Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2010 | Page 25

INTERVIEW

February/March 2010

life

The Man in Charge
He has policed countless horrific murder enquiries and received frequent
commendations. Yet he has retired with his belief in people in tact. Roz Whistance
takes tea and scones with Bob Bridgestock and his wife Carol

He has dealt with hundreds of dead bodies over
the years; he has met cold blooded murderers
who show no iota of remorse. Yet having tea and

Photo: Bob pictured
January 2010

freshly made scones with Bob Bridgestock is like
meeting your favourite uncle.
Bob had reached the rank of Detective
Superintendent, Senior Investigative Officer,
in charge of major incidents at Kirklees and
Calderdale for West Yorkshire Police, the fourth
largest force in the country. But, at just 51, he
knew it was time to stop. “I’d see more horrific
sights in a couple of weeks than most people see
in a lifetime,” he says. So, with his wife Carol,
also in the Force as a support officer, they came to
the Isle of Wight, where the plot of their lives took
an unlikely turn. They became authors.
“We’d watch TV detective dramas and he’d say:
‘It would never be done like that!’, says Carol
Bridgestock as she smiles across at Bob. “You’d
never want to live in Midsomer, would you!”
returns Bob. “Think how much it would cost to
insure your house!”
Actually writing their own book seemed as
unlikely a turn of events as many in that TV drama.
“I had a lifetime of cases but I’m not a reader. I
often wonder whether Tom Sawyer ever finished
painting that fence,” he jokes, recalling the
unfinished book he was given for good attendance
at Sunday School.
Yet one day he saw an advert for a writing course
at the Isle of Wight College, and enrolled himself
and Carol. The result is Deadly Focus, a novel
which has been well received by public and police
alike. The couple have gone on to write two more
books, the second, Consequences, being close to
publication.
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