‘Lady in the Lake reporter Jeremy Craddock is to publish a memoir of his involvement with the notorious Lake District murder.
In August 1997, Craddock was a young newspaper reporter in the Lake District. When divers discovered a suspicious package weighed down in Coniston Water, he was thrust into the heart of the biggest story of his career.
Craddock said: “When Carol Park’s body was found by divers in Coniston Water in 1997, I was a reporter on the Westmorland Gazette at the start of my journalism career.
“The body had lain in the lake for 21 years – she went missing in 1976. Her husband, Gordon, was initially arrested but it would take another two decades for justice to be served.
“It was a case that haunted me – I covered the initial police investigation and Carol Park’s inquest. As there was no book telling the complete story, I decided to revisit the case a quarter of a century on. I interviewed many of the key people in the investigation.”
The Lady in the Lake is described as “a real-life murder mystery and true crime memoir that reads like a thriller” which fins Craddock penning the final chapter of this haunting murder mystery, including brand new interviews.
The book is already being developed for television, and will feature on Sky TV’s Forensics: Catching The Killer with an author interview in December 2024
Craddock is a freelance journalist and author and teaches journalism at Manchester Metropolitan University. He began his career as a reporter at the Westmorland Gazette in the Lake District and covered the Lady in the Lake case in the 1990s, including Carol Park’s inquest in 1998.
He is also the author of The Jigsaw Murders: The True Story of the Ruxton Killings and the Birth of Modern Forensics, which was longlisted for the 2022 Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction.
