Jack the Ripper and Abraham Lincoln by Tony McMahon

Book Blurb

An astonishing connection between two of the 19th century’s greatest crimes.

A fraudulent doctor, Francis Tumblety, is implicated in both the 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln and the 1888 Jack the Ripper killings. It seems incredible that Jack the Ripper could have been involved in killing President Lincoln, but the evidence is revealed in this book.

We delve into a murky underworld in America’s Gilded Age and the poverty ridden slums of London’s Whitechapel district following the murderous trail left by Tumblety. A flamboyant huckster, well known in the newspaper gossip columns, whose celebrity masked his homicidal tendencies.

Arrested over the Lincoln assassination then released while others were hanged on the scaffold. Put behind bars briefly by Scotland over the Jack the Ripper killings but then makes a daring escape. The proof is overwhelming that Tumblety was one of the most dangerous criminals of the 19th century.

My Review

My reading mojo has taken a huge hit this year so I wanted to try non-fiction again, and when I was emailed the details of Jack the Ripper and Abraham Lincoln it really appealed to me. Jack the Ripper, the worlds most famous serial killer, a crime that still remains unsolved today. Yes, there are many books putting forward suspects, and that’s what I think makes this case so intriguing, no one really knows. Even if you aren’t a Ripper fan so to speak, Tony McMahon introduces us to Frances Tumblety, and man that is fascinating, renowned in America and Canada as a ‘medic’ and a man arrested as a suspect in the murder of Abraham Lincoln.

I have to admit that I had never heard the name Frances Tumblety before reading this book, but after reading this book I feel he would be a great character for a biopic film. Tumblety was a showman, a quack doctor who rode into town in a flashy suit and hat offereing to cure the citizens ails. His over the top personality got him into the salons of high society, including into the cirlce of Abraham Lincoln. He did have a predilection for young men who he employed as valets, and this is how he became friends with John Wilkes Booth, also a celebrity at this time as an actor. This association had him arrested as part of Booth’s group who murdered Abraham Lincoln. Nearly thirty years later he finds himself in London, trying to ply his trade as a medic, just at the start of the Ripper Murders.

Tony McMahon’s writing is detailed and rich in historical detail which I loved. Even if you take the Ripper element out this is a fascinating and intriguing read about a charasmatic and extraordinary man, not all in a good way. I liked the context of the period, the political, cultural, and scientific beliefs of the time which helped anchor the characters and their actions. I really enjoyed reading about the build up to the assassination of Abrahan Lincoln and his association with Booth. The chapters were perfectly balance with backgroung context and then how that applied to Tumblety.

I really enjoyed reading Jack the Ripper and Abraham Lincoln, it was intriguing, compelling and utterly addictive. Frances Tumblety is quite the character, a man who claimed he was a medic, conned himelf into high society and had a ego large enough to write his autobiography. Was he Jack the Ripper?, maybe, he had the skills opportunity and was around Whitechapell at the time, but I suggest you read the book and read the evidence to decide for yourself.