Winner of BEST NEW AUTHOR at THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2025
Highly commended for BOOK OF THE YEAR at THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2025
Shortlisted for THE ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION at the 2025 CWA DAGGERS
‘Diligent and absorbing’ Gaby Hinsliff, Guardian
‘Meticulous and unexpectedly gripping’ Janice Turner, The Times
‘An excellent and open-minded study of the case’ Peter Hitchens
*AS SEEN ON BBC’S PANORAMA*
In June 2015 babies started dying unexpectedly on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. As medics searched desperately for answers, lead consultant Dr Steve Brearey emailed the ward manager to say, ‘We still need to talk about Lucy.’
Several years have passed since then and Letby is now in jail. And yet the doctor’s words continue to hold true. Despite her convictions and an extensive public inquiry, there are more questions now about Letby than ever – and they aren’t going away. So who is the real Lucy Letby? What convinced senior medics and the police that she was killing babies? And were they right – or could her convictions be a miscarriage of justice, as some now believe?
Drawing on extensive interviews with people who knew and worked with her, as well as unrivalled access to documents and key players in her case, this book traces the story of Letby from primary school to prison, and grapples with the truth about one of the most high-profile murder cases in living memory.
Highly commended for BOOK OF THE YEAR at THE TRUE CRIME AWARDS 2025
Shortlisted for THE ALCS GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION at the 2025 CWA DAGGERS
‘Diligent and absorbing’ Gaby Hinsliff, Guardian
‘Meticulous and unexpectedly gripping’ Janice Turner, The Times
‘An excellent and open-minded study of the case’ Peter Hitchens
*AS SEEN ON BBC’S PANORAMA*
In June 2015 babies started dying unexpectedly on the neonatal unit at the Countess of Chester Hospital. As medics searched desperately for answers, lead consultant Dr Steve Brearey emailed the ward manager to say, ‘We still need to talk about Lucy.’
Several years have passed since then and Letby is now in jail. And yet the doctor’s words continue to hold true. Despite her convictions and an extensive public inquiry, there are more questions now about Letby than ever – and they aren’t going away. So who is the real Lucy Letby? What convinced senior medics and the police that she was killing babies? And were they right – or could her convictions be a miscarriage of justice, as some now believe?
Drawing on extensive interviews with people who knew and worked with her, as well as unrivalled access to documents and key players in her case, this book traces the story of Letby from primary school to prison, and grapples with the truth about one of the most high-profile murder cases in living memory.
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Reviews
An excellent and open-minded study of the case - Peter Hitchens
Diligent and absorbing ... [Unmasking Lucy Letby] is a commendably layperson-friendly but thorough dissection of both the medical evidence given in court, and subsequent challenges to it from outside
Should become required reading for any hospital manager
The BBC journalist who followed the story since it emerged and her Panorama producer, who harbours doubts, form the perfect pair to make sense of this horrific case ... Meticulous and unexpectedly gripping ... This book is both a rebuke and a decisive answer to every rackety true crime instant "expert"