The Murders at White House Farm

Jeremy Bamber and the Killing of His Family. The Definitive Investigation.

By: Carol Ann Lee

Narrated by: Charlie Sanderson

Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's Summary

The Sunday Times best seller and the definitive story behind the ITV factual drama White House Farm about the horrific killings that took place in 1985.

On 7 August 1985, Nevill and June Bamber, their daughter, Sheila, and her two young sons, Nicholas and Daniel, were discovered shot to death at White House Farm in Essex. The murder weapon was found on Sheila's body; a Bible lay at her side. All the windows and doors of the farmhouse were secure, and the Bambers' son, 24-year-old Jeremy, had alerted police after apparently receiving a phone call from his father, who told him Sheila had 'gone berserk' with the gun. It seemed a straightforward case of murder-suicide, but a dramatic turn of events was to disprove the police's theory. In October 1986, Jeremy Bamber was convicted of killing his entire family in order to inherit his parents' substantial estates. He has always maintained his innocence. 

Drawing on interviews and correspondence with many of those closely connected to the events - including Jeremy Bamber - and a wealth of previously unpublished documentation, Carol Ann Lee brings astonishing clarity to a complex and emotive case. She describes the years of rising tension in the family that culminated in the murders, and provides clear insight into the background of each individual and their relationships within the family unit.  

Scrupulously fair in its analysis, The Murders at White House Farm is an absorbing portrait of a family, a time and a place and a gripping account of one of Britain's most notorious crimes.

©2020 Carol Ann Lee (P)2020 Macmillan Publishers International Ltd

Couldn't get past the narrator

Might have been a good story but I could not get past the sound of the narrator. Her voice was flat, loud and emotionless. Felt like I was having an uninterested person shouting the book at me.

Spellbinding case but an oddly pedantic listen

Astoundingly dreadful murder case but kind of flat text and narration overall. Felt like I was drowning in quoted passages. Still a very good book if you like true crime, because of the unusually tragic slaughter of a family, and the intriguing suave psycho who committed it.

Great story, wrong narrator

This was a very in depth accounting of a horrific murder that I remember reading about at the time. I had to play it at a high speed to get over the narrators voice which I felt was the wrong one for a book of this calibre!

The Truth is Sometimes Unbelievable

Having just watched the movie about these murders I knew what I was getting into. Even though it was very upsetting I was hooked and could not stop listening. Made me realize how innocent I am. A good ending for a book about a very bad man.

Great book - performance not my taste

This book is full of painstaking detail. A lot of research went into it and is presented to the reader. This is of interest for the true crime aficionado, but doesn’t always make for a great story.

The narrator is trying to make all this detail sound more interesting by presenting it in a breathless, eager schoolgirl voice. Unfortunately, this sounds terribly out of place and inadequate. She has a great voice, but this is not the book that she should be presenting.

Riveting

This is a very well written book, lots of information about the backgrounds of all the players. Very good narration which keeps your attention fixed on the progression of the crime , trial and beyond. I would highly recommend this.

difficult to follow, narration is awful

poor diction, articulation, pauses where there isnt one, droning, strange expression. spoilt a good book

Longer than I'd anticipated!

I wanted to listen to this book before watching the ITV series. I found it a looong listen, yet actually had to slow down the narrator a little as her voice is quite high and the combination of high and fast made the pace hard going for me . The narration is mostly articulated very well, but now and again, misplaced emphasis on a particular word would throw me off the narrative. Also calling a straw boater a straw boa left me wondering, and not listening. I enjoyed the book nevertheless, but might avoid this narrator for further listens. Although the narrator had a 'nice' voice and tries hard at perfect diction, I didn't feel her voice held the gravitas required for the serious nature of the book.

Awful Narrator

Story was good and well written. Gripping and very detailed. But the narrator was awful. Putting in full stops in middle of sentences. Was similar to listening to an automated voice. Put me off. Other than that, it was a good read/listen.

Lots of information but narration is disjointed.

The author has clearly done her research. There is a lot of information to consider and the author remains impartial, merely quoting others and stating the known facts. There are still many unanswered questions but the evidence points heavily in one direction. It's a real who-done-it and worth listening to just to see whether you agree with the final verdict, having heard all of the witness statements and first hand accounts. Some parts are a bit protracted and the narration is poor with breaks in the middle of sentences and a tendancy to emphasise the wrong parts of words and sentences. An interesting listen.

Jeremy Bamber - Personification of Evil & Greed

I remember these events vividly. The White House Farm TV series based on this and another title made me revisit the crime. Comprehensive analysis of the facts. Recommend.

Fascinating and meticulously researched

The deaths of Nevill and June Bamber, their daughter Sheila and her two young sons on 7th August 1985, sparked a massive police investigation. As the murder weapon was found on her body and all windows and doors appeared to be secure, it seemed reasonable that the Bambers' son, Jeremy, who had alerted police after his father called him in a state of panic, was correct in his assumption that his sister Sheila must have performed an act of murder/suicide.

However, certain aspects of the case prompted further investigation and in October 1986, Jeremy Bamber was convicted of killing his family for financial gain. He has always protested his innocence.

Using police and court records, witness statements, interviews, and previously unpublished documentation, Carol Ann Lee charts the lead-up to the murders. She demonstrates how tensions in the Bamber family and their wider circle of relatives and friends, created a web of complex and difficult relationships that did nothing to ease the police investigation. With many contentious issues surrounding the case, not least the matter of the silencer on the murder weapon, she tells a story that points firmly to Jeremy Bamber being the killer. Though Bamber continues to proclaim his innocence, he has yet to come up with anything that will prove he was telling the truth.

A fascinating and meticulously researched book that will delight readers of true crime.

Detailed and thorough exploration of an awful crime

This book is extremely detailed and painstakingly lays out both the background leading up to the awful events at White House Farm and the aftermath. Some reviewers had complained about off-putting pauses in the narration but I found the narration to be very clear and any pauses are purposely placed to indicate quotes either from written or verbal accounts.

Good content, terrible narration

The narration of this book totally ruined it for me. Really odd intonation, strange pauses and dire accents / direct speech. The content is largely good, although the very full history of June and Nevill’s families felt a bit like padding out. However, the narration is SO bad I actually opted to stop and buy the book to carry on.

good listen

narrator got on my nerves towards the end. dragged on a bit in the middle.