Fred & Rose: The Full Story of Fred and Rose West and the Gloucester House of Horrors Paperback – December 1, 1995

I have been waiting to ask to review this book as I found it to be one of the best written true crime novels I have read in sometime. Never thought I would say this but this author is as good as Ann Rule. if you are a reader of True Crime you would know there are few that can compare to her detail and research of true Crime. I wish every child and young girl could read some of these novels only to know and be aware there are some awful people, men and woman that will do them harm. So they may report and stand trial against these monsters and save others. This book does detail the torture and sexual abuse these young woman endured, but did not tell all. In Ann Rule books she certainly describes the crime scene in more detail and does not leave anything to the imagination. Fromstatements which Fred must have made in his confessions to the police. I think there was much more the author could have told it readers. . I think this author told some of the details of the crime but left out the full details. It is such a shame that the police and social services did not take all the porn and prostitution in this house seriously enough when there were at least 4 children in the house. That an ex-wife and her child turned up missing and no one cared enough to report or the authorities thought so little of these people that no one looked into Fred and Rose and their awful house of horrors, so much there that even the average person would have seen that was discusting much less a legal authority or social service person., . All life Is precious and we need to train all that school in law enforcement and social services to remember that and treat them the same as any middle class suburban crime. Maybe when it is a crime against Children and woman we as a society should innst that for every male on the scene should be eqaaled b some but not all. Wish Ann could have written this book. It also shows how little many police stations and social services, paid by their citizens, here in the United States and Europe place so little on the poor people who report these crimes do not really do anything until it is a serial killer That the ones involved will not tell all. This book shows that this husband and wife killed not only their own wives and Children in the most awful ways imaginable, buried them in their home, and was reported on more than one time, with tons of porn and prostitution with no further search or action from polices or social services with at least 4 children in the home. The author only goes into some detail but not enough to disturb readers of other crime books. Worth the read but will leave you wondering what do pay our police for and social services for. Not traffic tickets or lazy social workers that do little to protect the children that not only come from sad homes, but end up in ever sadder homes. Maybe we should insist for every sexual crimes that involves woman and children that an equal female presence be on hand for all calls and investigation. Although this happened years ago I think some of the same lax investigations applies today as there have been many more after and more to come .

4 stars. FRED AND ROSE by Howard Sounes...In jolly old England, 1994, articles began appearing in Gloucester's evening papers about human remains uncovered in the garden of 25 Cromwell Street...... one of the bodies was a 16 year old daughter of the household, Heather West...The gruesome story gained momentum when additional bodies were unearthed in the garden, basement and under a bathroom floor of the house...... also buried with the bodies were the instruments of the victims' torture... some skulls were buried with the tape that had been wrapped round and round their head still attached and...... a few had plastic tubes sticking through their nose to enable breathing. There was little doubt that they had been suspended from rafters to cause long, protracted suffering for days before death came...One of the most bizarre things about the bodies were their missing fingers and toes...Did these amputations happen before or after death?...... also, Fred and Rosemary West (the murderous duo) had many children and tenants living in the house... why didn't anyone hear anything?... The Wests' were responsible for many, many missing women...I was at one time married to a Sheriff's homicide detective in Los Angels and took an Interest in true crime especially the hillside stranglers since I knew some of the detectives in the case.I removed one star because I have read other accounts of this case that went into more detail but I liked that this account filled in some gaps.Warning to some readers: do not read this book if you're squeamish or easily scared.

Look no further than the depravity of Rose and Fred West. I put Rose's name first because I firmly believe she was the instigator and the catalyst of the events that transpired. I am only halfway through and am shocked at how they got away from one charge and continued the carnage. Worth the read if you are a true crime nut and are fascinated by the psychological mindset of persons committing unthinkable crimes.

Three things stand out to me in this book, (1) the utter depravity of Fred and Rose West; (2) the horrible failure of the Gloucestershire Social Services; and (3) the amazing tenacity of one Detective Constable Hazel Norma Savage, without her involvement, the bodies might never have been found.Fred and Rose were married for about 25 years, but the killing had started before, both had killed on their own, and then together, they knew each others secrets and covered up for each other. In the end, Fred tried to protect Rose, who when she felt he had failed her turned from him. He took his life and there are now questions that will never be answered. Such as, why were finger and toe bones missing, are there more victims and if so where are they buried? Rose maintains her innocence. These are things we may never find out.Howard Sounes is a journalist, he covered the story when it broke and the trial of Rosemary West, much of the information in this book is from that. There is also extensive background information and he includes speculation on what caused Fred and Rose to become such twisted individuals. He delivers accounts of what probably happened to the victims, based on the condition of the bodies and accounts from other victims that survived. One of the victims that lived is Fred and Rose’s daughters. Two of the victims that were killed were also their daughters.The facts are laid out explicitly but not sensationally making this an informative, well written, interesting account. I recommend this book.

Not for the faint of heart. It is very graphic, which I expected. I read it as a recommendation from a podcast. It’s a very interesting and informative read. Take caution when buying though, there’s no sugar coating in this one.

3.5 StarsWhilst there is a lot of investigative work gone in to this book it still felt, in my opinion, that it was going for shock value in several sections. Particularly in the description of exactly what happened to the victims of Fred and Rosemary West. The problem I have with this is that a lot of it is merely supposition and is an extrapolation of the limited information that could be gleaned from the post mortem examination of the skeletonised remains. Much of what is described as having happened would have left extensive soft tissue damage but no bone markings. Neither Fred or Rose ever admitted to what exactly happened so rather than being entirely factual it does take a leap of imagination in places and a very dark imagination it is too.Where this left me was wondering what happened in the intervening years when no murders are thought to have been carried out purely because no remains from this period were found. In my opinion they had run out of grave sites at Cromwell Road but had not stopped their activities so how many more murdered women and girls are there and where did they end up? Psychological research in to serial murderers has shown that they don't stop unless they are caught so why are there 10 years+ unaccounted for where they seem to have just stopped. Very disconcerting thought but one that is never touched on by this book. Yes, it would be mere supposition but the consensus seems to be they only committed the murders that bodies were found for which does seem vaguely ridiculous if you stop and think about it.The details of the early lives of Fred and Rose are well researched and it does give you an idea of why their moral compasses just did not exist. Rose in particular seems to have been born with severe brain damage and whilst Fred was relatively normal the brain injury received in his crash seems to have removed any last vestige of restraint he may have had. So brain injury seems to be a connecting theme, throw in childhood abuse both physical and mental and you can begin to see how a murderer can be "created" by circumstances. Put two such people together and it is going to be a recipe for disaster and this is definitely what happened here.It really interested me that Rose was the dominant partner, not something I had ever considered before but Fred certainly seems to have been in thrall to her.Overall this is an interesting book and well worth picking up if you want ot know more about the background of The Wests.This review has been a long time coming. I actually read this book between the 27th and 30th July 2020 so my memory is a bit foggy about all the plot lines. Fortunately, I have a notebook where I jot some initial thoughts on the book and an overall ranking so between the book blurb and that I did have a reasonable handle on what I thought at the time of reading.

This is the best book I have read about the cromwell street murders. Thoroughly investigated and factual account to the highest standard. The book deeply affected me and at times I found it difficult to read. At the same time I couldn't put the book down. I knew reading about the murders was going to be bad but nothing can prepare you for what you will read. Highly recommended.

Obviously, being a story of true crime, this is a highly disturbing book to read. I read it as I wanted to understand what had gone on in this house and how on earth the Wests could have got away with it for so long before being detected. Of course, it was highly publicised in the media at the time but given the emotion and horror of it all it was not reported in an ordered chronological manner. I found the book to be thoughtfully written, and well set out in respect of background on both Fred and Rosemary West's own parents and wider family. Understanding their own abuse gave some perspective to how they evolved into such unbelievably cruel people. That said, I appreciate that suffering abuse as a child does NOT make you predisposed to abusing your own children, that is NOT what I am saying. I am making the point that reading about the horrific abuse both West parents were subject too, did give a glimmer of how they became such a deadly dyad when joined together.I read this book almost open mouthed in disbelief at the depravity and depths of utter cruelty they demonstrated, not only to total stranger but to their own children. Horrific, truly horrific but if you want a detailed insight into this high profile case, then this book will enlighten you.

I had only a slight idea of the background to this case prior to reading this. As a rule, I don't tend to read books or watch documentaries about child murders and, although very well written, the content in this book is very tough going.This starts off detailing the background of Fred and Rose and what they and their families went through, prior to the shocking events of the actual main book. This in itself is both fascinating and disturbing as to how people who are human beings can inflict such pain on their own loved ones.After this has been detailed, the book filled into the early beginnings of the relationships leading up to Fred and Rose meeting, experiences from both sides and the people that encountered them.Once Fred meets Rose and they start having children, things then go on the downward spiral into absolute depravity and total sickening sadistic torture and murder.Before reading this I thought that Ian Brady and Myra Hindley were the most low life scum that had ever lived, these two are right up there with them. To do the things that they did, not only to strangers but to their own children is just below inhuman. If you are of a sensitive nature you may want to think twice before reading this particular book as it pulls no punches in its portrayal of just what went on at the two addresses. There is no glorification of the violence and everything is set out with names, dates and records, with only minor pieces filled in to develop the story as it happened.At the back of the book, there are recaps of who was involved and what took place outside of the immediate family, detailing siblings, investigators etc. There are also photos of the family, the victims, the buildings and burial sites, which make this all too real. There is also a 3d plan of the house at Cromwell Street, picked apart into floors and detaining what was where and the burial place of some of the victims.This is a very well detailed, in depth look into a horrible series of crimes. It is well written, fascinating and distressing. I am not easily upset but this book definitely got to me. I recommend this for fans of true crimes who can handle a challenge.

Just basic information to be honest no new ideas or evidence... I'd rather read into if any of the Police who visited Cromwell Street were investigated or his links to Paedophiles I mean the author seems set in stone of convicting Rose but won't speculate on anything else.The thing that always gets me is Fred had already killed and not only killed dismembered his victims but Anna was also found with the bondage gear on so that was going on before Rose entered his life. I think she was guilty but only because she'd already been Groomed by her father and then Fred took over at 15 so she didn't really stand a chance of normality.Good pic of John West in the book you can see what a psycho he was and William Letts they were up to it to their eyeballs too if you ask me.Which makes me think why wasn't the cafe Fred and Letts owned searched too seeing as Fred did the building work there.. And Letts ran it. Nah many unanswered questions about this case I think there was way more to it than a psycho husband and wife that met each other by chance with the same twisted fantasies that's bollocks