Book info

• Title Fred & Rose
• Author Howard Sounes
• Year 1995
• Genre True crime

During their long relationship, the Wests murdered a series of young women, burying the remains of nine victims under their home at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, including those of their daughter. What was left of Fred West's eight-year-old stepdaughter was dug up from under the Wests' previous Gloucester home; his first wife and nanny were buried in open country. Most victims had been decapitated and dismembered, their remains showing signs of sexual torture. These twelve are just the ones police found when the Wests were arrested in 1994. There may be more whose bones have not been located...

Thoughts

I don’t usually delve too deeply into true crime books, because let’s be honest, if you want to see how awful human beings can be to each other, you just need to turn on the news. But this seemed like a well respected book written about a truly awful but very high profile pair of serial killers. The book very factually, concisely and neatly sets out the known facts and unknown guesswork that tell the story of Fred & Rose West, their extended family, and their many victims. It’s a sad tale of damaged people but also highlights how many different elements came together to overlook what was happening and allow the murder spree to continue for such a long time. Awful, but a good book.

Rating: 4 / 5