Irish Examiner view: The booming business of murder

From grisly narratives such as that of the 'Yorkshire Ripper', to mysterious murders and disappearances here at home, we are fascinated by true crime stories

Twelve of the victims of 'the Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe: Wilma McCann, Emily Jackson, Irene Richardson, Patricia Atkinson, Jayne McDonald and Jean Jordan. Bottom row: Yvonne Pearson, Helen Rytka, Vera Millward, Josephine Whitaker, Barbara Leach and Jacqueline Hill.

Trends in public taste may come and go, but one shows no sign of diminishing — the obsession with true crime, unsolved mysteries, cold cases, dark tourism, mispers (missing person), and the grisly narratives that encourage citizens to play amateur detective, sometimes to the point of monomania.

Last night at Cork’s Everyman Theatre, patrons were invited to spend an evening with crime investigator, criminologist, and former detective Mark Williams-Thomas for a “unique insight into the lives of killers”. It promised to leave the audience “fascinated and enthralled.”