Tabla de contenidos para Issue 81 en Crime Monthly

Welcome to the November issue. This month, a young mother was murdered by the man she’d been seeing for six weeks, while three young women were brutally killed in an act of revenge. We also look at violence on the US transport system, the mysterious death of a teen, and the controversial ICE agency. Plus, we speak to the writer fighting wrongful convictions, the journalist uncovering grooming in showjumping, and more. And as well as our roundup of the latest crime ents, we have a new puzzle page! Email us at Crimemonthly@bauermedia.co.uk. See you next month.…

Thousands of county lines used by drug gangs have been shut down in the past 12 months, police have said. Home Office data shows that more than 2,300 drug smuggling ‘deal lines’ have closed since July 2024 after a targeted police crackdown, with more than 1,120 dealers charged – the highest since 2019, setting a new record. Crime and Policing Minister Sarah Jones said, ‘The exploitation of children and vulnerable people in this way is disgusting and cowardly. County lines gangs are also driving knife crime in our communities, and I want criminals to know we will not let them get away with it. We will be relentless in going after these gangs.’ She added that they are ‘going further than ever to stop this evil trade’. With three new…

Since 2018, ICE has been legally required to make public the numbers and details of the deaths of detainees while in the agency’s custody. That year saw six people die after arrest, while the number of fatalities behind bars spiked in 2020 with 21 casualties. These included 72-year-old Canadian James Tomas Hill, who died when his ventilator was turned off after the pensioner succumbed to COVID-19. The lowest year for deaths was 2022 with three fatalities, while to the end of August this year, there had been 15 losses of life so far in ICE detention centres nationwide. The most recent at time of press was 32-year-old Chinese national Chaofeng Ge, who was found hanging from a homemade rope in the showers of an ICE facility in Pennsylvania. He had…

For even more book reviews each month, visit crimemonthly.co.uk/thecrimeshelf FIVE WOMEN SCORNED Vengeful Women MELANIE BLAKE (PIRANHA PUBLISHING, £12.99) The third and final instalment of the deliciously fun Falcon Bay trilogy – started with Ruthless Women and Guilty Women – sees the leading ladies of the fictional soap in big trouble. World-famous actress Catherine, ambitious agent Sheena, ruthless producer Amanda, talented screenwriter Farrah, and cougar casting director Helen are all languishing in jail, awaiting trial for manslaughter. The man who put them there, corrupt net work vice-president Jake Monroe, is busy ma king money off the private island that was once their domain, turning it into a theme park. But while the quintet may be down, they are far from out – and hell’s got nothing on these vengeful women.…

In a tragic murder-suicide that has shattered the city of Independence in Kentucky and left three young children motherless, Heaven Glisson and Daylon Bradford were shot dead by Heaven’s former fiancé Donald Bryant, who then killed himself. Heaven had recently moved into Taylor Ridge Apartments, after breaking up with Bryant. Daylon also had a home there and, at time of press, police weren’t sure if the pair knew each other or if Daylon was just an innocent bystander in the events that unfolded between the former couple on 21 September. Investigators believe Bryant, 34, shot Daylon outside the apartment complex around 11.20pm. Police found the father of three in a critical condition, but still alive. A frantic manhunt was then sparked after they were told that Bryant had disappeared into…

From a young age, Katie Simpson harboured dreams of becoming a jockey. She joined elder sisters Christina and Rebecca to help muck out at the stable yards from the age of six, hoping for any opportunity to ride. So when Christina started dating a show jumper named Jonathan Creswell, Katie, then nine, thought he could help her. Little did anyone know he would turn out to be a monster. Creswell was charged with the rape and murder of Katie in August 2020, but died by suicide as his trial started in April 2024. His death left a number of unanswered questions around Katie’s case – some of which reporter and podcaster Nicola Tallant attempts to answer in new book Groomed. DASHING Confident and charming, Creswell was known as a ladies’…

Pitcairn is a tiny British island jutting out of the remotest part of the South Pacific Ocean. A two-mile crag of volcanic rock, it’s home to less than 40 inhabitants, who all share the same infamous ancestors, and who were thrust into the spotlight nearly 25 years ago for crimes that made headlines around the world. The story really begins with the legendary mutiny on the Bounty – subject of swashbuckling films starring Clark Gable and Mel Gibson – in 1789. The HMS Bounty was a British Royal Navy ship sailing from Tahiti to Jamaica, captained by Lieutenant Bligh. Crewman Fletcher Christian led a rebellion against Bligh, casting him and his men overboard. Christian, John Adam, seven other mutineers, and a few captured Tahitian women escaped to a secluded island…

The Return Of Moriarty JACK ANDERSON (RAVEN, £18.99) When a priceless sword is stolen from a wealthy family, Lord Alber charges new friend Hugo Strahm with its recovery. Lady of the house Clara finds herself drawn to the fiercely intelligent stranger, but is he really who he says he is? Clever. The After Party RUTH KELLY (PAN, £9.99) Becca and Nathan left England to realise his dream of running a restaurant in Amsterdam. But Becca’s lonely, so she’s excited when old pal Georgie appears. But on NYE, a party will turn Becca’s whole world upside down. Thrilling. Kiss, Marry, Kill LAURA MARSHALL (HODDER & STOUGHTON, £20) Angela, Sara and Helen are three friends in their fifties, all getting through life the best they can. But when Helen’s abusive partner dies,…

Stephen Lawrence’s mother has led calls for a fresh investigation into her son’s murder, after convicted killer David Norris publicly admitted his involvement for the first time. Stephen, 18, died on 22 April 1993, after being stabbed in an unprovoked attack as he waited at a bus stop with his friend Duwayne Brooks in Eltham, London. Norris, who was 16 at the time, was found guilty of murder alongside Gary Dobson and jailed for life in 2012, with a minimum term of 14 years and three months. Four other suspects – brothers Jamie and Neil Acourt, Luke Knight, and Matthew White, who died in 2021 – have never been convicted. The Acourts and Knight have always denied being involved in the attack. In early October, Norris, now 49, told a…

A Rochdale grooming gang ringleader with a ‘chilling disregard’ for his victims has been jailed for 35 years. Father-of-three Mohammed Zahid, 65 – a market-stall trader known as ‘Boss Man’ – groomed and raped two girls, treating them as ‘sex slaves’ from the age of 13. He was sentenced alongside six other men, who were convicted for sexual offences committed between 2001 and 2006. Greater Manchester Police Detective Chief Inspector Guy Laycock said, ‘These men preyed on the girls’ vulnerability for their own depraved sexual gain. They had a callous disregard for these women and continue to show no remorse.’…

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs has been sentenced to four years and two months behind bars, after being found guilty of two charges of transportation to engage in prostitution in July. At the sentencing, Combs said he ‘took full responsibility for his convictions’ in a 12-minute speech, adding, ‘I’m just a human being. I got lost in excess. I got lost in my ego.’ But while his lawyers requested a lenient sentence that might have seen him freed for time served – and Combs himself said, ‘I beg your honour for mercy, to be a father again, to be a son again, a leader in my community again, to get the help I need’ – Judge Arun Subramanian opted for 50 months. Handing down the verdict, he told Combs, ‘A history of…

On 22 August 2025, 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska boarded Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line light rail, heading home after her shift at a her shift at a pizzeria. But what seemed like an everyday commute ended in unspeakable violence. At 9.55pm, surveillance footage showed her sitting down in an aisle seat, wearing a baseball cap and keeping her head down as she looked at her phone. Less than five minutes later, the man sitting behind her – later identified as Decarlos Brown Jr, 34 – was captured on camera pulling a pocketknife from his hoodie, unfolding it, and stabbing Iryna three times from behind, including one wound to the neck. Transport cameras captured the gut-wrenching horror of the moment passengers looked on in shock as Iryna slumped forward before collapsing.…

On 5 April 2024, 13year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez vanished from Lake Elsinore in California during an ordinary walk home. Her disappearance was not the first time she had gone missing, with records showing three earlier incidents that spring, beginning around Valentine’s Day. But this time, she never returned and no trace of the teenager surfaced for more than a year. Then, in September 2025 – a day after what would have been her 15th birthday – her remains were discovered in a Tesla that had been impounded 70 miles away in Los Angeles. That vehicle, registered to David Anthony Burke, 20 – otherwise known as Texan singer d4vd – has now become the focus of an unfolding death investigation. GRIM DISCOVERY Celeste was formally identified by the Los Angeles County…

1.2MILLION People deported from the US during Trump’s first term 200,000 People removed in the first seven months of Trump’s second term Deportations under Barack Obama in 2013-14 316,000 16,620 Number of ICE detainees with a criminal record at the end of August 2025 – there were 14,210 in custody with no convictions 500,842 Total ICE arrests during Joe Biden’s 2020-2024 term as President 20,090 Deportations under Trump in the two weeks ending 11 August this year, compared to 8,830 in the second fortnight in January 435,000 Illegal immigrants with a criminal record identified by ICE in July 2024 who had not yet been taken into custody 752 Non-US citizens with a murder conviction arrested by ICE under Trump by the end of May 2025 1,693 Illegal migrants with sexual…

MIND BENDING THRILLS HARLAN COBEN’S LAZARUS PRIME VIDEO, STREAMING NOW In the last decade or so, there have been myriad Netflix TV series adapted from the brilliantly twisty books by crime writer Harlan Coben, including Safe, The Stranger, Stay Close, and the massive hit Fool Me Once with Michelle Keegan in 2024, which became one of Netflix’s most-viewed series ever. But here comes something different from rival streaming service Prime Video (with whom Coben made his YA series Shelter in 2023): a complex psychological, possibly supernatural, thriller based on an original story idea by Coben, along with long time collaborator Danny Brocklehurst, who also worked on those Netflix shows. It stars Sam Claflin (The Count Of Monte Cristo) as forensic psychiatrist Joel Lazarus, whose life is turned upside down after…

What was the inspiration behind your new novel? It started with a walk along College Street in Kolkata. It’s a book-lover’s dream and one of life’s joys is browsing the stalls, discovering a gem. And that’s what happened – I saw a book on Merle Oberon and found out one of the most glamorous stars of early Holly wood had a secret past entwined with India. It sparked the idea for this novel, which sees a Holly wood actress arrive in Calcutta just as Wyndham finds a body on the burning grounds. What attracts you most about writing crime? Killing people – it’s great therapy! Also, if you want to discuss society, there are few better mediums than crime fiction. You scooped two major awards this year – how did…

SHOCK HORROR MONSTER: THE ED GEIN STORY NETFLIX, STREAMING NOW The highly prolific Ryan Murphy has created another entry in his controversial Monster anthology, which dramatises the stories of notorious killers. So far, we’ve had The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story, and now here’s The Ed Gein Story. Known as ‘the godfather of serial killers’, Charlie Hunnam (Sons Of Anarchy), plays Gein and the drama depicts his life in 1950s Wisconsin, where he killed and desecrated the bodies of multiple women. The ace cast also includes Tom Hollander (The White Lotus) as Alfred Hitchcock, and Laurie Metcalf (Roseanne) as Gein’s mother. Boyd Hilton HIDDEN GEM DARK WINDS NETFLIX, STREAMING NOW While Monster was probably getting more headlines, this gem crept onto the streaming platform with a little…

Heists, Scams And Lies: The Lost Caribbean Millions (Thecrimedesk.com) Hosted by George Odling and Andy Jehring, this new run of Heist, Scams And Lies investigates one of Britain’s biggest financial scandals. At its heart is David Ames, a slick Essex businessman who sold the fantasy of Caribbean luxury to thousands. Backed by celebrities and glossy marketing, his empire hid a vast fraud that left investors out of pocket and lives in ruins. Featuring exclusive interviews and new revelations, this pod uncovers how he sold a dream constructed on lies. A fascinating listen. Jordan Rix…