Disturbing the air

Getting so much reaction to my book "The Blow-In: Ian Bailey's fight to clear his name", and the radio interviews about it (links below), that I've decided to update the Author Note at the beginning of the book.

For the benefit of anyone who's already bought the paperback, and don't fancy paying Amazon another €11+ courier fee on top of the modest price, I'm posting it here:

Update: I’ve been getting a backlash to my radio interviews about this book, both from people who knew Ian Bailey personally and many more who only heard about this long-running case in the news, Netflix and Sky TV. Three decades after the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier, Ian Bailey is still on trial in the court of public opinion.

Those who weren’t born, or were very young when this terrible crime took place can analyse the whole story like historians. However, it’s not so easy for those who knew Ian Bailey to be objective.

A listener’s comment on Cork’s 96 FM eloquently (if inadvertently) illustrates my point that unconscious bias is the enemy of truth. This Schull resident remarked that it must have been difficult for me to write about Ian Bailey, having spoken to him only on the phone and online; I could only claim to understand the story had I met him ‘in person’, the listener felt. I would argue the reverse, based on the outpourings of neighbours and media colleagues who branded him a murderer despite an overwhelming lack of evidence and against the balance of all probabilities. The listener’s flawed logic would be dangerous if applied in a court of law, where judges and juries are expected to step down if they know the accused.

I am grateful to that listener for making the case for this book better than I ever could have.

Interview with Niall Boylan re "The Blow-In":
https://www.classichits.ie/podcasts/n...

Interview on Cork's 96fm with Paul Byrne on The Opinion Line re "The Blow-In":
https://shows.acast.com/corks-96-fm-o...

The Blow-In: Amazon link to buy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D3TVPRKJ?...

BTW, I'm restricting this book to paperback format because there's a risk of piracy, particularly with true crime books and anything controversial. It's not just about losing sales (though of course I don't want to work for free); my real concern is that a pirate bot will translate my book and it will end up saying the opposite of what I meant - which, to be charitable, is possibly what happened to some other books on this topic.