It’s one of West Cork’s most painful chapters.

Now, 25 years on, the author of a new book investigating the 1996 murder of filmmaker Sophie Toscan du Plantier is claiming its pages contain “previously unknown revelations that could have an important bearing on the case”.

Murder at Roaringwater ​by journalist and author Nick Foster is set to hit bookshelves in May. The book is described by the publishers Mirror Books as “the inside story” of the notorious and unsolved crime, which saw the talented French mother brutally beaten to death in front of her West Cork holiday home.

In May of 2019, Mr Bailey, who runs a pizza stall in the seaside town of Schull, was convicted of murder by the Cour d’Assises de Paris and sentenced to 25 years in prison. Ireland’s High Court ruled that Mr Bailey could not be extradited and he remains a free man in Ireland while Sophie’s family continue to fight for justice.

For six years, Nick Foster has been piecing together Toscan du Plantier’s life and death. He also claims to have developed an ongoing friendship with Mr Bailey, and his partner, Jules.

A ‘locked room’ mystery

“Since I first heard about the murder of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in a tiny, isolated settlement in County Cork, I thought it looked like the perfect ‘locked-room’ mystery,” said Foster.

“And it was – and still is – a very European, and a very contemporary, murder story. But what I couldn’t have imagined was the roller-coaster ride of false leads and improbable clues that ultimately led me to my own conclusion about the circumstances of the crime and kept me, as a writer, guessing until close to the end of my investigation.”

Jo Sollis, Executive Editor at Mirror Books, described the release as “exciting and important”.

“This tragedy has haunted Sophie’s family and the community where her murder took place for many years. They deserve to see justice and find closure and Nick’s extraordinary work will hopefully bring them all a step closer to achieving that,” she said.

Murder at Roaringwater ​will be released on May 13th, 2021 to coincide with two documentaries on the case due to be screened on Netflix and Sky in the lead up to the 25th anniversary of the murder.