The Grinning Killer

by Nigel Cawthorne

Superintendent Steve Fulcher had not followed procedure. Due to this monumental error in judgement infamous killer Christopher Halliwell could not be convicted of a second murder, despite him openly admitting to having done so. Fulcher was suspended for gross misconduct, and later quit the force. Halliwell, imprisoned for the first murder, was later convicted of the second, after a long and tortuous process of collecting new evidence. But the police, including Fulcher, remain convinced that he has killed other women known to have disappeared.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

262 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".

One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.

Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).

Reviews

[Gerald CLIFTON · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is awful. The writer is all over the place. It’s almost as if he has watched television news reports and written the book from them. I honestly believed that this book would shed more light on the belief that the offender had committed more murders. It does not. It tries to explain a little, but this is such a small piece at the end of the book it is pointless. If anyone reading this review is in any way interested in the Halliwell case I strongly recommend this waste of paper is avoided and that they read ‘Catching a serial killer’ by Steve Fulcher (the senior investigator in the case).

[Andrew Degruccio · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most interesting part of this short true crime read is the philosophical and legal entanglement that protected a serial killer while destroying a detective's future.

[Sarah Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really easy read with detailed information

[Anna Windle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Agree with what someone else said, it reads like a compilation of quotes from news articles from the time of the events. A lot of repetitive information.

[Phil Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed account of one of The UK's worst double killers who led Wiltshire Police to two bodies after admitting to killing Sian O, Callaghan and then to Becky Godden Edwards and then by taking police to Becky Godden Edwards deposition site. At his trial at Bristol Crown Court 19 October 2012 Halliwell was sent to prison for 25 years but regarding Becky this case was dismissed due to court saying that SIO Stephen Fulchers failure to take Halliwell back to a police station and offering him legal advice and a solicitor.

However on 31 March 2016 Halliwell was charged with Becky Godden Edwards murder following reinvestigation work on the case and on 19 September 2016, a jury at Bristol Crown Court found him guilty of the murder after two hours of deliberation. On 23 September, Mr Justice Griffith-Williams sentenced Halliwell to life imprisonment with a whole life order for the murder, meaning he will not be eligible for parole and is unlikely to ever be released from prison.

Following these murders, former SIO Stephen Fulcher believes that Halliwell could well be responsible for sevaral unsolved murder cases in the UK

[Jake Cross · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject and the research - good. Narration also good. However, I had to two star this because of atrocious errors, including one a British true crime book should never make: calling the CPS the CRIMINAL Prosecution Service!