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Decoy

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Decoy

By: Robert Murphy
Narrated by: Catrin Walker-Booth, Robert Murphy
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Winner of 'Best Book' and 'Impact for Change' True Crime Awards 2025

The shocking true story of one of Britain’s most secretive, groundbreaking and successful police covert operations

Bristol, 1979.

An attacker roams the streets…

Young women are warned not to go out alone…

Enter the Decoys.

For several years, a prolific predator haunted Bristol. Avon and Somerset Police had tried all their usual tactics to catch the ‘Clifton Rapist’, and public pressure was mounting.

In 1979, a daring new plan was introduced, unlike anything previously attempted by a UK police force. A small group of young female officers – some aged just 18 – put their lives on the line, walking the quiet residential roads late at night, acting as bait.

Drawing on in-depth research and first-hand interviews with the women at the heart of the operation, Decoy is a dramatic retelling of one of the most groundbreaking agent provocateur stings in British history.

©2024 Robert Murphy (P)2024 HarperCollins Publishers Sexual Crimes & Assault Historical True Crime Sexual Abuse & Harassment Biographies & Memoirs Abuse Relationships
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Although I was aware of the story behind this book, the author not only brought it to life, he was able to make me feel as though I was walking alongside the decoys in that cold terrible winter. No one really knows what they will do when and if they are called upon to put their life on the line. This is a true story of multiple people who, working under conditions most of us could not comprehend- the women not getting overtime for being bait - made many decisions that ultimately led to the capture of a serial rapist. The laws at the time regarding sexual assault, the length of sentencing coupled with the horror of a ‘life license’ will make the reader gnash their teeth. The book is also an excellent object lesson in how the accused may continue to assault victims via the trial process, not to mention the sheer brutality of reporting a rape and the chaos that ensues. Given the dramatic statistics regarding sexual assault of women, this book probably ought to be required reading. The narrator was clear and easy to understand.

Gripping story, great narration

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I most liked the good outcome for society. I wish we would put more like him away for life.

Great character development

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