David Seabrook

David Seabrook (1960 – 18 January 2009) was a British crime writer and journalist.

Life

Seabrook studied English and American Literature at the University of Kent at Canterbury gaining an MA with a dissertation on Marcel Proust. Subsequently he worked as a teacher of English as a foreign language in Greece. Until his death he lived alone at Westside Apartments in Canterbury. He was discovered dead in his flat by Kent police. There is unconfirmed speculation that Seabrook was murdered. However this has never been officially established.

Work

Seabrook is known for his extensively researched books rich with literary and historical associations on previously untouched or assumedly insignificant subjects and locations.

In his book Jack of Jumps Seabrook attempts to identify Jack the Stripper, a serial killer who murdered eight prostitutes in West London in the early sixties. The circumstances are unusual as most of his victims died from choking as a result of forced fellatio. Seabrook gives a meticulous account of the police work however the murderer remains unknown although the book contains insinuations as to his identity.

All the Devils are Here is Seabrook’s account of Kent's unglamorous seaside towns and local literary history.

At the time of his death Seabrook was working on a book about the life and mysterious suicide of the show business solicitor David Jacobs.

Bibliography

• All the Devils are Here Granta Books (2002) ISBN 978-1862074835
• Jack of Jump Granta Books (2006) ISBN 978-1862077706

See also

• Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square

External links

• "He framed a dead man." Article by Johnny Sharp with picture of Seabrook
• A deranged exploration Review by Martyn Bedford of All the Devils are Here
• Great Britain: Jack the Stripper Brief article in TIME Magazine about Jack the Stripper.
• Hooked on murder Review by David Jays of Jack of Jumps
• Tart vision Review by Chris Petit of Jack of Jumps
• Midnight in the garden of England Review by Andy Beckett of All the Devils Are Here
• A situationist by the seaside Review by Brian Dillon of All the Devils Are Here
• How TS Eliot found inspiration at Margate About Seabrook's account of TS Eliot in Margate
• The seductively seamy side of 1960s London Review by Mark Sanderson of Jack of Jumps