Janet Fife-yeomans

I've been meaning to pick up KILLING JODIE since a friend, who knows her True Crime mentioned the book in glowing terms. I can see what she meant. This book probably told me more about the frustrations of investigating crimes and illustrated the dedication of members of Police more than any other True Crime book I've read in a while. It also provides a very poignant reminder that murder can devastate the lives of more than just the immediate victim(s).

The book is the story of the investigation into the activities of one Daryl Suckling. Accused of rape and kidnap, the tale that unfolds around Suckling's seeming luck in evading conviction is breathtaking (and not in a good way). The way that the original investigators stayed with the fate of Jodie Larcombe for as long as they did really was a profoundly reassuring aspect of this book. Extremely well written, the author, Janet Fife-Yeomans tells the story, she doesn't overtly editorialise, there's no overarching sign of her own voice in the book. The story is told carefully and sensitively, informatively and illustratively without the need to direct a reader's conclusions, emotions or reactions. The events do that perfectly well for themselves.… (mer)