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Dancing with the Devil: The Bible John Murders
One of Scotland's most notorious serial killers, scripture quoting Bible John, raped and murdered three women in the late 1960s after meeting them in Glasgow's Barrowland Ballroom. Having never been caught, speculation has continued to the present day as to the killer's identity and whether more recent rapes and murders can be attributed to the same man. Paul Harrison, a former police officer and one of the first in the UK to interact with the FBI on psychological criminal profiling, has been fascinated by the case for many years. In Dancing with the Devil he leads us on his voyage of discovery as he undertakes his own investigations into the crimes. The author relates his journey of over 30 years involving interviews with the witnesses, discussions with the police officers involved and meetings with a number of suspicious characters and combines his findings, together with his own expert analysis of the evidence, to draw conclusions as to the identity of the killer, Bible John.
- GenresNonfictionTrue Crime
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
42 people want to read
About the author
Paul Harrison
32 books5 followersPaul Harrison has spent much of his professional life working within the UK’s criminal justice system, primarily as a police officer. Working closely with the now-defunct FBI Behavioural Science Unit in Quantico, he gained a unique and remarkable insight into the minds of some of the world’s most violent criminals. His conversation portfolio reads like a Who’s Who of murderers. As an author, he’s penned thirty-three traditionally published books (mainly true crime) and completed his first novel last year. A seasoned event speaker, Paul is popular across the entire crime genre (fiction and non-fiction). He’s in discussion with several TV production companies across the globe for future Crime related television series. Paul currently lives in Leeds.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 20, 2013
Anyone wanting some quick answers on Bible John will not find them in this book. Harrison spreads out the facts before you, constructs Glasgow and the police culture of the time as he see's it and invites you to make your own decisions.
Harrison is an adept writer, and knows his audience. He is able to vividly recreate the people and places associate with the murders.
The book ends with there still being a sense of mystery, of frustration, around the case, and definitely peaks your interest rather than satisfying in.
Harrison is an adept writer, and knows his audience. He is able to vividly recreate the people and places associate with the murders.
The book ends with there still being a sense of mystery, of frustration, around the case, and definitely peaks your interest rather than satisfying in.
November 30, 2019
Dancing with the Devil: The Bible John Murders is written by retired police officer, Paul Harrison, and documents his own personal research and investigation into one of just a handful 20th century killers who have not been caught.
“Bible John” is the media given name to a killer who is believed to have murdered three women, one in 1968 and two 1969, in Glasgow, Scotland. The three cases are linked by several circumstances, the most famous being all three women attended the Barrowland Ballroom dance hall on the night they were murdered, and all three were menstruating.
Like the “Jack the Stripper” murders, which also occurred in the 1960s, Bible John has generated much more myth than facts. His biblical quotes to his suede-like boots have been regaled in newspaper articles with regular frequency. And, it’s actually quite hard to find out the facts in this case.
I think it is to Paul Harrison’s credit he has managed to create a manuscript that is not dull but is explicitly factually; this isn’t going to get you on the edge of your seat, but it will educate you. He’s also not suspect-focused.
He didn’t have it easy researching the case; he documents how he was advised the original case files did not exist by the Strathclyde Police, only to find out that that is not true, and to his credit he was able to eventually interview not only investigating officers from the time, but also the one person living who definitely saw the killer – Jeanie McLachlan, the sister of the third victim. His interviews with Joe Beattie and Jeanie McLachlan are particularly interesting, as these two individuals have received less than appreciative comments in other books, the newspapers, or documentaries. It becomes quite clear that was and is wholly unfair.
All in all, this is an interesting book. It left one with a feeling of deep regret for what happened; murder is a terrible thing, but when the perpetrator is never caught, it is a particular bitter bill. This book really drove that home, home, from the failures of police procedure to bureaucracy, Patricia Docker, Jemima McDonald, Helen Puttock all deserved better.
“Bible John” is the media given name to a killer who is believed to have murdered three women, one in 1968 and two 1969, in Glasgow, Scotland. The three cases are linked by several circumstances, the most famous being all three women attended the Barrowland Ballroom dance hall on the night they were murdered, and all three were menstruating.
Like the “Jack the Stripper” murders, which also occurred in the 1960s, Bible John has generated much more myth than facts. His biblical quotes to his suede-like boots have been regaled in newspaper articles with regular frequency. And, it’s actually quite hard to find out the facts in this case.
I think it is to Paul Harrison’s credit he has managed to create a manuscript that is not dull but is explicitly factually; this isn’t going to get you on the edge of your seat, but it will educate you. He’s also not suspect-focused.
He didn’t have it easy researching the case; he documents how he was advised the original case files did not exist by the Strathclyde Police, only to find out that that is not true, and to his credit he was able to eventually interview not only investigating officers from the time, but also the one person living who definitely saw the killer – Jeanie McLachlan, the sister of the third victim. His interviews with Joe Beattie and Jeanie McLachlan are particularly interesting, as these two individuals have received less than appreciative comments in other books, the newspapers, or documentaries. It becomes quite clear that was and is wholly unfair.
All in all, this is an interesting book. It left one with a feeling of deep regret for what happened; murder is a terrible thing, but when the perpetrator is never caught, it is a particular bitter bill. This book really drove that home, home, from the failures of police procedure to bureaucracy, Patricia Docker, Jemima McDonald, Helen Puttock all deserved better.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews