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[Following is a volunteer review of "Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders" by Brian E. Forschner.]

Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders

This book documents six famous rapes and murders that took place in Dayton, Ohio between 1900 and 1910. All six of these famous rapes and murders involved strangulation of young white women between the ages of 11 and 19. This led many to coin the murders as “Jack the Strangler” murders.


Forschner began this story when he was researching the death of one of his great aunts. As Forschner began researching the death of one of his great aunts, he uncovered a history of the six famous rapes and murders that are listed in this book. This book offers a detailed description of how each girl was either raped and/or murdered, as well as the unique social situation their families went through.


Forschner wrote a very detailed description of how each girl was murdered, as well as a very thorough depiction of how the murders affected the residents of Dayton, Ohio. Forschner also did a very good job of describing how the female victims were blamed for their own murders and/or rapes during the early 1900’s. Forschner did an excellent job of explaining how society treated women at this time, even if they were rich, young, white, and successful. Forschner also did an excellent job of portraying the extreme limitations that were evident the police department of Dayton, Ohio at the time of the murders. The detailed descriptions of the way women were treated and the limitations of the police department helped to paint a very historically accurate picture of how the murders were perceived at the time.


This book was hard to read because of the extreme levels of violence that the girls experienced, but I think that Forschner included these details to be as accurate as possible in his narrative of the murders that took place in Dayton, Ohio during the early 1900’s. While I would not recommend this book to anyone who gets scared easily, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a fair, accurate, honest portrayal of the murders that took place in Dayton, Ohio in the early 1900’s.


My favorite thing about this book was that it was written with the intention of giving a voice to six girls who were raped, murdered, and possibly forgotten in Dayton, Ohio. I also enjoyed the fact that Forschner wrote about major social issues that became apparent at the time of the murders. Female victims were oftentimes blamed for being murdered and raped and this in turn caused the reputations of their families to suffer. My least favorite part of this book was the fact that many neighbors falsely accused family members of murdering some of the girls in hopes of obtaining reward money. This was not the authors fault, but this was well documented throughout the book.


I would rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because it appears to be professionally edited and it does an excellent job of documenting real murders that took place in Dayton, Ohio during the early 1900’s. I am also rating this book highly because Forschner documented these murders in hopes of revealing the biases and prejudices that society held against women, especially if they were the victims of rape and murder. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a fair, honest, nonbiased account of six real murders that took place in the early 20th century.

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Cold Serial: The Jack the Strangler Murders
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Having just read and reviewed this book myself, I really appreciate all that you have written! My favorite part was the same as yours. Forschner brought justice to these women whose lives were ended too soon. He gave them back their voices and showed them the respect they deserved.

A great review, thank you!

If you're interested, here's my own review:
viewtopic.php?f=114&t=80921
Let me know what you think!

This is an awesome review Alicia! I can't begin to comprehend the feelings of young girls who've been rape victims. And that too, based on true incidents, this seems quite like a gory book. I'm not sure I can handle that amount of violence and sexual harassment though.

Wow, sounds like an interesting book. The graphic depictions of their deaths turn me off of the novel, I'm not a fan of gore and violence. I like the intent the author had of giving a voice to the victims though! Great review!

I like crime novels, but I think this is a little too intense for me.

It is a great thing that you were able to read and complete reading the entire book given how the author was able to write everything in black and white. I enjoyed reading your review. It is good to note that the six victims were given a voice and people can now have a different view of these rape cases.

I liked your awesome review that brought some good insights about the contents of this book. Such gruesome acts as depicted in this book sound nerve whacking.