Released 16th July 2021 by Audible Originals.
Narrated by David James Smith.
From the cover:
An incredible true story of evil in the heart of rural England.Ben Field was good looking, charming, and as a passionate student of English literature he knew the power of words to seduce. When Ben arrived in the village of Maids Moreton in Buckinghamshire, sixty-nine-year-old Peter Farquhar found him irresistible. They set up home together and underwent a ‘betrothal’ ceremony at a church. Peter changed his will to make Ben its beneficiary. A year later Peter was dead.
Ben moved on to a neighbour in the same street, Ann Moore-Martin, who also fell helplessly in love with him. All the time Ben was setting her up to redraft her will so that he would benefit on her death.
Remarkably Ben described in intimate detail his manipulations, perverse fantasies and desires in numerous journals and diaries, providing a unique insight into the mind of a killer.
This is an extraordinary story of corruption and evil within a seemingly cosy middle class English setting. Combining the forensic attention to detail of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood with the rural whimsy of an Agatha Christie novel, Let Us Prey is an astonishing account of one of the most bewildering and fascinating murders of modern times.
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If you are a fan of true crime stories then you will probably have heard of Ben Field, who was convicted of killing 69-year-old novelist and former English teacher Peter Farquhar in 2019. I confess that I had not heard of this case, so found the details revealed in this audio book by journalist David James Smith horrifyingly compelling.
This book is narrated by Smith based on his own investigation into the murder of Farquhar, citing Field's own journals to show how he manipulated those around him and indulged in perverse fantasies that, although he later claimed with merely flights of fancy, contained very specific details about the acts he actually carried out. These journals provide a fascinating, if viscerally chilling, look into the mind of a killer, portraying Field as an extremely cruel and calculating individual.
But this is not just an account of Field himself. Interestingly, Smith spends a lot of time examining the life of Farquhar too, which gives rare insight into how someone comes under the spell of a manipulative charmer like Field. Farquhar comes across as complex mix of convivial and boorish traits, but it was his inner conflict between his strong religious faith and the inability to come to terms with his homosexuality that made him vulnerable, and Field knew exactly how to get under his skin - and his roof - even going so far as to go through a betrothal ceremony with Farquhar in order to get his hands on some of the older man's money. It was an inner turmoil and desperate desire to be accepted and loved that proved to be Farquhar's undoing, and he never realised that the man he thought loved him too was constantly gaslighting and drugging him.
It seems surprising that Field's deviousness and expert level machinations almost allowed him to get away with murder, as no one suspected this outwardly charming young man of any wrongdoing at the time of Farquhar's death, instead falling hook line and sinker for the picture of his victim as a chronic alcoholic that he had created. However, Field was not content with what he had gained from his victim and decided to move on to prey on another resident of the small village of Maids Moreton - the elderly Ann Moore-Martin, who fell in love with Field. Keen to repeat the process that had been so successful with his first victim, Field got to work on Moore-Martin, but eventually her family became suspicious after she fell ill and when Field was arrested his past misdeeds were uncovered. Sadly Moore-Martin later died of natural illness, but her life had been deeply affected by her experience with Field. Like with Farquhar before, Smith gives us a look at the life of this lonely woman to show how she also fell under the charismatic Field's spell.
This is not a story for the faint hearted, or it has to be said anyone with only a passing interest in true crime tales. This book extends to over the nine hour mark, and is the most detailed account of a murderer and those he preyed upon that I have ever experienced. At times the actions, thoughts and desires of Field are very hard to listen to, especially when detailing the more sadistic parts of his crimes and although I do not consider myself squeamish I did struggle with the cruelty depicted. The narration itself is not especially expressive, and could be considered to be a bit on the monotonous side by some, but in view of the subject matter I actually found the laying out of events in a factual way helped to make it more believable - grim, but true. In any case, there is no doubt that Smith has done an incredible amount of research into this case.
Let Us Prey is available to buy now.
Thank you to Midas Public Relations for providing me with a copy of this audio book in return for an honest review, and for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.
About the author:
His latest book Let Us Prey - A True Story of Murder and Deception is an Audible Original, available exclusively on Audible read by the author. It is an account of the Maids Moreton case.
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