Babes in the Wood Two girls murdered. A guilty man walks free. Can the police get justice?

by Bartlett, Graham; James, Peter

• ISBN13: 9781529025569
• ISBN10: 1529025567
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2020-02-20
• Publisher: Pan

Summary

Both gripping police procedural and an insight into the motivations of a truly evil man, Babes in the Wood by Graham Bartlett with Peter James is a fascinating account of what became a thirty-two year fight for justice.

On 9 October 1986, nine-year-olds Nicola Fellows and Karen Hadaway went out to play on their Brighton estate. They would never return home; their bodies discovered the next day concealed in a local park. This devastating crime rocked the country.

With unique access to the officers charged with catching the killer, former senior detective Graham Bartlett and bestselling author Peter James tell the compelling inside story of the investigation as the net tightens around local man Russell Bishop. The trial that follows is one of the most infamous in the history of Brighton policing – a shock result sees Bishop walk free.

Three years later, Graham is working in Brighton CID when a seven-year-old girl is abducted and left to die. She survives . . . and Bishop’s name comes up as a suspect. Is history repeating itself? Can the police put him away this time, and will he ever be made to answer for his past horrendous crimes?

'An extremely well-written and detailed account' - Adam Hibbert, former head of Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team

'A triumph . . . Babes in the Wood should be required reading for all budding detectives' - Malcolm Bacon, former DI

Author Biography

Graham Bartlett was a Sussex police officer for thirty years. In 1989 he was posted to Brighton and Hove, becoming a detective the following year. Quite uniquely he served the city through every rank, rising to become a homicide senior investigating officer and Detective Superintendent for Public Protection as well as a strategic firearms and public order commander. He then achieved his life's ambition, as Chief Superintendent, to become the city's Police Commander – or, as Peter James jokingly called him – the 'Sheriff of Brighton', a job he held and loved for four years. He pioneered Operation Reduction, the enduring approach to slashing drugs deaths and reducing crime as well as cutting disorder at protests by adopting methods developed by one of the world's foremost crowd psychologists. He wrote Babes in the Wood with Peter James. He lives in Sussex.

Peter James is a UK No.1 bestselling author, best known for his Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, now a hit ITV drama starring John Simm as the troubled Brighton copper.

Much loved by crime and thriller fans for his fast-paced page-turners full of unexpected plot twists, sinister characters, and accurate portrayal of modern day policing, he has won over 40 awards for his work including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award and Crime Writers’ Association Diamond Dagger.

To date, Peter has written an impressive total of 19 Sunday Times No. 1s, sold over 21 million copies worldwide and been translated into 38 languages. His books are also often adapted for the stage – the most recent being Looking Good Dead.