Reviews
Beyond Belief: The Moors Murderers. The Story of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley. by Emlyn Williams
thecenci's review against another edition
Bit disappointed in this. Too many phonetic accents. Great last section though.
booksonthemoon's review
5.0
Very harrowing read which covers every detail needed on both Myra and Ian and the awful events that followed once they met.
geewhat's review
3.0
This is a very strange book. If you're looking for a book about the hard facts of the case in classic true crime style, you won't find it here.
What you will find is a daring and unusual approach to one of the UK's most famous serial killer cases. The book is written almost entirely from the perspective of Brady and Hindley through heavy use of dialect in a stream of consciousness style. The reader is taken through Brady and Hindley's lives and daily habits. It's as well written as any novel and immerses you pretty thoroughly in the setting. Reading this, I found I could picture the settings perfectly in my mind.
This book has its limits, and this isn't entirely its own fault - published in 1967, just a year after Brady and Hindley were convicted, much about the murders wouldn't be revealed until later - most notably that the pair were also responsible for the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett in addition to the three victims mentioned in the book. In lieu of solid facts Williams frequently falls on supposition and imagined conversations and the like, which doesn't sit greatly with me, as I like my true crime to be, you know, factual.
Still. An odd but interesting read, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to be in Ian and Myra's heads.
What you will find is a daring and unusual approach to one of the UK's most famous serial killer cases. The book is written almost entirely from the perspective of Brady and Hindley through heavy use of dialect in a stream of consciousness style. The reader is taken through Brady and Hindley's lives and daily habits. It's as well written as any novel and immerses you pretty thoroughly in the setting. Reading this, I found I could picture the settings perfectly in my mind.
This book has its limits, and this isn't entirely its own fault - published in 1967, just a year after Brady and Hindley were convicted, much about the murders wouldn't be revealed until later - most notably that the pair were also responsible for the murders of Pauline Reade and Keith Bennett in addition to the three victims mentioned in the book. In lieu of solid facts Williams frequently falls on supposition and imagined conversations and the like, which doesn't sit greatly with me, as I like my true crime to be, you know, factual.
Still. An odd but interesting read, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to be in Ian and Myra's heads.
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