Murder he wrote

A behind-the-scenes look at the four-year research that went into The Jigsaw Murders, a haunting British murder case from the Agatha Christie era

My book The Jigsaw Murders tells a haunting story of a British double murder case from the Agatha Christie era

A-B-C Replay:

• Why I wrote The Jigsaw Murders

• Why I write true stories and the book that inspired me

• The work is never done

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The British murder case that led to the birth of modern forensics

Hello and welcome to the A-B-C of Writing True Stories.

In today’s post, I am going to share with you some of the research behind my true crime book, The Jigsaw Murders: The True Story of the Ruxton Killings and the Birth of Modern Forensics.

I will talk a little about how I dug into this historic case, one that was ultimately solved by the incredible team work of the police and forensic scientists.

Their brilliant experimental work led to new pioneering techniques, many of which are still being used today almost 90 years later.

I will also be sharing some of the photos I took when I visited the locations from the story. These include the house where the murders took place.

This post will be the first of an ongoing series where I lift the lid on my journalistic process. I will be sharing lots more images from my reporting, as well as explanations about how the book came together.

A photo of Dr Buck Ruxton’s house and surgery in Dalton Square, Lancaster, taken by police in the autumn of 1935 when the double murders were being investigated (courtesy of Glasgow University)