58567783._SY475_From Goodreads: “ How can someone just disappear?
Step inside a real-life, missing person investigation in this compelling, true crime must-read.
Uncover what happened to missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, as David Videcette takes you on a quest to unpick her mysterious disappearance and scrutinise the shadowy ‘Mr Kipper’.
One overcast Monday in July 1986, 25-year-old estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanished whilst showing a smart London property to a mysterious ‘Mr Kipper’.
Despite the baffling case dominating the news and one of the largest missing persons cases ever mounted, police failed to find a shred of evidence establishing what had happened to her.
Sixteen years later, following a second investigation and under pressure from Suzy’s desperate parents, police named convicted rapist and murderer John Cannan as their prime suspect. However, the Crown Prosecution Service refused to charge him, citing a lack of evidence. High-profile searches were conducted, yet Suzy’s body was never found; the trail that might lead investigators to her, long since lost. Haunted by another missing person case, investigator and former Scotland Yard detective, David Videcette, has spent five years painstakingly reinvestigating Suzy’s cold case disappearance.
Through a series of incredible new witness interviews and fresh groundbreaking analysis, he uncovers piece by piece what happened to Suzy and why the case was never solved.
People don’t just disappear..“

My Review

This was a fascinating book and one that has made me curious about reading more true crime accounts, especially if they’re not gory. Thanks to Jill @Jill’s Book Cafe for highlighting this in one of her Kindle Bargains posts recently.

I remember this case from 1986, mainly because it was all over the news at the time, and probably because it was very scary that a woman could just disappear in London in broad daylight! 😱

I enjoyed following the author and Caroline, his research assistant as the looked through the old police investigations, and then went onto to interview numerous witnesses themselves to try and shed new light on the case. It was fascinating but also concerning that so many leads weren’t followed up and assumptions were made about what happened to Suzy back in 1986. I was shocked so many times as I  read more and more about police incompetence and the way Suzy’s parents seemed to be running the whole investigation from the sidelines!

The whole case really reminded me of  New Tricks a TV series about a fictional group of retired policemen re-opening cold cases and getting results. It’s one of my favourites TV programmes as it’s very funny, but also has some fabulous stories too.  Sadly this case is not funny at all but heartbreaking. 

As David Videcette says near the end of the book ” There can be no victory, for anyone of any type, all the time Suzy remains from her poor parents’ side. All the time she is missing, that she is lost, and never properly laid to rest in a location of her family’s choice – no one should be patting themselves on the back and believing they’ve done a good job.”

I definitely recommend if you remember the case and or enjoy true crime. 

 

Advertisement