Brady and his crimes, of course, stir up strong emotions and continuing interest from law enforcement. Only in August, Ms Powell was arrested after telling the makers of a television documentary that Brady had sent her a letter to be given after his death to Winifred Johnson, the mother of Keith Bennett, the only one of his victims whose body has still not been found.
Arguments to 'bring back the death penalty' and 'not give Brady what he wants' are flawed by their motivation. Hanging a noose round Brady's neck or shoving a tube into Brady's stomach just because we're angry isn't good enough. Emotion should never be given a place in law.
The tragic news of the death of Winifred Johnson, the mother of Keith Bennett, brings closure to a life of peculiar torment but not an end to one of the most notorious episodes in British criminal history.
Why did you write a novel about her? About Myra Hindley, a woman who killed children? It's the question I'm most frequently asked about my novel, Myra, Beyond Saddleworth, and is both hard and easy to answer. The material was dark and disturbing, and many people can't understand why a writer would persevere with it. But that's the point. Unless we look, really look at the terrible things human beings do to each other, we have no chance of understanding how and why they happen.