The Hand of Strange Children

By Robert Richardson

On the morning of 27 December, newspapers around the country recieve the following Press Association Report: Police investigating the discovery of two bodies in Hertfordshire house. 

Details trickle in: the house belongs to wealthy merchant banker Charles Stansfield; present are well-known news editor Richard Barlow and members of his family.

But the victims identities are withheld. Who are they? Why has a family gathering exploded into violence and death? Through their individual voices the lives of Richard, Tim and Naomi Barlow and their mother, Florence, unfold and a shocking crime comes to light – one that has gone undetected and unpunished, culminating in a double-killing a quarter of a century later.

Robert Richardson is a journalist and editor who lives in England.