I haven’t taken part in a blog tour in years because I hate scheduling posts (and this tour is on Instagram!), but I made an exception for The Case of the Murderous Dr Cream because it’s historical true crime and I’ve never heard of Dr Cream before.

Thomas Neill Cream was a Canadian born in Scotland who, like Jack the Ripper, targeted random prostitutes. Unlike Jack the Ripper (as far as we know), Cream had not one but two killing sprees. He started in Canada, as an abortionist with a suspiciously high fatality rate, and after being released from prison, travelled to London and continued killing. The Case of the Murderous Dr Cream is the story of all these murders.

The Case of the Murderous Dr Cream is a meticulously researched book that closely follows Cream through various historical records. It’s honestly horrifying how the London police managed to overlook all the poisonings even though Cream also engaged in blackmail, which raised his profile. I wonder whether, if they had been more alert, if more deaths could be prevented.

In terms of the structure, the book starts with the release of Cream from the Canadian prisons and how he travels to London to immediately start killing again. We only get to hear about his criminal beginnings later on in the book, when the British police are looking into Cream’s past. I understand why this structure was taken, but I personally wasn’t a huge fan of it because that meant that Cream’s past was sandwiched between his London murders and his trial, and with the number of victims in this book, I needed a refresher when the trial started.

For those of you who like illustrations, this book has many pictures and drawings that are relevant to the section (vs being in the middle of the book as a separate section of pictures) and I thought that it helped in adding context to the case.

Overall, this was a fascinating look into a Victorian serial killer and I have to say that given the time period and number of victims, I’m surprised that Cream has not achieved the same notoriety as Jack the Ripper.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, but all thoughts in this review are my own.