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.

Hello, true crime is a genre that arguably began in unethical circumstances.

When researching in cold blood, his study of a real-life murder, Truman Capote befriended the imprisoned killers.

All the while he knew that what would be best for the book was for them to be given the death penalty and executed.

To look at the ethical questions authors confront as they research and write books about

crime and murder, we're discussing a true crime account of a double murder in South Africa,

alongside fictionalised crime stories about corruption, war and business in Israel,

and a chilling account of sexual abuse.

Why is it that we find stories of

crime, wrongdoing and revenge so fascinating? Joining me to help answer these questions,

Amagi Orford, author of The Eye of the Beholder, La Vitida, whose novel Marour spans 50 years

of turbulent Israeli history, and down the line from Ukraine where he's currently reporting

for the BBC, Andrew Harding, author of the true crime thriller, These Are Not Gentle People.

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