Bert Hannam was a dapper, charismatic figure in the Scotland Yard of the post-war years. As a young sergeant he made his name in London, and soon became a presence in the world of criminal investigation. When the most dramatic and sensational murders of the mid-fifties came along, he was in the thick of the action, being involved in a variety of controversial trials and enquiries. Hannam also went out as troubleshooter to the shires as well, being involved in the tragic and unsolved murder of Emily Pye, one of a host of horrific ‘corner shop murders’ of the time.

Stephen Wade provides a biography and case book of one of the most compelling lives caught up in the criminal justice system at a time when war and its aftermath turned society inside-out.