Book Description:
The shocking story of the murder of Peter Farquhar and the churchwarden who groomed and betrayed him, from the UK’s leading criminologist David Wilson
Two deaths.
Three doors apart.
An unsuspecting community about to realise there’s a killer in their midst.
In October 2015, Peter Farquhar was found dead in his house in Maids Moreton, lying on the sofa next to a bottle of whisky. An inquest was made, and Peter’s death was quickly ruled an accident.
But after the death of another elderly neighbour, the dreadful truth began to emerge: both victims had been groomed, seduced and mentally tortured by a young man, Benjamin Field, who had used his position of power in the community to target and exploit the elderly.
He almost got away with it.
Very little shocks criminologist David Wilson, but this extraordinary case in his sleepy hometown astounded him. Wilson felt duty-bound to follow its trail, discovering how his tightknit community failed to intervene, how a psychopath went undetected for years, and how Peter unwittingly supplied the blueprint for his own murder.
A Plot to Kill is a chilling, gripping account of a callous murder in the heart of middle England, a fight for justice, and a revealing insight into the mind of a killer.
My Thoughts:
Having read another of David Wilson’s books, I have been very keen to read more by him. I can’t say I remember hearing about the murder of Peter Farquhar but being a fan of true crime documentaries and books, I was definitely interested in learning more.
The author has created a book which gives us not only an insight into the victim and killer but also issues that may have contributed to the killing. He covers things like homophobia within the church and how sexuality even to this day by some churches, is very much frowned upon. It is quite sad to see how far we have come with the human race yet in some respects we are very much back in the dark ages.
I found this a fascinating read and was great to see a book that was written during covid times and how this also had some impact on how the author did his research and interviews. I was a little disappointed to see that Field’s never replied to the author’s letters to be able to talk to him. Having previously read the author’s My Life With Murderers, I think this would have added even more but we can’t always have it all and the author’s clinical insight into this man is definitely the next best thing.
A Plot To Kill is a must for readers who enjoy books on true crimes. It focuses on different aspects so you get a much more rounded view of the people involved and to the whys. This is an author who is very thorough in his research and gives a detailed account at the back of the book of the books he also used to help him in writing this one. It isn’t filled with clinical jargon that makes it harder for some readers to understand and enjoy. I basically read this book in three sitting as it was so intriguing. Be warned though, it will have you hotfooting it to go buy more of this author’s books as they really are brilliantly written and that whilst insightful, will give you goose bumps.
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