On a winter's night in 1974, a crime took place that would obsess the nation.

It was an extraordinary news story.

The story of an aristocrat, Lord Lucan, who's said to have killed the family Nanny,

mistaking her for his wife, then somehow just disappeared.

One of the great mysteries in English criminal history. We're still looking for Lucan.

It's honestly one of the most powerful stories of my lifetime.

I'm Alex Fondunzelman.

This is The Lucan Obsession.

Listen on BBC Sounds.

BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.

Susan Sontag once said in an interview,

What I really wanted was every kind of life

and the writer's life seemed most inclusive.

And this surely is true for readers.

Today on Open Book, we're looking at works

that encourage such inclusivity and empathy

in the imaginations of children and young people.

And we start with a writer who's embraced just that task,

changing the face of young adult fiction in Britain.

Among numerous honours, Mallory Blackman has served as children's laureate and received an OBE,

but it's her groundbreaking series, Nauts and Crossers,

that has most impacted the lives of young readers over two decades, and even inspired Stormsey to set up his own imprint, murky books.

...