Death at Wolf's Nick

In January 1931, on a lonely stretch of Northumberland road known as Wolf’s Nick, flames rose up into the night sky from the neighboring moorland. Beyond anyone’s help, Evelyn Foster, a young taxi driver, lay near her burning car—herself engulfed in flames—desperately hoping to be found by a passing vehicle. With her last breath she described her attacker: a mysterious man with a bowler hat who had asked her to drive him to the next village, then attacked her and left her to die. What followed was a remarkable effort by some members of the police to track down Evelyn’s killer—while other members of the force questioned the circumstances, Evelyn’s character, and even if there was a man at all. Professional crime writer and lecturer Diane Janes gained unprecedented access to Evelyn’s case files. Through her evocative description, gift for storytelling and detailed factual narrative, Diane takes the reader back to the scene of the crime, painting a vivid description of village life and the social attitudes of the 1930s. Central to this tragic tale is a daughter, sister, and friend who lost her life in an unspeakably horrific way, and the likely name of her murderer—revealed for the first time.

Diane Janes is an author. As well as being shortlisted for the Debut Dagger, Diane's novel The Pull of the Moon was one of the four finalists for the 2010 New Blood Dagger. In 2012 she received a Red Herring award from the Crime Writers Association.