Seventy years on, Christie, Evans and 10 Rillington Place continue to fascinate. But closer examination reveals that many of the long-accepted truths are actually false. Serial killing might nowadays be an almost commonplace and global phenomenon, but the Rillington Place murders still seem to hold a special place in the public psyche – as though they somehow represent an original horror by which others are judged.

• Why is so much that is written about Christie, his life and his family factually untrue?
• Why is there still so much mythology and misinformation, even about such things as the geography and location of where the old house once stood?
• How much of the 1970 film is really based on “a true story” and how much is simply myth, error and fiction?
• What about the 2016 BBC drama series Rillington Place?
• And was there really any miscarriage of justice?

Christie – simply to be reviled as a monster who was allowed to continue his murderous career thanks to an incompetent and corrupt judicial system? Evans – to be seen as a naïve, gullible soul who fell victim to circumstance as Christie committed perjury to incriminate him and send him to the gallows? Some, however, have always believed Evans to be far from the innocent victim that history has portrayed and that his confessions to the murder of his wife and infant daughter were indeed true. That certainly seems to have been the consensus of the professionals with direct knowledge of the case at the time.

But where does the research lead and where does the truth really lie?

Containing many photographs both of the modern locations and previously unpublished period press pictures, the book also sets out the results of extensive research, maps, documents and detailed critiques of the principal books on the subject. All aspects of the cases are carefully considered and there is also a moving personal account from someone who actually lived in Rillington Place at the time.

Whatever one believes, this account serves to lay many of the falsehoods to rest. It would be impossible to address and correct every error, every tabloid exaggeration, every recycled myth and every other oft-repeated but nevertheless false detail about the case – but this book sets out to tell the story without the bias, error and misinformation.

The book is available for immediate download – please click the link below to continue discovering the full story of one of the most enduring controversies in criminal history.