Babes in the Wood

Babes in the Wood by Graham Bartlett with Peter James takes us to the heart of a murder case that shocked the nation. Both gripping police procedural and an insight into the motivations of a truly evil man, it is a unique 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 bestselling 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?

About the Author

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. He lives in Sussex.

Peter James has garnered an army of loyal fans throughout his storytelling career - which also included stints writing for TV and producing films. He has won over forty awards for his work, including the WHSmith Best Crime Author of All Time Award, Crime Writers' Association Diamond Dagger and a BAFTA nomination for The Merchant of Venice starring Al Pacino and Jeremy Irons for which he was an Executive Producer.