This was my first London CrimeCon, a two-day get-together at the Leonardo Royal Hotel near London Bridge on 10-11 June. So, before attending as a ‘Crime Contributor’ – aka an author there to sign copies of their book – I wondered what to expect. Hordes of Ted Bundy worshippers? Jack the Ripper obsessives? Fanboys and girls of the hangman Albert Pierrepoint? In the event, so to speak, I was really impressed by the seriousness and rigorous expertise of the panel […]
The book, written by myself and David Howard, has just been published. It’s a companion to the CBS Reality television series, recounting 10 notorious cases with fresh material. Here’s the promo video for the book, with details of the blog tour.
Murder by the Sea is the CBS Reality series that launched in 2018. Around 100 episodes have been made, exploring murders in a variety of seaside settings. Towns by the sea offer an intriguing backdrop to such crimes. The seaside is where we go for a holiday, to enjoy a better quality of life, or to retire. What could go wrong amid the sunny beaches, funfairs and lovely views? From Blackpool to the Orkneys Plenty, of course. The larger resorts, […]
As the second wave of coronavirus lockdown looms, we all need cheering, so ITV’s three nights devoted to a drama about serial killer Dennis Nilsen this week may be approached with trepidation. Nilsen was found guilty of murdering 15 boys and young men between 1978 and 1983. The case still has the power to dismay us, being a perplexing tale of loneliness and inexplicable horror. Most of the victims were not even missed. ITV’s series, starring David Tennant as Nilsen, […]
Michelle McNamara, who died in 2016, wrote one of the most fascinating true-crime books of the last 10 years. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark charted her obsession with a case about an unknown perpetrator she called the Golden State Killer. The crimes graduated from burglaries to rapes and then murders. They were chilling in their sadism, remorselessness and sheer volume. McNamara was a graduate in creative writing who had an interest in true crime. She ran a website called […]
Originally posted on robinjarossi.com 29 4 18 I’ve just finished the fascinating I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. What an amazing coincidence that California police finally nabbed a suspect for the Golden State Killer crimes so soon after its publication. Finding the perpetrator is the subject of McNamara’s book. Or was it a coincidence? It looks as if McNamara’s investigation may have inspired the capture of suspect Joseph James DeAngelo. The cops somehow surreptitiously got his DNA from […]
First posted on robinjarossi.com 25 4 18 I’m just reading I’ll Be Gone in the Dark by Michelle McNamara. It’s a very readable account of her interest, or perhaps obsession, with a serial rapist and murderer call variously the Golden State Killer, the East Area Rapist or the Original Night Stalker. He committed 12 murders, 45 rapes and 120 burglaries, particularly in a swathe of Sacramento county. Reading McNamara’s account, I have been wondering how the police failed to catch […]
Originally posted on robinjarossi.com 30 8 17 I only devote a page or so to the theory that British light-heavyweight boxer Freddie Mills was the Nude Killer in The Hunt for the 60s’ Ripper. The reasons for my scepticism? Mills never appeared in any police reports as a suspect and there are simply no facts connecting him to the crimes. But there have always been rumours. In the past week newspaper reports have brought these back with a vengeance. A […]
Originally posted on robinjarossi.com 13 9 17 This book will leave you wondering at the injustice dished out to a detective trying to bring a vile killer to justice. You may remember Stephen Fulcher’s story from recent headlines. He was the detective superintendent who breached Police and Criminal Evidence rules in an effort to find abducted Sian O’Callaghan. Sian, 22, disappeared after a night out in Swindon in 2011. When Fulcher’s investigators closed the net on taxi driver Christopher Halliwell, […]
Welcome to the new home of this blog, covering true-crime writing, books and other subjects. I moved it on Guy Fawkes day in the hope that it would arrive with a small bang at least – which is this trailer. It highlights a new series I took part in call Voice of a Killer Special on CBSReality. It is a fascinating look at killers under the pressure of police interrogation. I have a cameo at the end of the trailer, […]
Please take a look at my Substack – www.personsunkown.net – for in-depth features on true crime and non-fiction books on the subject 
