One of Your Own: The Life and Death of Myra Hindley by
Carol Ann Lee
My rating:
4 of 5 stars
It has taken me some time to settle my thoughts on this book, which left me feeling disgusted and frustrated. I grew up hearing about the Moors Murders, and although in most cases they were exaggerated in terms of what actually took place (that they knew of), I hadn't realised the lack of remorse by both perpetrators and lack of cooperation. Brady in particular was the more depraved of the two, though I felt Hindley pretended it to try and get out of prison, using the press and her notoriety with key political figures to try and manipulate it.
I felt sorry for her sister and her ex-husband, and also her mother. I do feel she was vilified by the press more than Brady, but only because he wasn't prepared to co-operate at all. And also because of her gender, as discussed in the book.
The author has put together this book by going through multiple books and articles written about Myra Hindley, including her own autobiography and has written it as though a story starting at her childhood. I found it a very slow book in the beginning. The chapters are really long, and a little arduous, though I know the author was trying to give us the full picture of exactly where these two came from - although as it was a book about Hindley, there was less on Brady who had a very disjointed childhood - though he himself believed that he'd had a perfectly happy one, though clearly something went wrong in his brain to want to do what he did.
The fact they held Nazi's in high regard and agreed with their ideals, shows how off the rails their thinking was. And although Hindley claimed to have been in fear of him - and maybe she was a little - she still seemed to enjoy the condescending world view it gave them and could have pulled the plug at any time if she had honestly believed what he was doing was wrong - which is what her brother-in-law thankfully did when Brady's attempts to 'groom' him went array.
I'm still stunned that when arrested they were allowed to have the same solicitor, that they weren't kept apart, and were allowed so much contact with each other. I'm also confused as to why the search for bodies hadn't been more extensive and ongoing at the time, rather than trying again 20 years on. They were never going to own up to more than was revealed in the house search and in the suitcase Brady attempted to hide in lockers at the train station. But I do wonder how many more they did do, and shudder at the thought they would have gone on to do more.
At no point did the police seem to have the upper hand. There was no deals from their side to try and obtain more information, instead Hindley would use the possibility of hypnotising her as a bargaining chip, one she never fulfilled. She was mollycoddled by Lords and reporters who seemed to have a soft spot for her and her case. Had she not had those things she might not have been able to get away with so much from her prison cell.
I feel for the families who were left never knowing. And never having proper closure. The murderers deserved nothing more than dying in prison - maybe if they had had the threat of being hanged (which had just been abolished literally months before their arrest), they might have been forthcoming. But I doubt it. They seemed almost to revel in their secrets and torturing of others mentally. Sick, sick people, and this book, by way of it's slow build and calm delivery and collection of the facts really reiterates that.
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