Review
"[Richard Edwards'] book lays bare the sights, sounds and smells of life inside Shannon's home, and traces the case right through to the dramatic Leeds Crown Court convictions, six days ago, of Matthews and her accomplice Michael Donovan."
--Yorkshire Evening Post, 10 December, 2008
Product Description
On 19 February 2008, a little girl was reported missing. The same thing happens somewhere in Britain every day. Usually they turn up a few hours later, unharmed, having stayed with relatives or slept over at a friend's house, but a few do not. Shannon Matthews did not return and as the days and weeks went by, her whereabouts and her fate became front page news throughout Britain and around the world. And when Shannon was eventually found 24 days later, it was in circumstances that were more shocking and starling than the most lurid tabloid speculation. Now, for the first time, the inside story of the Shannon Matthews' case is told by the one man granted access to the closed world of Shannon's family and the Dewsbury Moor estate on which she lived. In "Finding Shannon - The Inside Story", Richard Edwards reveals the full, inside story of the case that gripped the entire nation and also casts a searching light on what the often vicious media coverage of the estate and its inhabitants says about Britain today.
From the Author
Richard Edwards has described the process of writing Finding Shannon as a cathartic exercise. He said:
"None of the events that I have covered have been in the same league as the Shannon Matthews' saga. I felt that such a staggering story deserved to be told, in full, by someone who was there from day one and who was privileged enough to be given the trust of the good people of Dewsbury Moor."
From the Back Cover
On 19 February 2008 a little girl was reported missing. The same thing happens somewhere in Britain every day. Usually they turn up a few hours later, unharmed, having stayed with relatives or slept over at a friend's house, but a few do not.
Shannon Matthews did not return and as the days and weeks went by, her whereabouts and her fate became front page news throughout Britain and around the world. And when Shannon was eventually found 24 days later, it was in circumstances that were more shocking and startling than the most lurid tabloid speculation.
Now, for the first time, the inside story of the Shannon Matthews' case is told by the one man granted access to the
closed world of Shannon's family and the Dewsbury Moor estate on which she lived.
In Finding Shannon - The Inside Story Richard Edwards reveals the full, inside story of the case that gripped the entire nation and also casts a searching light on what the often vicious media coverage of the estate and its
inhabitants says about Britain today.
About the Author
Richard Edwards is a crime reporter with the Yorkshire Evening Post.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
[Richard let himself in] I opened the front door and walked in, there appeared to be nobody about. `Hello?' I called . . . Still there was nothing for almost a full minute and I stood irresolute, in the hall, undecided whether I should walk through to the kitchen or just stay where I was until Karen or Craig appeared.
Suddenly there was a shout of `Boo!' from behind me, and I felt fingers tickling my sides. The shout and the unexpected touch made me jump out of my skin. Astonishingly, it was Karen. She had hidden in wait behind the living room door, watched me looking around, bemused and confused, then leapt out to surprise me. . . Was this really a woman enduring the living nightmare of one of her children being missing . . . Karen seemed to find it funny, anyway, as she was laughing her head off.
