Babes In The Woods by Peter James and Graham Barlett

The Babes In The Wood case is something I have known about from an age I probably shouldn’t have. In an area very local to where I live, in 1986, two nine-year-old girls went missing and were later found dead in Wild Park, Moulsecoomb, just on the outskirts of Brighton. This tragic case took the entire nation by storm and the Sussex Police would spend the next three decades trying to get justice for both Nicola Fellows, Karen Hadaway and their families which they so longingly wished for.

This has always been one of those cases that has just bugged me because I cannot believe it took so long for the perpetrator to be convicted. The man they had originally charged and suspected all along. It recently made headlines again at the beginning of the year when the murderer Russel Bishop died aged 55 of cancer after only being imprisoned for just over three years. This re-ignited my interest in this case so I decided to read this book which has been on my shelf for longer than I care to admit.

Peter James who is one of my favourite authors and one of the lead detectives of the case, Graham Bartlett, when Bishop finally got convicted pieced this book together tremendously. The way in which they managed to give all the details they knew followers of this case would want but at the same time still pay homage to the two girls and their families. Also intertwined with the chapters about the investigation, they spoke of other cases that were similar or that used techniques they later went on to use in order to convict Bishop. I loved this aspect of the book as it gave me other cases to look into after finishing this one. The way in which many detectives present and retired fought incredibly hard for this case over so many years, like it was their own children that had been murdered, just shows how a tight-knit community can come together to support each other. I am so pleased for them that after all this time they were able to get justice for both Nicola and Karen.

I gave this read a 4 ⭐️ rating!

M🌸