New book coming soon: Decoy
In two weeks' time, Rob's second true crime book will be published - subscribe for extras
Decoy tells how a group of 12 rookie female police officers caught one of Britain’s most-wanted men in an undercover sting in 1979.
By January 1979, detectives were at their wits’ ends.
For nearly two years a man had been preying on women in the city of Bristol, UK, attacking at will.
Women who survived the sex attacks were able to provide officers with a description. But there seemed to be no pattern to the timing of his assaults. He would attack in short bursts and then vanish for months.
A young PC, Chris Gould, saw a documentary about agent provocateur tactics in the USA and wondered if they might be trialled in this case.
This coincided with a rise in the recruitment of female officers. And, frankly, the male top brass seemed a bit unsure what to do with these new women in uniform… they suffered institutional misogyny, come-ons, practical jokes of the darkest kind and over-protection.
What to do with these girls?
Desperate, the force agreed to Chris’s idea and assembled a team of 12 new starters - some of whom were still teenagers.
They would act as bait to try to entrap one of Britain’s most dangerous men
After months of failure - many arrests but none the target - the operation started winding down.
And then, in the early hours of March 23rd 1979, a young WPC, Michelle Tighe, heard a crackle in her earpiece ‘You’ve got a killer on your track…’
The story culminates in a moment of pure drama as Michelle confronts and catches the man police have hunting for years.
And while Decoy is set mostly in the late 1970s, it has been brought straight up-to-date. The perpetrator had been released and last year was convicted of yet more offences committed as an 82-year-old.
He remains a risk to women.
Decoy is more than a true crime thriller. It is about women and their place in policing, a study of the long-term impact of sexual assault and the nature of a true monster.
You can pre-order copies here in the USA
This follows Rob’s first book - To Hunt A Killer - co-written with murder detective Julie Mackay. This won ‘Best New Author’ award at the True Crime Awards and was shortlisted for a CWA Gold Dagger.
To celebrate the release, Behind The Crimes will be publishing extras about this incredible story - which is set over sixty years.
Decoy is being published with HarperCollins on April 25th.