WRITER and lecturer Steve Wade knows what his readers like.

Tales of blood and gore and gruesome murders fit the bill nicely!

The man who spent five years lecturing on creative writing at the University of Huddersfield has turned to history for his latest book.

And in Unsolved Yorkshire Murders he admits he is catering to the natural curiosity people have for shocking crimes.

There is the tale of the two gamekeepers, William Henry Uttley and Robert Kenyon, both shot through the head and neck in a brutal murder at Buckstones in 1903.

The infamous Moorcock Inn murders of Saddleworth in 1832, when the landlord and his son were shot dead. Again, the murderer or murderers escaped justice.

And, poignantly, there is the tragic case of former Huddersfield nurse Dorothy Wood, strangled at her Fartown home in May 1996.

It was a case that shocked the town and remains unsolved, after a man convicted of the crime was later cleared on appeal.

Mr Wade, 56, who lives in Scunthorpe, confesses he has a grim fascination for murders most foul.

"Put murder on the front page of any newspaper or the cover of a book and it sells.

"It goes back to the days of the old Victorian penny dreadfuls, filled with horror stories about Jack The Ripper and Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber.

"I think the fascination we all have with murders is that we are consciously curious as to how one human being has the capability to kill another.

"We don't want to believe it but we have all read so many stories about ordinary people who cross the line.

"A murderers does not have to be another Peter Sutcliffe.

"I spent 18 months on the book and the research uncovered one fascinating case after another.

"The Moorcock Inn murders, for example, had a prime suspect but no-one was ever brought to book.

"And the double murder at Buckstones - when a reward of £300 was offered - again went undetected.

"There was much speculation as to who committed the crime, and I have my own theories, but these stories remain mysteries."

Mr Wade now runs writing classes in Lincoln Prison but is planning to bring out another book.

And it could well feature Huddersfield, as his research has thrown up some interesting ideas.

"It's a town with a great history of crime, of footpads and villains of the early 19th century and of the Luddites. I'm fascinated by them all".

* Unsolved Yorkshire Murders is published by Wharncliffe Books, priced £9.99. It is available at bookshops including Just Books in Huddersfield.