously intruiging man in this unique historical romance from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ashley.

It was whispered all through London Society that Ian Mackenzie was mad, that he’d spent his youth in an asylum, and was not to be trusted—especially with a lady. For the reputation of any woman caught in his presence was instantly ruined.
 
Yet Beth found herself inexorably drawn to the Scottish lord whose hint of a brogue wrapped around her like silk and whose touch could draw her into a world of ecstasy. Despite his decadence and his…


Book cover of Anno Dracula

Abbas Daya Author Of Demonheart

From my list on fantasy with kiss-ass female protagonists.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always loved reading but really fell in love with fantasy in my mid teens when I discovered the Lord of the Rings and Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone’s Fighting Fantasy gamebook series. I haven’t looked back since. My love of fantasy literature and games led me into a degree in English Lit and writing. My first novel, Demonheart, dark fantasy, was published in 2017. As a fantasy writer, I have to fuel up on a steady diet of fantasy novels and I hope you enjoy my recommended list!

Abbas' book list on fantasy with kiss-ass female protagonists

Abbas Daya Why did Abbas love this book?

I love that this book is set in an alternative Victorian-era Britain where vampires are citizens rubbing shoulders with humankind. At the heart of the book is the Jack the Ripper mystery with vampire, rather than human, prostitutes.

The crimes are investigated by Charles Beauregard, assisted by one of Newman’s original creations – a 400-year-old female vampire, Geneviève Dieudonné.

Along the way, the pair encounter other monsters – with humans as monstrous as the undead – as well as popular 19th-century literary figures and political events like the growth of communism/socialism.

I loved the main characters and unique mystery but also the fascinating cast Newman spiced and seasoned the story with – figures taken from the literature of Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, and Alexander Dumas among others.

By Kim Newman,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Anno Dracula as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

It is 1888 and Queen Victoria has remarried, taking as her new consort Vlad Tepes, the Wallachian Prince infamously known as Count Dracula. Peppered with familiar characters from Victorian history and fiction, the novel follows vampire Genevieve Dieudonne and Charles Beauregard of the Diogenes Club as they strive to solve the mystery of the Ripper murders.

Anno Dracula is a rich and panoramic tale, combining horror, politics, mystery and romance to create a unique and compelling alternate history. Acclaimed novelist Kim Newman explores the darkest depths of a reinvented Victorian London.


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in Jack the Ripper, prostitution, and the Reign of Terror?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about Jack the Ripper, prostitution, and the Reign of Terror.

Jack The Ripper Explore 21 books about Jack the Ripper
Prostitution Explore 74 books about prostitution
The Reign Of Terror Explore 17 books about the Reign of Terror