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FINDING SUZY: The Hunt for Missing Estate Agent Suzy Lamplugh and ‘Mr Kipper’ by David V

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I was really excited to read this wonderful book. My review comes after the description and buying links for Finding Suzy by David Videcette.

How can someone just disappear?

Step inside a real-life, missing person investigation in this compelling, true crime must-read.

FINDING SUZY: The Hunt for Missing Estate Agent Suzy Lamplugh and 'Mr Kipper' by [David Videcette]

Uncover what happened to missing estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, as David Videcette takes you on a quest to unpick her mysterious disappearance and scrutinise the shadowy ‘Mr Kipper’.

One overcast Monday in July 1986, 25-year-old estate agent Suzy Lamplugh vanished whilst showing a smart London property to a mysterious ‘Mr Kipper’.

Despite the baffling case dominating the news and one of the largest missing persons cases ever mounted, police failed to find a shred of evidence establishing what had happened to her.

Sixteen years later, following a second investigation and under pressure from Suzy’s desperate parents, police named convicted rapist and murderer John Cannan as their prime suspect. However, the Crown Prosecution Service refused to charge him, citing a lack of evidence.

High-profile searches were conducted, yet Suzy’s body was never found. The trail that might lead investigators to her, long since lost.

Haunted by another missing person case, investigator and former Scotland Yard detective, David Videcette, has spent five years painstakingly reinvestigating Suzy’s cold case disappearance.

Through a series of incredible new witness interviews and fresh groundbreaking analysis, he uncovers piece by piece what happened to Suzy and why the case was never solved.

People don’t just disappear…

  1. ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0999M1FJ4

  2. Publisher ‏ : ‎ DNA Books (August 5, 2021)

  3. Publication date ‏ : ‎ August 5, 2021

  4. Print length ‏ : ‎ 310 pages

This is a case that has haunted us all. Suzy Lamplugh, a negotiator working in an estate agent, suddenly disappears leaving no trace. She had no known enemies and the only suspect that emerged at the time was John Cannan, responsible for the abduction of 29 year-old Shirley Banks in Bristol a year later. But he was never convicted for Suzy Lamplugh nor was he completely eliminated. The enquiry tapered out a year later and in 1987, the police had no suspect and no motive. But for us — the general public — the mystery of her disappearance has never waned.

The investigation reveals the oblique reference to Mr Kipper in her diary, how the police went to her flat in Putney and saw nothing untoward. How her company car was found unlocked in Stevenage Road, which was about a mile and a half from Shorrold Road in Fulham. How the positioning of the seat determined that someone else must have been driving it. Reports of a possible altercation with a man and several eye-witness testimonies (including one from someone who knew her) only add to the confusion as to what really happened. Coverage from the media and help from the public was massive. Despite all this support, theories about Suzy’s fate continued to lead to a dead end.

David Videcette has spent many hours reconstructing Suzy’s last moments, chasing down witnesses and interviewing them again many years after the tragic event. I won’t go through each witness’s taped and noted statements here, you’d have to read the book to fully appreciate what they saw or what they heard. Videcette’s tireless determination will impress you as it did me. Finding Suzy opens up another theory to what the police confirmed at the time. The question is, will the police act on this new evidence? Or will they refute it and remain with the original? It’s a cold case worth re-opening and I’d love to see fresh eyes on this without any preconceived opinions put forward by the original investigators. For instance: The property key, what the next-door neighbour actually saw, Suzy’s partners at the time, and the Prince of Wales Pub, all play a huge part in her disappearance. The question is, did Suzy return to the pub to retrieve her secret pocket diary? Was the witness Videcette interviewed, credible?

All I can say is that the author and his partner did a fantastic job, digging and dismantling facts. He has exhausted all avenues to this case and it’s now up to the police do the rest. I think it would be a crying shame if nothing were done to exhume the last pieces of material so vital in Suzy’s disappearance. Really, what harm would it do to take another look?

The family’s agony was channelled into starting a charity in Suzy’s name, educating people to take steps to improve their safety. It was the only thing positive that came out of her disappearance. It’s an engrossing, modest book offering a different path, a what-if scenario that makes me believe evidence might have been overlooked at the time. Highly recommended reading for those desperately seeking the truth about estate agent Suzy Lamplugh.

About David Videcette

David Videcette

As an investigator, David Videcette has worked on a wealth of famous cases. He’s chased numerous dangerous criminals and interviewed thousands of witnesses.

With decades of experience working in counter-terror operations and combatting organised crime, David investigated the 7/7 London bombings as a Scotland Yard detective.

Today he uses his policing expertise to painstakingly investigate cold cases in his true crime series: Investigations by Videcette. David is also the author of the Detective Inspector Jake Flannagan thrillers.

David lives in London. When he is not writing, he consults on security operations for high-net-worth individuals and is a key media commentator on crime and policing for many broadcasters and newspapers, both nationally and internationally.

You can find out more about him here:

Visit his website at: http://www.DavidVidecette.com Chat to him on Twitter: @DavidVidecette Via Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DavidVidecetteCrimeBooks

For all the latest news and updates, sign up at: http://www.davidvidecette.com/title-reveal

Other books by this author:

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