Before Jack the Ripper, before The Devil in the White City’s H.H. Holmes, the world's deadliest serial killer was Dr. Thomas Neill Cream
Winner – Crimecon CLue Award for true crime book of the year
longlisted for the American Library Association's Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence
Chicago Writers Association’s 2021 Nonfiction Book of the Year – Honorable mention
A Washington Post pick as one of the Top 50 Nonfiction Books of 2021
A CrimeReads pick as one of the Top 10 true crime books of 2021
Japanese and French editions
Book, e-book & audiobook Available everywhere from Algonquin Books & HarperCollins Canada
FILM/TV RIGHTS / U.K. and other foreign rights Available
A New York Times pick as one of the summer’s “buzziest new books." read the NYT review – “Gettng Away with Murder, Literally.”
A New York Public Library Book of the Day
“A true story from the Victorian era, complete with an appropriately Dickensian-named villain.” – Listen to my interview with Tina Jordan on the New York Times Book Review Podcast
Featured in LitHub’s “Ultimate Summer 2021 Reading LisT” / One of Book Marks’ “Best-Reviewed books of the week” – A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Book
“You know of Jack the Ripper, but have you heard of Victorian-era serial killer Dr. Thomas Neill Cream? ... A must for true crime fans.” – 20 of the most anticipated new books to read this July / CNN
“True crime fans will want to pick up Dean Jobb’s engrossing account … builds Cream’s world in vivid, transportative detail; I had a lot of fun being swept away” – A BuzzFeed News selection as one this Summer’s “Books To Get Excited About”
“Cream was able to kill again and again, harming some of the most vulnerable people wherever he went” – from Book Riot’s list of Best True Crime of 2021
AN APPLE BOOKS & AMAZON.COM BOOK OF THE MONTh
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“When a doctor does go wrong he is the first of criminals,” Sherlock Holmes observed during one of his most baffling investigations. “He has nerve and he has knowledge.” Incredibly, as the words of the world’s most famous fictional detective appeared in the British magazine The Strand in 1892, a doctor responsible for a string of murders in Chicago and Canada was preying on women in London’s downtrodden Lambeth neighborhood. Thomas Neill Cream killed as many as ten people in three countries, a rampage that eclipsed the crimes of the notorious Jack the Ripper.
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Thomas Neill Cream as a medical student in 1870s Montreal. Photo: McCord Museum
This is the true story of a Victorian Era monster, the ruthless “Lambeth Poisoner.” The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream is the first complete account of his crimes, his victims, and how Scotland Yard’s best detectives struggled to end his final and deadliest attacks. It explores why the authorities in the United States, Canada and Britain failed to identify and stop one of the earliest and most prolific serial killers of modern times. It exposes the flawed police investigations and primitive forensic tests that enabled him to evade suspicion and detection, how he was convicted and imprisoned in the midst of his poisoning spree, and why he was freed to kill again. And it shows how the stifling morality and hypocrisy of Victorian society allowed him to prey on vulnerable and desperate women, many of whom had turned to him for medical help.
The Glasgow-born son of a wealthy Quebec City timber merchant, Cream earned a medical degree from Montreal's McGill University in 1876 and almost immediately employed his "nerve and knowledge" to lethal effect. His first victim was a young woman in Waterloo, Quebec, who fell ill shortly after their marriage that year. Suspected of killing a female patient in London, Ontario in 1879, he fled to Chicago, where he became an abortionist and murdered three more women before he was convicted of poisoning his lover’s husband, Daniel Stott. After serving ten years in an Illinois prison, Cream was set free in 1891 – and headed for England to unleash his wrath on the prostitutes of London. To the Chicago Tribune, his crimes marked the emergence of a new breed of killer, one who operated without motive or remorse, who “murdered simply for the sake of murder.” Decades later, when George Orwell compiled a list of the most notorious killers in British history, Cream was among the first to spring to mind.
Sketches of courtroom scenes during Cream’s prosecution for murder in London in 1892. (Illustrated Police News, July 9, 1892).
This dark tale of murder and madness, flawed detection, and official indifference is told against the backdrop of the birth of modern policing and forensic methods and Arthur Conan Doyle’s creation of Sherlock Holmes, the iconic sleuth who transformed crime fiction. In a remarkable coincidence, Conan Doyle was studying medicine in Edinburgh when Cream visited the city in 1878, to obtain a license to practise as a physician and surgeon. And one of the renowned doctors who oversaw Cream’s examinations and granted that license was Joseph Bell, whose uncanny ability to deduce facts about people after a lightning-fast study of their appearance inspired the creation of Conan Doyle’s super-sleuth.
The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream takes readers on a journey through Canada and the U.S. and on to London, on the trail of one of history's most callous serial killers – a cold-blooded fiend as brazen as Jack the Ripper. It brings to life a forgotten story of murder and suspense, recreating a lost world where evil lurked on the gas-lit streets of Chicago and London.
Cream on trial in London’s Old Bailey courthouse in 1892. (Author Collection)
Reviews
“Despite his repugnant subject, Jobb’s excellent storytelling makes the book a pleasure to read …. Judicious shifts in time period … keep the narrative moving, (with) carefully chosen digressions into the histories of poison, surgery and law enforcement.” – New York Times Book Review
“Vividly written ... fascinating ... [Cream's] life, in Jobb’s hands, is a splendidly atmospheric journey through the halls of Victorian vice, virtue and, above all, hypocrisy.” – The Times of London Book of the Week, republished in Air Mail
“The definitive account of serial poisoner Thomas Neill Cream ... [an] enthralling real-life thriller ... Jobb’s extensive research pays off in a true-crime masterpiece that will easily sit alongside The Devil in the White City.” – ★ Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Deeply absorbing … Jobb constructs this Victorian-era chronicle with scrupulous authority .… An admirable piece of work, a model for its kind.” – Wall Street Journal
“Intensively researched and vivid ... a clever, clear-eyed look at one of the first known serial killers and his historical context, one that will be enthralling for fans of crime fiction, history and true crime.” – The Irish Times
“Superb ... a real page-turner ... I found this true crime book as good as, or better than, many other fictional accounts of similar manhunts.” – Margaret Cannon, The Globe and Mail
“Jobb marshals the facts … with exemplary skill and diligence; and delivers them in gripping style, in a book that will doubtless find a vast and fascinated audience, across the English speaking world.” – The Scotsman
“Jobb richly embellishes his grim central tale with carefully researched setting, detail, and social mores of the late Victorian era, elegantly contrasted with his eponymous fiend, Thomas Neill Cream …. A vivid, engaging revival of a forgotten Victorian villain.” – Kirkus Reviews – Verdict: Get It
“Jobb does a masterful job of following the investigation … and of presenting Dr. Cream not merely as a murderer, but as a complex, unstable, and deeply fascinating individual. True crime doesn’t get any better than this.” – Booklist
“Extraordinarily well-researched and arrestingly written ... grabs you from its first sentence, weaving a suspenseful tale and taking readers on a grand, if gruesome, historical journey.” – Chicago Tribune
“Jobb writes clean, efficient sentences and re-creates Cream’s heartless life in short, highly dramatic chapters.” – Michael Dirda in the Washington Post
“If you’ve been hunting for your next true crime addiction this summer, Dean Jobb's The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream has it all: a serial-killer doctor, corrupt leaders, and a ground-breaking investigation by Scotland Yard, all within the spellbinding setting of London circa 1892.” - ELLE magazine, “Best New Books to Read This Summer”
“An illuminating, if frightening, book ... Jobb handles this hideous yet compelling story so well ... an absorbing and grim account, The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream is a gripping addition to the true crime genre.” – BookReporter
“[A] chilling true-crime story …. Packed with details that will keep you up at night, The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream is a creepy and fascinating read.” – Apple Books
“Evokes the demented doctor in skin-crawling detail and supplements the narrative of Cream’s sordid misdeeds with plenty of background information about Victorian police procedure. This book will appeal to fans of true crime and anyone with a penchant for Gothic literature.” – Canada’s History magazine
“The work of a scrupulous researcher and compelling storyteller …. Highly recommended!” – Sherlock Holmes Journal
“This book has it all: a sometimes inefficient but relentless investigation by Scotland Yard; Cream’s own blunders as he attempts to frame others for his crimes; a jaw-dropping show trial and execution; and the homicidal peculiarities of a complicated but remorseless murderer.” – Terre Haute Tribune-Star
“Detailed social history that reads like a thriller … Jobb captures the eerie first days of forensic detection, toxicology and Scotland Yard.” – National Book Review
“A true-crime thriller … meticulously researched …. Jobb’s superb writing makes this story as fresh and suspenseful as if it had happened just last week.” – 49th Shelf
“With intense research and propulsive writing Jobb brings the era and the story together in an immersive, compelling read.” – A Toronto Star Summer Reading pick
“Chilling and fascinating … takes on big ideas about the medical profession, forensics, and the tearing of the social fabric. Jobb’s true crime stories are not to be missed.” – A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Book
“Jobb’s compelling account of Cream’s reign of terror will appeal to readers interested in Jack the Ripper or Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper.” – Library Journal
“True crime fans will want to pick up Dean Jobb’s engrossing account … builds Cream’s world in vivid, transportative detail; I had a lot of fun being swept away.” – BuzzFeed News
“Jobb’s compulsive new page-turner … follows the psychopath’s trail in Canada, Illinois & England while showing the early forensics procedures & shoe-leather detective work that helped bring him to justice.” – WBBM Newsradio Chicago
“This fascinating read … takes readers directly into the world of the nineteenth century, an era when societal expectations and lack of sophisticated crime-solving technology could create a vicious serial killer.” – Oxygen Book Club’s July Pick.
“Cream seemed to be an archetypal Jekyll/Hyde character ... but Jobb ... creates a nuanced portrait of Cream that’s much more chilling than Mr. Hyde.” – BookPage
London’s Fleet Street, looking towards St. Paul’s Cathedral, in the 1890s. (Science and Society Picture Library)
“A must-read ... historically rich and shockingly poignant, Jobb’s text is not one to miss.” – True Crime Index
“A book for those who enjoy precise and detailed study ... it works splendidly.” – Washington Independent Review of Books
”If you enjoy true crime, then this book by Dean Jobb has everything you need … a serial killer doctor, corrupt leaders and a groundbreaking investigation courtesy of Scotland Yard.” – International Business Times
“A sweeping tale of detective work and forensic science worthy of a Sherlock Holmes story.” – Quebec City Chronicle-Telegraph
“An exciting whodunit … Jobb also does the unusual in true crime: he describes in detail the lives of Cream’s victims. The scholarship he employed to tell this story is staggering.” – Winnipeg Free Press
“Jobb scares up a detailed account of Cream's crimes, his victims and the social conditions that allowed him to get away with murder.” – Calgary Herald
“Jobb's extensive research not only tells the story of Cream but also gives the reader a rich understanding of the time.” – Canadian Holmes magazine
“First-rate creative non-fiction [and] very hard to put down …. Crime buffs are going to motor through this book.” – Saltwire.com
“Reads like a crime novel that is both grim and hard to put down.” – Southern Bookseller Review
“Dark historical non-fiction … sometimes the most chilling tales are the true ones.” – Zoomer Magazine
“[A] fascinating true-crime story with a Canadian connection … an entertaining read.” – Quill & Quire magazine
“Engrossing … an informative and entertaining true crime text.” – Foreword Reviews
“A notorious murderer … and why it took so long to catch and convict him.” – A CBC Books nonfiction pick
“Follows Cream’s murderous spree and how botched investigations and corrupt officials allowed him to prey on vulnerable and desperate women.” – A Palm Beach Daily News summer reading pick
Interviews, Features & Excerpts
“When a murderous doctor met Edinburgh’s real-life Sherlock Holmes” – My feature in The Scotsman
“The hunt for the Lambeth Poisoner. ‘He had been a good deal about with women’” – My feature in The Irish Times
“What is most extraordinary is Cream was able to poison women on both sides of the Atlantic, in three different countries.” – Sunday Express UK
“A fiend to rival Jack the Ripper.” – New York Daily News
“‘Jack the Poisoner’: New book traces how Victorian serial killer ‘perfected the art’ of killing.” – Daily Mail Online
“As amazing and bizarre and unbelievable some of the events are in Dr. Cream’s life and the effort to bring him to justice, they’re all true.” – From my interview with the Chicago Sun-Times
“How Victorian Era Serial Killer Dr. Thomas Neill Cream Became a ‘Killing Machine.’” – Oxygen Book Club
“This Ontario doctor was taught to be ‘useful and God-like.’ How did he come to be hanged for murder?” – Toronto Star
“When Canada’s ‘Jack the Ripper’ serial killer struck in Ontario.” – An excerpt in the Toronto Star
“Author explores truth of Jack the Ripper suspect with London [Ontario] roots.” – London Free Press
“A Real-Life Jekyll and Hyde: Publishers Weekly Talks with Dean Jobb.” – A Q&A exploring how Dr. Cream got away with murder
“It’s especially chilling when doctors … weaponize the very expertise the public relies on.” – Featured in “Doctoring the Evidence: True Crime 2021” in Publishers Weekly
“Delving into primary sources and contemporary accounts – some of which had not been reviewed in over a century – Jobb explores the life of a cold-blooded killer.” – “The Diabolical Doctor Cream” in McGill News
“Fascinating ... quite the tale.” – CTV Atlantic's Bruce Frisko. Listen to the interview.
“This 19th-Century Killer Wreaked Havoc Across 3 Countries.” – An excerpt in The Lineup
Advance Praise
“A tour de force of storytelling. A wondrous example of creative non-fiction and one of the best books I’ve read this year. Dean Jobb has brought to life not just the Victorian era monster that was Thomas Neill Cream, but [also] breathes new life into Cream's victims: who they were, where and how they lived. And all the while blending in thorny issues of policing, of the fictional detectives being created, of the other serial killers on the loose. This book is both chilling and, for fans like me of creative non-fiction, thrilling.” – Louise Penny, author of the New York Times bestselling Chief Inspector Gamache novels
“A macabre, utterly suspenseful true crime thriller about a forgotten madman every bit as cunning and evil as Jack the Ripper. Dean Jobb combines scholarship with a breakneck narrative so relentless it kept me up all night. Warning: Read with the lights on.” – Abbott Kahler, New York Times bestselling author (as Karen Abbott) of The Ghosts of Eden Park
“The story of the infamous poisoner Dr. Cream is so many things – horrifying, fascinating, and insightful, a portrait of late 19th century police work at a time when the idea of the professional detective was just starting to take shape. And in this vivid and compelling book, Dean Jobb does full justice to that story.” – Deborah Blum, author of the New York Times bestseller The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
Daniel Stott's grave marker in the northern Illinois hamlet of Garden Prairie records Cream's conviction for his murder in 1881. (Author Photo)
“The definitive re-telling of a story about a devious doctor, the dogged investigators who hunted him, and the murders that shocked the world. Dr. Cream’s story comes to life in Jobb’s spell-binding tale.” – Kate Winkler Dawson, author of American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI
“Corruption, madness, murder: Dr. Cream has it all. This is a spectacular and absorbing tale, meticulously reported and vividly told. An enthralling page-turner.” – Jonathan Eig, author of Get Capone, Ali, and King
“A tour de force of research, The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream conjures an era when poisoners roamed the earth – and police seemed powerless to stop them.” – Margalit Fox, author of Conan Doyle for the Defense: The True Story of a Sensational British Murder, a Quest for Justice, and the World’s Most Famous Detective Writer
“Deeply researched and rich in grisly detail, The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream fuses the blow-by-blow efforts to catch a serial killer with the larger picture of crime and detection in the late nineteenth century. A fine piece of social history as well as an extraordinary story, it engrossed me right up to its deeply satisfying conclusion.” – Charlotte Gray, author of eleven non-fiction bestsellers, including The Massey Murder and Murdered Midas
“A brilliant evocation of an age and a fascinating dissection of a serial killer's crimes. Dean Jobb is a first-rate storyteller and historical detective. A real page-turner.” – Lindsey Fitzharris, author of The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
“Dean Jobb’s meticulous research is evident on every page of his gripping study of the extraordinary serial killer Doctor Cream, a nineteenth century ‘monster of iniquity’ whose homicidal career was truly stranger than fiction.” – Martin Edwards, author of Mortmain Hall and the Lake District Mysteries
“Dean Jobb has produced another mesmerizing feat of historical storytelling. The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream vividly recreates the career of one of the most audacious – and deadly – criminals in history.” – Gary Krist, author of The Mirage Factory
“Tense, atmospheric, and effortlessly readable, The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream has all the sinister elegance of a hansom cab emerging from a late Victorian London smog.” – Paul Willetts, author of King Con
