Robin Odell was born in Hampshire in 1935. After working as a university laboratory technician and completing his National Service, he developed an interest in crime writing.
His JACK THE RIPPER IN FACT AND FICTION published by Harrap (1965), is still regarded as a major contribution to the subject. In a writing career spanning more than thirty-five years, he has written or co-written sixteen books. He now lives in South Oxfordshire and continues to write and lecture on crime and criminology.
He acknowledges his debt to the researches of the late Dr Hubert Trumper, a medical practitioner in Hay-on-Wye, and the late Joe Gaute, distinguished crime historian and publisher. Their combined efforts sustained over several years brought many insights to bear on the life and trial of Major Armstrong.
Robin Odell won the Gold Medal at the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards in the True Crime category for Ripperology: A Study of the World’s First Serial Killer (Kent State University Press) and is a nominee of the Mystery Writers of America 2007 Edgar Allan Poe Awards.