Portrait of a Killer: Jack the Ripper, Case Closed concludes with a look at how Sickert's fractured pieces and personas seemed to spiral out of control a decade after his 1888 slaughter binge as he withdrew across the English Channel to France and Italy to live very much like the paupers he terrorized. Cornwell writes, "Psychopathic killers can sink into morbid depression after murderous sprees, and for one who had exercised seemingly perfect control, Sickert may have found himself completely out of control and with nothing left of his life....By the time he was fifty, he had begun to self-destruct like an overloaded circuit without a breaker." She describes Sickert's unusual second marriage to one of his art students, his return to London at the start of World War I to begin a period of artistic productivity that would bring him great fame, and the bizarre circumstances surrounding the death and burial of his second wife. (Chap. 28 p. 352-353 para. 5)

With her knowledge of criminal investigation and her consummate skills as a bestselling writer, Patricia Cornwell has produced a book that is as compelling as it is authentic and pays due respect to the people whose early deaths spawned one of the twentieth century's least attractive entertainment industries. Portrait of a Killer is also a subtle tribute to the men and women who conduct modern forensic investigations and the technology they use.