In a Room with a Killer

Thirty years after helping investigate one of Britain's most notorious serial killers, retired detective Rob Harriss receives an unexpected request.
Colin Ireland wants to talk.
Inside HMP Wakefield, the two men meet again, not across an interview table in police custody, but as detective and convicted killer. Over a series of candid conversations, Ireland revisits the murders that terrified London's gay community in 1993, describing how he selected his victims, manipulated police investigations and pursued the notoriety he believed he deserved.
As the interviews unfold, something unexpected happens. The image Ireland has spent years constructing begins to unravel. Beneath the claims of criminal brilliance lies a far more ordinary truth, a deeply insecure man driven by fantasy, control and an overwhelming need for recognition.
Drawing on first-hand investigative experience, criminal psychology and the unique perspective of a detective who knew the case from the beginning, this is a compelling examination of how myth, ego and violence combined to create one of Britain's most disturbing serial killers.
Sometimes understanding a killer means stripping away everything he wanted the world to believe about himself.
Written by a detective on the original enquiry team this book pulls on real life experiences.