Carol Anne Davis is the author of several fiction titles - some very dark work available from the Do Not Press (an excellent publisher whose work tends to the dark and original) - and several non-fiction titles concerning case studies of true crime. But Davis isn't the typical sensationalist true crime writer. She manages to present her studies with an even mind and a knack for psychological insights. We loved her latest book, Couples Who Kill, and we were delighted when she agreed to tell us why she chose to write about these dysfuctional, deadly duos as well as giving us some insight into how she approaches writing about such terrible, true-life tragedies...

I decided to write about deadly duos as the dynamics are so intriguing. Officials tend to suggest that one party is dominant throughout but if you look closely at such relationships you can often see the power shift. For example, Dean Corll was in charge when he first recruited teenager Wayne Henley to procure victims for him - but Wayne ultimately asserted himself and eventually shot Dean dead. Similarly, Fred West was initially dominant, telling friends that he’d `gotten Rosie young and trained her up.’ But later she rented a flat of her own and took her lovers there, and when he discovered this, Fred went to pieces and began to wander about all night talking to himself.

The background research takes many months as I discard cases which aren’t sufficiently interesting. I write the best cases up as profiles, starting with the killer’s birth and ending at the sentencing phase or beyond - there are twenty six such profiles in Couples Who Kill. Occasionally a murder is fascinating but full information on the murderer’s background isn’t available, so I write these up as case studies in the themed chapters - for example, Bizarre Couples Who Kill.

I’m affected by the fate of the victims in every book I write. Some were sadly in the wrong place at the wrong time, which is incredibly chilling. Others had a momentary lapse in judgement and accepted a lift from a stranger but certainly didn’t deserve to meet such an appalling death. I’m also affected by the details of the killers childhoods - most of these men and women were beaten and humiliated by their primary caregivers whilst family friends and teachers looked the other way.

All of the cases are memorable because of the backgrounds and because the killers made the wrong choices. They find themselves a girlfriend or boyfriend but are unable to build on the relationship in a healthy way, instead recruiting the new lover to help them stalk, torture and kill.

I think the case which affected me most was that of a beautiful sixteen year old girl who persuaded her overweight and unnurtured boyfriend to murder her parents. He was reluctant but hopelessly in love with her and she eventually wore him down. Convicted as a juvenile, she was released as soon as she became an adult - but he was nineteen so got life imprisonment. He’s apparently made great progress in prison over the last thirty years but because he denies committing one of the murders he’s been refused parole. If his first love had been a less damaged girl, his life would have been so very different...