Signs of Murder

'Enthralling ... will leave true-crime readers with more to ponder than they bargained for' - The Herald

From the UK's leading criminologist comes the true story of Margaret McLaughlin, and the man he believes was fitted up for her murder

Before David Wilson became the UK's pre-eminent criminologist, he was just a young boy growing up in the Scottish town of Carluke. As a child, the brutal murder of a young woman rocked this small community, but very quickly a man was arrested for the crime, convicted and put behind bars. For most, life slowly carried on - case closed.

But there were whispers in the town, that the wrong man was imprisoned. Over the years, these whispers grew louder, to the point that any time David would visit, friends and acquaintances would ask in hushed tones: 'But what are you going to do about the Carluke Case?'

Carluke believed that a young man had been wrongly convicted. A murderer was still on the loose.

Forty years later, it's time for David to return home, and find out the truth.

“This should be essential reading for any budding detective as it navigates the reader through the opportunities and risks involved in the search for evidence and truth”

David Wilson is Emeritus Professor of Criminology and the founding Director of the Centre for Applied Criminology at Birmingham City University. Prior to taking up an academic appointment in 1997, David was a prison governor working at a variety of establishments in a number of different roles.

Professor Wilson appears in the print and broadcast media as a commentator and presenter. His publishing includes Hunting Evil, A History of British Serial Killing, Signs of Murder, and his professional memoir, My Life with Murderers, which was shortlisted for the Saltire Prize for Non-Fiction. His next book, A Plot to Kill, will publish in 2021.

Criminologist David Wilson returns to his home town of Carluke in Lanarkshire, to revisit a story of an unsolved murder that continues to haunt its past. It's a story that anyone growing up there had embedded in their DNA.Officially though, this isn't an 'unsolved murder'. A suspect was found guilty by a jury of his peers so as far as anyone official is concerned, this murder has been 'solved'. The 'murderer' has even now done his time, and been released from prison.But Carluke has always known that a young man was wrongly convicted. This book is a search for the truth.

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