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The Fred West Tapes: Secrets of the Fred & Rose West Murder Investigation
- GenresAudiobookTrue Crime
320 pages, Hardcover
Published July 31, 2025
5 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
About the author
Howard Sounes
20 books118 followersBiographer of Bob Dylan, Charles Bukowski and Paul McCartney. Also histories and true crime - Fred & Rose, Heist - with The Fred West Tapes new in 2025.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 6, 2025
Beyond dark!
August 21, 2025
Disturbing at times but never unnecessarily graphic. Lots of details in here that I, as someone who consumes a lot of true crime content, was unaware of. This book really compliments the author's podcast on the subject.
February 5, 2026
In The Fred West Tapes: Secrets of the Fred & Rose West Murder Investigation, author and producer Howard Sounes revisits the West case 30 years after his seminal, groundbreaking book Fred & Rose, which is one of the most popular true crime books of all time. The book follows the hit television series Fred & Rose: A British Horror Story (which Howard produced and appears in) and is one of the best documentaries on the case I have ever watched, and I have probably watched all of them. Over the six months I researched the case, I watched and read everything I could get my hands on.
This book is not necessarily a companion to the earlier book but a fresh take, and new ground is covered. It is set out differently and based around the Wests' police interviews. There is 107 hours of police interviews: verbiage, fact and fiction, and utter nonsense. The line between fantasy and reality is often blurred. There are still a lot of question marks over his murderous career, and only one person alive knows the truth. And she isn't talking.
The book begins with the story of Heather West, the pretty, plucky daughter who was murdered in 1987 and buried in the garden. In this book, quite rightly, Det. Con. Hazel Savage plays a pivotal role, sometimes overstepping the mark. It was her persistence after she became suspicious of West during child abuse enquiries that led to the murder investigation. Without her persistence the case might have been opened in 1994. Using the interviews, Sounes paints a grisly picture of events with the "voices" of Fred West and his abhorrent wife Rose coming through the pages, a horrible anchor.
Howard takes the reader through each victim's story with new material and exposition. It was due to Det Con Hazel Savage that the first body was found. Sounes then charts every discovery chronologically, with especial emphasis given to the disappearance of Mary Bastholm, for instance, who was almost certainly a victim of Fred West. This ground was covered in the earlier book, but Sounes refreshes it with a wealth of new material as he does with each subsequent murder, fleshing them out as real people, not just victims. As a writer, this is the true craft. Characters who have played important and perhaps peripheral roles in the story are brought vividly to life again, like Catherine "Rena" Costello, the feisty Scots first wife of West. There is a fascinating segment about the boy that West ran over with his ice cream van in Scotland. One of those sketchy revelations that writers love to uncover! This is one of the book's greatest strengths – revisiting these stories with new content. We learn more about the unfortunate young women who ended up in the cellar. Special mention is made of contributions from family and friends who add a humanising voice to the barbarity. Marion Partington (sister of victim Lucy Partington), as ever, is a standout. The eerie tape excerpts add the authentic flavour of the narrative, Fred's banality, and Rose's foul-mouthed assertions – threads that run through the book. These are fascinating shards of brutal reality.
Of note is the segment about Barry West, a troubled man, broken by his hellish upbringing at 25 Cromwell Street. Sounes details the events surrounding the television interview with West that never was. His fragile psychological state, living in the shadow of his monstrous parents, had left its horrifying mark. The enduring love for his murdered sister Heather is particularly affecting. It's also important to note that Sounes mentions the dubious allegations that West witnessed her murder through a crack in the door at seven. Something I have proved to be categorically false in my article for Real Crime and on my own site. Although it continues to be repeated in the press. West sadly succumbed to his demons and died at the age of 40 – a tragic end to another West victim.
The book is a brilliant read, well documented, and satisfyingly chilling enough for any crime enthusiasts and anyone interested in the West case and two of the most notorious killers in British criminal history. A perennially fascinating case that will never go away. Howard Sounes has the gift of taking a horror story lodged in the human psyche and making it feel new again. A must-read for any crime aficionado. and a book you will not be able to put down until the final line.
This book is not necessarily a companion to the earlier book but a fresh take, and new ground is covered. It is set out differently and based around the Wests' police interviews. There is 107 hours of police interviews: verbiage, fact and fiction, and utter nonsense. The line between fantasy and reality is often blurred. There are still a lot of question marks over his murderous career, and only one person alive knows the truth. And she isn't talking.
The book begins with the story of Heather West, the pretty, plucky daughter who was murdered in 1987 and buried in the garden. In this book, quite rightly, Det. Con. Hazel Savage plays a pivotal role, sometimes overstepping the mark. It was her persistence after she became suspicious of West during child abuse enquiries that led to the murder investigation. Without her persistence the case might have been opened in 1994. Using the interviews, Sounes paints a grisly picture of events with the "voices" of Fred West and his abhorrent wife Rose coming through the pages, a horrible anchor.
Howard takes the reader through each victim's story with new material and exposition. It was due to Det Con Hazel Savage that the first body was found. Sounes then charts every discovery chronologically, with especial emphasis given to the disappearance of Mary Bastholm, for instance, who was almost certainly a victim of Fred West. This ground was covered in the earlier book, but Sounes refreshes it with a wealth of new material as he does with each subsequent murder, fleshing them out as real people, not just victims. As a writer, this is the true craft. Characters who have played important and perhaps peripheral roles in the story are brought vividly to life again, like Catherine "Rena" Costello, the feisty Scots first wife of West. There is a fascinating segment about the boy that West ran over with his ice cream van in Scotland. One of those sketchy revelations that writers love to uncover! This is one of the book's greatest strengths – revisiting these stories with new content. We learn more about the unfortunate young women who ended up in the cellar. Special mention is made of contributions from family and friends who add a humanising voice to the barbarity. Marion Partington (sister of victim Lucy Partington), as ever, is a standout. The eerie tape excerpts add the authentic flavour of the narrative, Fred's banality, and Rose's foul-mouthed assertions – threads that run through the book. These are fascinating shards of brutal reality.
Of note is the segment about Barry West, a troubled man, broken by his hellish upbringing at 25 Cromwell Street. Sounes details the events surrounding the television interview with West that never was. His fragile psychological state, living in the shadow of his monstrous parents, had left its horrifying mark. The enduring love for his murdered sister Heather is particularly affecting. It's also important to note that Sounes mentions the dubious allegations that West witnessed her murder through a crack in the door at seven. Something I have proved to be categorically false in my article for Real Crime and on my own site. Although it continues to be repeated in the press. West sadly succumbed to his demons and died at the age of 40 – a tragic end to another West victim.
The book is a brilliant read, well documented, and satisfyingly chilling enough for any crime enthusiasts and anyone interested in the West case and two of the most notorious killers in British criminal history. A perennially fascinating case that will never go away. Howard Sounes has the gift of taking a horror story lodged in the human psyche and making it feel new again. A must-read for any crime aficionado. and a book you will not be able to put down until the final line.
October 21, 2025
Finished the audiobook in a day, this is for my true crime fans. A very real tale about a serial killer couple that killed across two decades. It’s shocking and disturbing so proceed with caution, still don’t understand how they managed to get away with their crimes for so long. My heart goes out to all the victims families, there is a Netflix documentary on this true crime go check that out too.
September 24, 2025
Finished this audiobook in three days. A very dark true crime tale that I remember vividly during my early teenage years. Revisiting this, it was still just as shocking and unbelievable, as back in the day. How did they get away with that? I guess we'll never know. I've not seen the Netflix series, but based on this book; it must be a good watch!!
November 16, 2025
The title pretty much sums it up: a deep dive into the case from the perspective of the police interviews. Not a great deal of new information but a thorough re-examination of the events from the author of the definitive book on the case. Solidly written with little to no speculation or sensation content, which most authors struggle to resist indulging in with Fred and Rose West
August 8, 2025
Truly disturbing yet gripping account of the Cromwell Street murders. Fred West and dozy Rosie’s depravity is explored in detail. New information from first hand interviews with Barry Weet.
August 30, 2025
I don't really see what the point of this book is, it's literally the same as his other west's book. He is a good author tho
September 3, 2025
Interesting
October 19, 2025
Really interesting, a wider story if you wanted more than just the Netflix documentary. Pretty harrowing in places, be warned- very graphic detail you probably havent heard before.
October 20, 2025
Although quite sickening, a good read with lots of information that hasn't been published before. If you are a fan of True Crime this is a book for you.
November 11, 2025
Audiobook
November 6, 2025
The best compliment i think one could make is to say an author has written a definitive book on a topic and i would say that about him, namely his first book on this topic.
When you work on a topic like this it must be hard if not impossible to let go. So he has written essentially an update in this book which is a fine book in itself and completely engrossing.
I have read numerous books on Serial killers but the truly unique thing about Fred IMO is the fact that he had the time and the leisure with his victims over literally decades in a way that few killers have ever had.
Another thing that keeps this horrific story endlessly interesting is the Mystery factor of him/them, How many victims were there? what did he do with the spare two hours before his arrest? where are the bones, why did he take them? How did his victims actually die? (not one cause of death could be forensically defined) how long did that take, who were the other men involved? how did he get away with it so long?....ect.
Ultimately this is a tale and a lesson rolled into one never ever trust a Stranger.
When you work on a topic like this it must be hard if not impossible to let go. So he has written essentially an update in this book which is a fine book in itself and completely engrossing.
I have read numerous books on Serial killers but the truly unique thing about Fred IMO is the fact that he had the time and the leisure with his victims over literally decades in a way that few killers have ever had.
Another thing that keeps this horrific story endlessly interesting is the Mystery factor of him/them, How many victims were there? what did he do with the spare two hours before his arrest? where are the bones, why did he take them? How did his victims actually die? (not one cause of death could be forensically defined) how long did that take, who were the other men involved? how did he get away with it so long?....ect.
Ultimately this is a tale and a lesson rolled into one never ever trust a Stranger.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews