A True Story of Love and Murder

Published by Ebury Press on 15 March 2004, £10.99 pbk (as Carrion Kisses)
Republished by Ebury Press on 3 February 2005 £7.99 pbk

`"Don't make me commit a terrible sin,"`. His words made my blood run cold. I did not recognise Tim behind those hollow eyes. He had the look of a man who had played this scene before. Suddenly, everything made sense. The woman he had killed had wanted to leave him, too. I'd always believed it was an accident. Until now.'

A riveting and chilling real-life story of passion, murder and deception, Carrion Kisses (the title is taken from a Philip Larkin poem) is a unique combination of personal memoir and true-life crime set in the early '80s. When Kate Lock first met Tim Franklin, 36 years her senior, she was a naïve undergraduate and he was a popular and charismatic mature student. One night in the pub he casually revealed that he was a `lifer`. A domestic dispute had taken a tragic turn, an accidental death, he said…

It was the start of an explosive relationship - a passionate and intellectual union, ending in emotional cruelty. But it was only when Kate tried to leave Tim that she discovered how potentially dangerous he really was. And only when he died, leaving her a legacy of murder to investigate, that she began to comprehend the Machiavellian deception of the man and the pathological pattern of his love.

Carrion Kisses is a stunning memoir of true romance that became a nightmare and ended with the discovery of an Agatha Christie-style murder that rocked the North.

Kate Lock was born in Oxford and began her career as a journalist on the Oxford Star. She has written extensively about television for Radio Times and has published eight TV novelisations, including the bestselling Tiffany's Secret Diary for EastEnders and Jimmy McGovern's The Lakes. Kate now lives in York with her husband and six year old daughter.