Jane Hamilton, retired crime reporter with the Daily Record, reflects on the changes in the profession of investigative journalism in her time. Regrettably, she restricts her tale in this book to the activities of Peter Tobin who, she says, had 32 previous convictions, the first at the age of 15, for a wide range of crimes covering the period of 1965 to 1984. He had thirteen aliases and had given six different dates of birth.

Fittingly, the memories of Tobin’s victims and the suffering of their families are also given prominence.

The major court cases referred to in this eminently readable book included Winchester Crown Court when in May 1994 Tobin pled guilty to the rape of a teenage girl and also a serious assault on her friend, both of whom were found in his flat in Portsmouth by the police. He was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment and served ten years before release. 

A charge of murder and rape (of Angelika Kluk) was proved against Tobin, after trial before Lord Menzies and a Jury at the High Court of Justiciary at Edinburgh in May, 2007. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation of a minimum period of 21 years.    

Further, a separate charge of murder (of Vicky Hamilton) was proved after trial before Lord Emslie and a jury at the High Court of Justiciary sitting at Dundee in December 2008. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation of a minimum period of 30 years.    

In the Edinburgh case, Lord Menzies at sentencing thought the case one of the worst he had seen in his years in the courts. In the Dundee case, it was noted by Lord Emslie that at trial “the accused conceded nothing”.

A third charge of murder (of Dinah McNicol) was proved against Tobin after trial before Mr Justice Calvert-Smith and a jury at Chelmsford Crown Court in December 2008. The jury took 15 minutes to return the verdict. A third sentence of life imprisonment was imposed, again with a recommendation of a minimum period of 30 years.

The literature on Sinclair (born June 1945), Tobin (born August 1946) and Black (born April 1947) is substantial. What may be lacking is a comprehensive social history of central Scotland around the end of the Second World War and into peacetime to explain such criminality.

What was it about Scottish society and people then, in specific areas, that produced these men? Such a question would have to include Thomas Watt Hamilton (born May 1952) whose murderous activity at Dunblane cannot be overlooked or forgotten.

Hunting Shadows: Peter Tobin - The truth about the serial killer who hid in plain sight by Jane Hamilton. Published by Mirror Books, 320pp, £10.99.