Babes in the Wood

By: Graham Bartlett, Peter James

Narrated by: Leighton Pugh

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's 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 small clearing in a local park. This devastating crime rocked their close-knit community and the whole country. 

Following the investigation moment by moment, drawing on exclusive interviews with officers charged with catching the killer, former senior detective Graham Bartlett and best-selling author Peter James tell the compelling inside story of the murder hunt and the arrest of local man Russell Bishop. The trial that followed was one of the most infamous in the history of Brighton policing - a shock result sees Bishop walk free. ‘Not guilty.’ 

Three years later, Graham is working as a junior detective in Brighton CID. A seven-year-old girl is kidnapped and found wandering naked on the freezing South Downs. When Bishop’s name comes up as a suspect, it’s clear history had come close to repeating itself. With the law and science against them, the police are frustrated that, still, he would escape justice for the double murder. 

Decades later detectives are handed a surprise second chance. Can Bishop finally be made to answer for his horrendous crimes?

©2020 Graham Bartlett (P)2020 Macmillan Publishers International Ltd

Exceptionally put together

This is mind blowingly written which will grip your attention to the end, excellent book

Compulsive reading/listening

I never normally write reviews but I was completely gripped by this book.

I moved to Brighton just after the terrible events unfolded and subsequently met a police officer who had worked on Nicola and Karen’s case. He always said that they knew who’d murdered the girls and weren’t looking for anybody else. It was just a question of proving it.

This book tells their story perfectly and also the story of the very brave, intelligent ‘Clare’ who still lives with her terrible ordeal.

Tragic and disburting story

It was okay to listen to. I wasn't massively gripped for some reason, not sure why.

great

I am from Brighton and I remember this all unfolding I was only 12 at the time but this really has left an imprint on the place.
A great book detailing a lot of things that the public never really knew.

Babes in the Wood

Wow what a fascinating and in-depth In-sight to this very harrowing crime. Written with such compassion. So informative. So many facts I never knew about. Brilliant

No words

After this finished, I cried. Such a nightmare that by the grace of whatever, we are spared. And then to be accused of killing your own daughter. It also made me very thankful that those people that work to bring scum to trial and are faced with the worst of humanity every day. I could not do that job.

A superb description of pure evil....

This book is very good - it takes a little bit of time to get going with some slightly cliched and unnecessary detail. However once momentum has been built then it is fast paced and keeps you listening. One tiny tiny issue is the author comes across as being a bit lefty with his observations about cuts to public spending....

Babes in the wood

Outstanding depiction of a real tragedy in ordinary peoples lives. Very thought provoking and shows the resilience of those families

Babes in the Wood

This is an excellent book about a monster who got away with it for too long.

The author gives a balanced account of both the good and the bad including the police.

Well written and well narrated.

Graham Bartlett tells the real story

I don't usually read real crime stories but if Graham Bartlett writes it I will read it . No flannel or over exaggeration just the whole truth told with the facts in a logical easy to understand way