Duncan Campbell has been writing about crime for nearly half a century. He was the crime correspondent of the Guardian and chairman of the Crime Reporters' Association. He has written extensively on the subject of crime for various publications, including Guardian, Observer, Esquire, New Statesman, London Review of Books, Radio Times and Oldie.

He has written four other books on crime: That Was Business, This Is Personal; A Stranger and Afraid; If It Bleeds and We'll All Be Murdered in Our Beds! The Shocking History of Crime Reporting in Britain.

Duncan was the first presenter of BBC Radio Five Live's Crime Desk and the winner of the Bar Council newspaper journalist of the year award. He has appeared in numerous documentaries about crime and was the consultant on the 2018 film about the Hatton Garden burglary, which was partly based on an article he wrote about the case for the Guardian.