Jill By Thomas St. Martin

Jill
By Thomas St. Martin
1979 Dell
Paperback, 271 pages

                I stepped out of my usual comfort zone for this one but I do love women-killing-men stories a lot, too. This book is really more of a whodunnit/ thriller than pure horror but I can heartily recommend it to genre fans. It delivers a good story and plenty of gruesome thrills.

 

                Psychiatrist Kelly Cohen receives a package in the mail containing a threatening note from “Jill”. And a real shrunken head. That explains what happened to the head of a murder victim the previous night. More murders occur, and more heads and threats get mailed to Dr. Cohen. It seems the dates of the murders match the dates of Jack the Ripper's murders back in 1888. “Jill” is no mere coincidence… this is a well thought out,  psychotic plan.

 

                The tale moves at a good speed because it’s obvious that Cohen will be Jill’s grand finale and there’s only about a month to solve the case if the murder date is going to match the Ripper’s again. The list of suspects is small but each character is fully developed and possibilities are painted into some of the characters. A dense backstory of one of Cohen’s former patients that he eventually “cured” is told in long flashbacks that are tragic, but exciting in terms of storytelling.

 

                Some bloodshed, a lot of sex (some of it uncomfortable), some misogyny (all of it uncomfortable), and interesting policework all hold this well-told story together. Just exactly who author Thomas St. Martin might be is as much of a mystery as who Jill is. St. Martin has no other books to his credit and the name is probably a pseudonym. The answer to this mystery is anybody’s guess but the answer to the question “whodunnit” in Jill is satisfying if not entirely surprising. (I looked past the red herrings and “got it” eventually, before the cops did!)