Lucan: Not Guilty
Lucan: Not Guilty is a 1987 non-fiction book by British journalist Sally Moore that re-examines the notorious 1974 case involving the murder of nanny Sandra Rivett at the Belgravia home of Veronica, Lady Lucan, and the subsequent disappearance of her estranged husband, John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan. The book argues that Lucan was not guilty of the crime, challenging the 1975 coroner's inquest verdict that named him as the murderer in absentia, and instead presents a defense of his innocence based on extensive research into police procedures, evidence handling, and Lucan's own letters to friends. Published by Sidgwick & Jackson in October 1987, the 271-page work originated as a manuscript begun in 1975 and completed by 1980, with Moore receiving assistance from Lucan's family in her effort to exonerate him. The book provides a detailed account of the events on 7 November 1974, when Sandra Rivett was bludgeoned to death in the basement of 46 Lower Belgrave Street and Lady Lucan was attacked, identifying her husband as the assailant before he fled. Lady Lucan survived to report the incident, leading to a nationwide search for Lucan, who vanished after borrowing a friend's car and leaving it abandoned with bloodstained items. Moore's analysis focuses on inconsistencies in the official narrative, reproduces Lucan's correspondence claiming he interrupted an attack and was wrongly accused, and suggests possibilities such as evidence tampering to cast doubt on his guilt.
Moore, who began her career at the Daily Mirror and later worked at the Daily Star, approached the case as a long-term investigative project, compiling what reviewers described as obsessive detail aimed at aficionados of the mystery. While the book portrays Lucan sympathetically as a skilled sportsman and gentleman, it has been noted as a sponsored effort to rehabilitate his reputation. The work remains a significant contribution to the extensive literature on one of Britain's most enduring unsolved cases, highlighting ongoing debates over the evidence and the fairness of the inquest process.
Background
Author
Sally Moore first gained public attention at the age of 15 when she rewrote a 400-year-old Church of England service in modern language for teenagers, an achievement that attracted international news coverage. At 20 she joined the Daily Mirror in London, where she launched the influential Shopping Clock prices survey and ran consumer watchdog campaigns exposing commercial fiddles. She later worked at the Daily Star, initiating better links with Buckingham Palace to promote more factual Fleet Street reporting on the Royal Family.
In 1975 Moore began a personal crusade to exonerate Lord Lucan, whom she referred to as "John" and with whose family she developed close ties, spending many hours with them and becoming familiar on Christian-name terms with relatives. Her book Lucan: Not Guilty originated as a family-sponsored effort to defend Lucan, written with the help of his family. She had a manuscript ready by 1980 but faced delays in finding a publisher.
Writing Process
Sally Moore began her book Lucan: Not Guilty in 1975, shortly after the coroner's inquest in June of that year which named Lord Lucan as the murderer of Sandra Rivett. She completed the manuscript by 1980.
Her research was characterized as massive and obsessive, relying on the piling-on of a large mass of detail in an effort to exonerate Lucan through sheer volume of evidence and protestation. Moore worked closely with the Lucan family, with whom she was on first-name terms and spent many hours, receiving their help and gaining access to private materials including letters from Lucan that she reproduced in the book.
After finishing the manuscript in 1980, Moore faced a seven-year struggle to secure a publisher, lasting until the book's eventual release in October 1987. Publication history
Lucan: Not Guilty was first published in hardcover in 1987 by Sidgwick & Jackson in London, featuring ISBN 028399536X and consisting of 271 pages, including illustrations and an index. This initial edition marked the book's debut in print following its completion.
A paperback reprint appeared in 1988 under the Fontana imprint (associated with HarperCollins Publishers), bearing ISBN 0006373666 and extending to 364 pages. This edition reflected a shift to a more accessible format from the original publisher. No subsequent reprints, revised editions, or further publications have been documented in major bibliographic records. The book remains available through second-hand sources and digital lending platforms such as the Internet Archive.
Content
Overview
Lucan: Not Guilty is a 1987 non-fiction true crime book by Sally Moore that investigates the notorious events of November 7, 1974, when Sandra Rivett, the nanny to the children of Lord and Lady Lucan, was brutally murdered in the family's home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street in Belgravia, London, while Lady Lucan was also violently attacked. Lady Lucan identified her estranged husband, Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, as the assailant, after which he vanished and has never been found. Seven months later, a coroner's inquest jury named Lord Lucan guilty of murder in absentia.
Moore presents the case as the world's most baffling high-society whodunnit, framing it as a complex mystery that has captivated public attention since the 1970s. The book is meticulously documented and compulsively readable, offering a detailed re-examination of the crime and the surrounding circumstances, including Lord Lucan's disappearance. It questions the official guilty verdict through a research-heavy approach typical of in-depth true crime narrative.
The author's thesis posits that Lord Lucan is innocent of the crimes.
Core Thesis and Arguments
Lucan: Not Guilty by Sally Moore presents the central thesis that Lord Lucan—referred to throughout the book as "John"—is innocent of both the murder of nanny Sandra Rivett and the attempted murder of his wife Veronica, Lady Lucan. Moore frames her work as a dedicated crusade to exonerate him, supported by cooperation from his family and an extensive accumulation of detail intended to undermine the official conclusion of his guilt.
Central to her reasoning is the acceptance of Lucan's post-incident letters as genuine and compelling evidence of innocence, particularly the letter to his brother-in-law Bill Shand Kydd in which he describes interrupting an attack by an intruder, notes his wife's accusation that he had hired the assailant, and expresses concern only for the welfare of his children. Moore regards these letters as the starting point of her argument and as persuasive proof that Lucan did not commit the crimes.
The book portrays Lucan in strongly positive terms, describing him as tall, dark, and handsome, possessed of perfect manners, and widely regarded by family and friends for his gentleness, kindness, and generosity. It further emphasizes his bravery and dashing character as a sportsman who raced powerboats, water-skied, bobsledded for Britain, and competed on the Cresta Run. By contrast, Lady Lucan is depicted more critically, with the narrative highlighting perceived inconsistencies in her account of the events. Moore's overall approach seeks to expose flaws and inconsistencies in the established narrative of the case to support the claim of Lucan's innocence.
Key Evidence Presented
Sally Moore examines the letters Lord Lucan wrote to his brother-in-law Bill Shand Kydd shortly after the events at 46 Lower Belgrave Street, emphasizing their calm, matter-of-fact tone and notable absence of any expressed curiosity, concern, or further questions about the alleged large intruder described therein as indicative of Lucan's genuine belief in an outsider's involvement rather than guilt. These letters formed the starting point of Moore's research and are presented as a primary piece of evidence supporting his innocence.
Moore critiques aspects of the police investigation as flawed, including the suggestion that the lead pipe bludgeon discovered in the boot of the borrowed Ford Corsair car Lucan used was planted by a policeman, a claim advanced on limited supporting indications but intended to cast doubt on the integrity of the physical evidence linking him to the crime. She also disputes certain police assertions about the crime scene, such as the presence of dogs or the status of doors, to highlight potential oversights or biases in evidence collection and interpretation.
The book scrutinizes the coroner's inquest proceedings and the resulting jury verdict naming Lucan guilty of murder, arguing that the absence of a full criminal trial prevented him from presenting a defense and rendered the verdict procedurally unfair and unreliable.
Moore discusses inconsistencies in witness statements, notably variations in Lady Lucan's recollections of the events and timing, alongside the broader context of the bitter custody dispute over the couple's children as elements that undermine the prosecution's narrative of Lucan's motive and opportunity. She further points to forensic issues, including the handling of blood evidence, as contributing to weaknesses in the case built against him.
Reception
Contemporary reviews
Sally Moore's Lucan: Not Guilty, published in 1987, attracted critical notice primarily through James Fox's review in the London Review of Books, where he portrayed the book as a family-sponsored crusade to exonerate the Earl of Lucan through an accumulation of detail. Fox described it as comprising 260 pages of massive and obsessive research that largely amounted to material for aficionados rather than a convincing case, with Moore positioned as Lucan's champion and adopting a partisan tone that included highly favourable characterisations of him and his associates. He criticised the work for strained attempts to improve Lucan's image, such as a comparison between Lucan's alleged intentions after the attack and a barman's actions, which Fox dismissed as implausible.
Fox found the book ultimately unpersuasive in exonerating Lucan, highlighting Lucan's letters as damning evidence due to their lack of curiosity about a supposed large intruder and absence of hope for the intruder's apprehension. He also rejected Moore's theory that police planted the lead piping in the borrowed car, characterising it as resting on the slenderest evidence and involving unfairly selected quotes from a conversation with former detective Roy Ranson. In contrast, Fox viewed Patrick Marnham's contemporary Trail of Havoc as more reflective and very much better-written, despite flaws in its own theory, while deeming Moore's effort far more partisan and detail-heavy with less success in persuasion.
The book's detailed research approach was acknowledged in the review, though Fox argued it added little substantive weight to the exoneration claim.
Later Reader Responses
On Goodreads, Lucan Not Guilty holds an average rating of 3.67 out of 5 based on 15 ratings, with readers frequently describing the book as well-researched and compelling in its presentation of evidence supporting Lord Lucan's innocence. Reviewers have praised Sally Moore's extensive investigation, with one noting the "painstaking research that shows flaw after flaw in the actions of the police and in what went on at the inquest" and commending her for building "a brilliant case for the defence." Another reader emphasized the book's "very well researched" quality and how it presents "arguments for Lucan's innocence, or at least doubt on his guilt" in a convincing manner supported by family and friends' accounts.
Readers have highlighted the book's illumination of the bitter custody battle over Lord and Lady Lucan's children as a key context for the events, with one reviewer pointing out that the case "started out as a custody battle... which became a very bitter struggle" and that Lucan clearly "loved his children." Several responses also stress the enduring mystery of the case and Lucan's disappearance, with comments affirming his innocence based on the investigation's shortcomings and his own letters. Multiple reviewers view the book as a strong defense argument that continues to hold up over time, with one stating that despite "many books written about Lord Lucan and many theories" published since 1987, it "stands up to the competition pretty well." On Amazon, the book averages 4.6 out of 5 stars from nine ratings, where readers have similarly described it as providing a "compelling case" for Lucan's innocence by highlighting "missed evidence and inconsistencies" overlooked in other accounts.