Tom's Bio

Tom was born and bred in Edinburgh where he spent nearly four decades as a policeman. He left Lothian & Borders Police as Deputy Chief Constable and Director of Operations and was one of Scotland’s most senior and experienced officers. 

 

During his long and varied service, he graduated from Edinburgh University, the FBI Academy at Quantico Virginia and was awarded The Queens Police Medal for Excellence in Policing. 

 

Much of Toms operational career was spent as a Detective and his last role was as Officer in Overall Command of a national investigation into the murders of five young Scottish women in the 1970s, including the deaths of Edinburgh girls Helen Scott and Christine Eadie, the notorious ‘Worlds End Murders’. 

 

Following his police service Tom worked in Alcohol and Drug Policy and was Independent Chair of two adult and child protection committees. Latterly he carried out a number of independent ‘Serious Case’ and ‘Domestic Homicide’ reviews in the North of England. 

 

Tom’s first venture into writing came in 2007 with the publication of ‘The World's End Murders – A Thirty Year Quest for Justice’. A joint venture with friend and seasoned journalist David Johnstone the book chronicled a personal account of the 30 year plus investigation into the deaths of Helen Scott and Christine Eadie. In 2013 the book was substantially augmented and republished as ‘The World's End Murders - The Final Verdict’ following the conviction of killer Angus Sinclair, thirty-seven years after his crimes.  And now, Tom's works, based on his extensive knowledge of this historic murder enquiry are being given a huge overhaul, re-worked and will be published in 2024.  

 

Just before leaving the police Tom had been given a file of old documents, they related to the infamous Dr Ruxton Murders of 1935. The famous case had been extensively recorded but the old papers revealed new previously unknown details of the twists and turns of the original investigation. More importantly the personal papers gave a revealing insight into the incredible work of the ordinary policemen and scientists who solved this landmark case.

 

‘Ruxton - The First Modern Murder’ was described by Scotland’s Queen of crime writing, Val McDermid as: “A revelatory account .... grips like a thriller”.  In May 2020 the publishing rights to ‘Ruxton’ were acquired by Ringwood Publications, an ambitious young Scottish publishing company.  The book has gone on to become a best seller - it was the publisher's top selling book in 2021, 2022 and 2023.  It was also shortlisted for the prestigious Scottish National Book Awards '21 by the Saltire Society.  And in '23 Tom's Glasgow-based publisher, Ringwood put Ruxton forward for the ‘Publishing Scotland Audio Book Competition’ and Ruxton won!  So the book is also now a successful audio book.    

 

Tom is now working on a new book - with the working title of ‘True Tales from Scotland's Underbelly - 200 Years of Sex, Spies & Clever Thieves.' The book will be a series of true tales, exposing stories about Scotland's dark, hidden aspects of society and hopes to launch this in 2024.    

 

Tom is also a regular columnist with The Scotsman newspaper penning the regular ‘Inside Justice ‘column for five years now as well as providing regular articles for 1919 Magazine - Scotland's justice and social affairs publication.  All of these, you can check out in the blog section of this website.

 

Tom is also the co-host of the true crime podcast 'Crime Time Inc' together with Simon McLean, a retired police officer.  It's a portal to the past, where you'll hear stories from retired police officers who were on the frontlines of investigations, facing challenges that tested their skills, intuition, and determination. Tune in by clicking here.

 

Heading across the pond, Tom is also involved in producing podcasts for an American company 'Small Town Dicks', which covers big-time crime that’s happening in small towns in the States but also here in the UK.  The show is anchored by veteran, identical-twin detectives Dan and Dave, retired cold case investigator and New York Times bestselling author Paul Holes and hosted by actress, Yeardley Smith (aka the voice of Lisa Simpson, on the famous American animated show The Simpsons)!  Check out the podcasts by clicking here.   Tom is currently producing a six part series of podcasts with the American firm, based on Ruxton The First Modern Murder - which will be launched soon (keep an eye on Tom's blog for details)! 

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When not writing Tom is a keen motorcyclist and sailor but most enjoys the challenges presented by his brood of grandchildren.