Devil and Miss Jones [Paperback]

Janie Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 3, 1994

Committed to Holloway Prison, Janie Jones was befriended by Moors murderer Myra Hindley. This book reproduces Hindley's writings and includes revelations on the murders she committed with Ian Brady. Janie Jones, a successful recording artist, who was labelled Britain's top society vice queen, here adds her voice to the campaign to keep Myra Hindley locked away for ever.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Smith Gryphon Pb (February 3, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1856850609
• ISBN-13: 978-1856850605
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,825,906 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Kiss and tell, August 12, 2006

By 

The Sentinel (Vancouver, British Columbia Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Devil and Miss Jones (Paperback)

The Devil and Miss Jones" is little more than a smarmy kiss-and-tell book. Ostensibly it's a biography of Janie Jones, but it's real selling point is how it serves as an exploitation of the fact that the author was friendly with Myra Hindley while serving a prison sentence in Holloway in the 1970s.

It's not a terribly well-written or even interesting book, and it relies heavily on quoted comments from other people as well as lengthy quotations from Myra Hindley's effusive (and rather repetitive) letters and poems as well as her long, rambling appeal to the parole office in 1976 (which was later revealed to be a tissue of lies when she confessed to two other murders in 1986).

Janie Jones' whole take on Myra, the Moors Murders, and life in prison is not very insightful or informative. Most of what she knows about the Moors case is common knowledge - in fact her perspective is rather obvious and naive (and necessarily limited), so much so that it's really no wonder Myra managed to take her for a ride for over ten years. "The Devil and Miss Jones" is basically about how Janie was duped by Myra, and the book is written in the clueless airhead manner of a dupe.

The only interesting bit comes at the end of the book from former prison warder, Pat Cairns, the lesbian who had conspired to spring Myra from jail in a botched (and rather farcical) escape attempt in 1974. Pat explains that, despite being Myra's lover, she never really had an illusions that Hindley was almost certainly guilty of the crimes she was convicted of - and even although Ian Brady probably did influence her behavior, she was still a highly intelligent woman who made her own decisions.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Witches Brew, March 16, 2005

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Devil and Miss Jones (Paperback)

Janie Jones was one of the original WINDMILL THEATRE girls and she made a number of pop records in the 1950s and 1960s, including a minor hit called WITCHES BREW, from which it is said Miles Davis derived that repetitive chord that begins BITCHES BREW. You can get a good collection of Jones' greatest hits, on the import LP WE'RE IN LOVE WITH THE WORLD OF JANIE JONES. She later turned to the more lucrative world of prostitution and went to prison, where this book really takes off, because she befriended a notorious child-murdered called Myra Hindley. First she stumbled across Myra's body--Myra had been assaulted and beaten by other prisoners, for everyone in England hated her for the crimes she had committed about 10 years before Jones met her.

Then Myra began confiding in her, and opening up. Well, Jones listened and listened, and sympathized with her, and agreed to help her appeal for parole, joining the venerable Lord Longford in fighting to get Myra freed. But later, when she had time to think about it, Janie Jones changed her mind and wrote this nasty little book. She (Janie) also made a great record with the Clash (UK rock group) who admired her trashy demeanor and limited vocal ability. Look for that, skip this awful book.