A Desperate Business: The Murder of Muriel McKay

by Simon Farquhar

'Simon Farquhar succeeds brilliantly (and with real empathy for all concerned) in setting the story in its historical, social and emotional context, with the victim and her family always at the heart of his writing … A Desperate Business is an absolute must-read.' - Carol Ann Lee, the bestselling author of The Murders at White House Farm
Winter 1969. Rupert Murdoch, newly arrived in Britain, has bought The Sun and the News of the World, immediately provoking outrage by serialising the sensational memoirs of Christine Keeler. Watching him being interviewed on television, two men hatch a plot to kidnap Murdoch's wife for a million-pound ransom.

But the plan goes wrong.

Following Murdoch's Rolls-Royce to a house in Wimbledon, they are unaware that he has gone to Australia for Christmas and loaned the car to his friend and colleague, Alick McKay. On Monday, 29 December 1969, Alick arrives home to find his wife, Muriel, has vanished.

She was never seen again.

Acclaimed author and journalist Simon Farquhar has spent three years investigating one of the most frightening and perplexing mysteries in British criminal history, which began with a case of mistaken identity and led to one of the first convictions for murder without a body being found. Presenting a wealth of new information and, for the first time, a possible solution, A Desperate Business is a meticulous and sensitive account of a tragedy. It is a story of greed, unimaginable cruelty, and newspaper rivalry, but most of all, the story of an adored woman who never came home.

480 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 27, 2022

Reviews

[Pirate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I usually steer clear of true crime for some reason -- post WWII crime that is. However, I made an exception in this case as I recall it from an early age. A horrific case of mistaken identity which reflects the total incompetence of the perpetrators, the Trinidad-born Hossein brothers, Arthur and Nizamodeen. Thinking they had kidnapped Rupert Murdoch's wife Elizabeth (just after Christmas 1969), they had taken instead Muriel Mckay, married to fellow Australian Alick who he had coaxed out of retirement to be deputy chairman of his nascent media empire in the UK (Murdoch had bought the News of the World and The Sun -- amazingly one learns early on it was anti-capital punishment). Murdoch -- whose father had been Alick's first boss -- had flown back to Oz for Christmas and lent the McKay's his Rolls Royce....from there events spiralled out of control. There are no redeeming features in either brother -- Arthur a sexual predator Nizamodeen a far more sinister personality than the bumbling eccentric one who pleaded he was a 'stranger in a strange land' indeed as a policeman opined 'he could come up with "the perfect, evasive, side-stepping, self-preserving answer."' They were so lacking in the milk of human kindness and empathy they refused to say where Muriel's body was buried causing further upset to the family. Nizamodeen is still alive, though effectively an alcoholic living in squalor in Trinidad, the conceited braggard Arthur long dead. This is a tastefully written and moving account quite rightly giving as much space to the McKay's and the agony they lived through not just during the kidnapping but afterwards. It is great credit to the police and prosecution that they convinced the jury she had been murdered without a body to support their claim. 'wherever else she is, she remains in the hearts and minds of those who mourn her, a life lived kindly, end ended unforgivably.' Farquhar should be mightily proud of his literary effort to keep her tragic case in the hearts and minds of readers. He has more than done the victim and her family justice.

[Tony Styles · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the old world to the new…

This sad case marks the transition from pettier crimes to serious despicable lawbreaking. This was the first case of kidnapping for ransom in the UK and showed starkly the limitations on 1960s investigators for detecting such crimes. Muriel McKay remains missing with her body now being part of some unknown landscape. With the offenders being so inept and incompetent it is astounding that the only part of their hideous crime that they were apparently competent in was the disposal of Muriel’s body. A fine read that serves to keep the memory of Muriel McKay alive and reminds us that such cases are never closed. Recommended 4 stars.

[Kelly Kolb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sensitively told and richly researched, this volume paints a clear picture of this awful crime and reveals fresh perspective and new clues. As the story unfolds, you feel the dread of what’s to come and get to know all the key figures involved through this hauntingly painted portrait.