Decoy

Robert Murphy

• Publisher: HarperElement
• Year: 2024
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9780008666828
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

Winner of 'Best Book' and 'Impact for Change' True Crime Awards 2025

The shocking true story of one of Britain's most secretive, groundbreaking and successful police covert operations

Bristol, 1979.

An attacker roams the streets…

Young women are warned not to go out alone…

Enter the Decoys.

For several years, a prolific predator haunted Bristol. Avon and Somerset Police had tried all their usual tactics to catch the 'Clifton Rapist', and public pressure was mounting.

In 1979, a daring new plan was introduced, unlike anything previously attempted by a UK police force. A small group of young female officers – some aged just 18 – put their lives on the line, walking the quiet residential roads late at night, acting as bait.

Drawing on in-depth research and first-hand interviews with the women at the heart of the operation, Decoy is a dramatic retelling of one of the most groundbreaking agent provocateur stings in British history.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Copyright
• Note to Readers
• Dedication
• Contents
• Foreword
• Prologue
• Chapter One
• Chapter Two
• Chapter Three
• Chapter Four
• Chapter Five
• Chapter Six
• Chapter Seven
• Chapter Eight
• Chapter Nine
• Chapter Ten
• Chapter Eleven
• Chapter Twelve
• Chapter Thirteen
• Chapter Fourteen
• Chapter Fifteen
• Chapter Sixteen
• Chapter Seventeen
• Chapter Eighteen
• Chapter Nineteen
• Chapter Twenty
• Chapter Twenty-One
• Chapter Twenty-Two
• Chapter Twenty-Three
• Chapter Twenty-Four
• Chapter Twenty-Five
• Chapter Twenty-Six
• Chapter Twenty-Seven
• Chapter Twenty-Eight
• Chapter Twenty-Nine
• Chapter Thirty
• Chapter Thirty-One
• Chapter Thirty-Two
• Chapter Thirty-Three
• Chapter Thirty-Four
• Chapter Thirty-Five
• Chapter Thirty-Six
• Chapter Thirty-Seven
• Chapter Thirty-Eight
• Chapter Thirty-Nine
• Chapter Forty
• Chapter Forty-One
• Chapter Forty-Two
• Chapter Forty-Three
• Chapter Forty-Four
• Chapter Forty-Five
• Chapter Forty-Six
• Chapter Forty-Seven
• Chapter Forty-Eight
• Chapter Forty-Nine
• Epilogue
• Afterword
• Acknowledgements
• Picture Section
• About the Publisher