WINNER:

To Hunt A Killer

Out now:

How do you find a killer who has eluded detectives for decades?

In May 2016, Det Ch Insp Julie Mackay sat in court and watched Melanie Road’s murderer finally confess to the schoolgirl’s killing.

It was Julie and her small team of detectives had fought for years to firstly identify this man -and then bring him to justice.

This book, co-written with Rob, details how Julie rebuilt a case which generations of detectives had failed to solve.

The 17-year-old was stabbed to death after a night out in Bath in June 1984. Her killer left a trail of blood – a rare type – running from the scene.

But despite nearly 100 arrests and one of the country’s biggest manhunts, the case went cold.

Who was this man who appeared in the night, murdered, then vanished? And what links were there – if any – with the killings of Melanie Hall and Shelley Morgan or the Batman Rapist attacks in Bath?

After joining Avon and Somerset Police’s Cold Case Unit in 2009, single mum Julie started to re-work old leads and build new forensic opportunities.

And she developed a warm friendship with Melanie’s mother Jean as the years passed.

Jean Road would become a source of comfort and calm as Julie’s personal life and health started to break as she closed in on Melanie’s killer.

To Hunt A Killer is the story of how a true crime mystery was solved. It’s an account of how love never dies for the families of murder victims. And it’s an inspirational memoir of a woman who fought to keep her family and her career together against seemingly insurmountable odds.

Julie and Rob won ‘Best New Author’ in the CrimeConUK 2023 awards for To Hunt a Killer.

The book has been shortlisted for the CWA’s ALCS Gold Dagger Award for Non Fiction