Murder has transfixed the popular press for centuries. But it was only in the second half of the twentieth century that murder began saturating front pages and making these monsters what we today recognise as modern celebrities.It was three serial killers, caught and executed in the few years after the end of the Second World War, who precipitated a level of public furore never seen before. Neville Heath, a 'charming' sadist who killed two women; John George Haigh, the Acid Bath Ki...

They were an elite group of renegade Fleet Street crime reporters covering the most notorious British crime between the mid-1930s and the mid-1960s. It was an era in which murder dominated the front and inside pages of the newspapers – the 'golden age' of tabloid crime. Members of the Murder Gang knew one another well. They drank together in the same Fleet Street pubs, but they were also ruthlessly competitive in pursuit of the latest scoop. It was said that when ...

Neil Root is the author of seven non-fiction books and has twice been longlisted for CWA Gold Dagger Award. He has also written for a variety of outlets including BBC News Magazine, Press Gazette, Sunday Mirror and Sunday People.

The last time that anyone heard from 35-year-old Claudia Lawrence, a chef at the University of York, was when she sent a text message to a friend on 18 March 2009 at 8.23 p.m. She has never been heard from or seen again, and her disappearance is a mystery that endures to this day.What happened to Claudia that early spring evening - or was it early the following morning on her way to work? There had been nothing abnormal about her behaviour before she vanished, and there were no sig...

What drives a person to risk their life by entering the deadly world of high-level espionage?A unique investigation of the most important cases of the twentieth century, this exploration of the world’s most glamorous and dangerous job – including information newly released under the Freedom of Information Act – will keep you enthralled until the last page. Neil Root’s insightful book focuses on the personalities of many enigmatic figures, discusses their motivations and influences,...

Political idealism? Financial reward? The thrill of the chase? What drives a person to risk their life by entering the deadly world of high-level espionage?A unique investigation of the most important cases of the twentieth century, this exploration of the world’s most glamorous and dangerous job – including information newly released under the Freedom of Information Act – will keep you enthralled until the last page. Find out the dark secrets of:• Sidney Reilly, considered...

The Metropolitan Police of the mid-twentieth century, in particular The Flying Squad and Obscene Publications Squad, has been described as 'the most routinely corrupt organisation in London'. Larger-than-life characters such as Ken Drury and Alfred 'Wicked Bill' Moody routinely fraternised with underworld figures, paid off witnesses and struck dodgy deals to get their man – regardless of whether he was innocent or guilty. And the problem went far beyond a couple of 'bent' ...

Peter Rachman dominated housing in post-war London - he owned vast swathes in the west of the city, accumulating huge wealth as his tenants lived in squalor and fear of his hard-nosed collectors and enforcers. He was also at the heart of the city's murky, post-war underworld.In Slumlord, Neil Root pulls back the curtain on this seedy world to paint a portrait of a fascinating man whose path intersected with figures as diverse as Christine Keeler, the glamorous society girl at the h...

LONGLISTED FOR THE CWA ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION 2026'A fascinating and meticulously researched look at the biggest gay scandal to hit the headlines until Oscar Wilde. Absolutely a must-read.' – Paul Donnelley, author of 501 Most Notorious CrimesIt's the summer of 1889, and the royal family is in crisis.It is well known in polite society that the Prince of Wales's eldest son and his aristocr...

In March 1999, just months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, human rights lawyer Rosemary Nelson was assassinated when a bomb exploded under her car. The attack was claimed by a loyalist paramilitary group but, over the last ten years, there have been several government enquiries into Nelson's murder. The latest one, which has been ongoing since 2005, has dramatically alleged that there may have been some security service collusion in the killing. Rosemary Nelson came to prom...

'Next to Curtis Warren, the Krays were pathetic minnows.' --THE OBSERVERCurtis Warren is an underworld legend, the Liverpool scally who took the methods of the street-corner drug pusher and elevated them to an art form. He forged direct links with the cocaine cartels of Colombia, the heroin godfathers of Turkey, the cannabis growers of Morocco and the ecstasy labs of Holland and Eastern Europe. His drugs went around the world, from the clubs of Manchester and Glasgow to the beaches...

'Addictive and deeply moving' Independent'Utterly gripping' Anthony Beevor, Daily Telegraph'Enthralling ... A reminder that heroism can be found in the most unlikely places' Evening Standard'I have seldom enjoyed a spy story more than this one' Max Hastings, Sunday Times_____________________D-Day, 6 June 1944, the turning point of the S...