New true crime series launches 23rd March

A powerful new Rayo Original Podcast, Beware Book, shines a light on a series of brutal murders that shocked Glasgow between 1991 and 2005 – and asks why so many of the victims are still without justice?

Over 14 years, the lives of eight women involved in prostitution were mercilessly taken. At least four of those cases remain unsolved to this day.

Many of these women were left defenceless in a harsher city than the one we know today – a city grappling with unemployment, crime, and the growing grip of heroin. Distrustful of authorities and fearing for their safety, they turned to each other for protection. They shared warnings about their most dangerous clients in a tattered leather journal they called the “Beware Book.”

Now, journalists Collette McGonigle and Callum McQuade of Clyde 1 revisit the cases that devastated families and left lasting scars across the city.

The highest-profile case—the murder of Emma Caldwell—was solved in 2024 when Iain Packer was convicted, 19 years after her death. After covering the trial, Collette and Callum revisited the other unsolved killings, questioning whether the cases were taken seriously and investigated without prejudice, and whether chances to catch Emma’s killer earlier were missed.

The series features deeply personal interviews with the victims loved ones — many speaking publicly and at length for the first time — as well as a new interview with a former investigating officer who shares where he thinks the Beware Book might be now.

The podcast also hears from Packer’s earliest known victim and from former officers, who all believe we are just now scratching the surface of his violent past.

At its heart, Beware Book is about restoring dignity to women whose lives were often reduced to headlines, and amplifying the voices of families who feel forgotten by the justice system. The series examines whether renewed attention could bring answers — and perhaps some measure of peace — to those left behind.

The first two episodes of Beware Book will be available from 23rd March with a further episode to follow every Monday for five weeks. The podcast is available on the Rayo app, Apple, Amazon Music, Spotify… or wherever you get your podcasts.