That may say more about me than this oh-so-ordinary town, but I am not as shocked as some that these terrible murders should happen in.
For there are an awful lot of towns like Ipswich where nothing much happens, which appear affluent and respectable to those who wish to see.
Oh yes, Suffolk! Beautiful Constable country. And for those who have second homes in Southwold and Aldeburgh it is indeed lovely: the light, the particular shade of green, the big skies. Yes, I have heard for years how fantastic it all is from those who just visit. When I say to such enthusiasts that there is a huge rural drug problem and that Ipswich was awash with heroin when I was growing up,.
Clearly they are under the illusion that drugs and prostitution happen only in urban areas. Not places so quiet that you may die of boredom. At my first bedsit there, my neighbour was a woman called Mary who had run away from home in Scotland.
Her drug was whisky. But anything would do. All this is as grossly titillating as the "experts" salivating over how this serial killer is honing his "skills". There is less discussion of why men want sex with such women. Prostitution is seen as a moral failure on the part of the woman whereas for a man it is "just scratching an itch". The allure of female junkies is hard to understand. She was clearly so agitated I wondered if men were ever scared of her. Look at the geography. Nearby are the huge ports of Harwich and Felixstowe, once a faded resort where I played in rock pools but now a massive and weirdly empty container dock.
