In the early hours of 7 August 1985, five members of the Bamber family were shot dead with a .22-calibre Anschutz rifle, but who killed them?

Initially, Sheila Caffell, who was known to have struggled with mental illness, was thought to have killed her twin six-year-old sons and adoptive parents and then to have turned the gun on herself. Forensic evidence, however, told a different story and raised such questions as how Sheila could have shot herself twice in committing suicide.

But a year later, it was Jeremy Bamber, also adopted, the only surviving member of the family, who was convicted. He is currently serving a life sentence, but continues to protest his innocence.

In this the first full account of the case, Roger Wilkes bases his story around specially commissioned forensic research, personal interviews with Jeremy Bamber and previously undisclosed accounts and witness statements. Extraordinary and shocking, it is a story that would defy the imagination of fiction writers.