The Gamblers: John Aspinall, James Goldsmith and the Murder of Lord Lucan - John Pearson Audiobook

Written by John Pearson
Read by Christopher Oxford
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 48 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Oakhill Publishing
Published: 2006
Duration: 7hrs 5mins

This is the inside story of the infamous Clermont Set: five friends who became the most stylish and exclusive gamblers in 1960s’ London.

They were the Clermont Club’s eccentric founder John Aspinall; Dominic Elwes, who was to betray the set’s code of silence; socialite owner of Annabel’s. Mark Birley; flamboyant playboy James Goldsmith; and the infamous Lord ‘Lucky’ Lucan.

The charisma and wit of these dastardly but debonair millionaires made them invincible in their own eyes, but John Pearson shows how their code would lead to tragedy, and to one of the great unsolved mysteries of the 20th century - the disappearance of Lord Lucan.

In 1976 James Goldsmith initiated a libel action against the satirical magazine Private Eye, which had alleged that members of the Clermont Set, including Goldsmith, had conspired to shelter Lord Lucan after Lucan had murdered his family nanny, Sandra Rivett. Goldsmith won a partial victory and eventually reached a settlement with the magazine.

Background of murder and disappearance - The mystery of what happened to Richard Lucan, a dapper, moustachioed lord known as “Lucky”, has fascinated the public for decades and speculation about his whereabouts has long been a staple of the British press.

Lord Lucan disappeared hours after nanny Sandra Rivett was found bludgeoned to death in his house in central London in 1974. A car he was using was later found on the south English coast with a length of lead piping.

It was alleged the peer had mistaken the nanny for his estranged wife Veronica, who was also attacked and fled to a nearby pub covered in blood to raise the alarm. She later identified her husband as the assailant.

What the critics say:

‘The lack of human empathy that this clique invariably displayed is brought to frightening life in John Pearson’s fascinating group portrait’ – Tom Hewes Matthews, The Independent

‘ … it reads like a galloping Mayfair noir thriller’
Christopher Hart, The Sunday Time

This is not my rip. My thanks to the orginal uploader for this hard to get book.