26 April 2024
Betrayed: The Incredible Untold Story of 1970s “Drug Grannies” – winner of the 2024 UK True Crime Awards for Outstanding Investigative Reporting!
Written by Sandi Logan, ‘Betrayed’ is an explosive book, charting the astonishing journey of two American women who were ensnared in a drug-smuggling operation that spanned continents and spawned a media frenzy. With unprecedented insight, careful research and his flair for investigative journalism, Logan shares this spellbinding story in a way that’s never been done before.
Media Contact:
Sandi Logan
Email: sandiloganauthor@gmail.com
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EMBARGO UNTIL FRIDAY, 26 APRIL 2024
UNITED KINGDOM – ’Betrayed’ is an incredible true story that reaches across the decades with its clarion call of warning and has just been recognized in the 2024 UK True Crime Awards for Outstanding Investigative Reporting.
It took out the award against very stiff competition including No Ordinary Day by Matt Johnson & John Murray; Cocaine Cowboys: The Deadly Rise of Ireland’s Drug Lords by Nicola Tallant; and two titles about the Moors Murderers and the Yorkshire Ripper.
“Longform journalism is still an important part of the craft of reporting and breaking news,” said Logan, who dashed to London for the awards from his Australian base in Mystery Bay. “The extensive research required of a story such as that of the Drug Grannies from an era when records were stored on microfiche, court transcripts were hard copy, and photographs were largely black and white prints was all that much harder when I first reported on this story as a young journalist in the late 1970s.
“Thank goodness for the internet and the technology available today – it made my job writing BETRAYED much quicker and more enjoyable.
“But one thing hasn’t changed for me: it’s not always about being the first to print or publish; it’s important to be accurate and truthful when sharing one’s non-fiction work with an audience and I’m pleased to see the judges of this award recognised that too,” Logan added.
Already a smash hit in Australia, ‘Betrayed’ is a riveting narrative of deception, exploitation, and the long journey toward justice, in a case that shocked the world in the late 1970s. It chronicles the path of Toddie and Beezie, two unsuspecting American women who believed they were embarking on an exciting trip from Germany to India in a camper van gifted by Toddie’s nephew. The duo was oblivious to the fact that two tonnes of hashish had been clandestinely packed into the vehicle, making them participants in a major global drug smuggling operation.
Though the story might have happened decades ago, the plight of the women will resonate with thousands of victims in the UK and around the world, as females become the predominant targets of on-and-offline scams. Indeed, author Sandi Logan believes the ‘Drug Grannies’ might be the first victims of their kind.
Drawing from firsthand interviews and diaries, Logan brings to life the women’s journey across continents, their shocking arrest by the Australian Federal Bureau of Narcotics, and their subsequent struggle for justice in the aftermath of their unexpected notoriety.
Synopsis:
A relentlessly fascinating and often jaw-dropping true story of two American women who unwittingly became Australia’s ‘Drug Grannies’.
In 1977, Vera ‘Toddie’ Hays and Florice ‘Beezie’ Bessire thought they were about to embark on the trip of a lifetime when Vera’s nephew, Vern Todd, offered them a campervan to drive from Germany to India. Little did the women know that Vern and his accomplices would secretly pack two tonnes of hashish into the vehicle along the way.
This shocking inside story chronicles Toddie and Beezie’s wild ride across continents and oceans to antipodean shores, their arrest by Australian Federal Bureau of Narcotics agents, and all that the women faced in the aftermath.
On the ground at the time, journalist Sandi Logan draws from his interviews with those attached to the events, and accounts in the women’s diaries, to tell the incredible tale of an unlikely pair who became infamous and their fight for justice.
“In an era when stories of exploitation and manipulation are tragically all too common – especially among women, ‘Betrayed’ serves as a reminder of the indomitable spirit of two women who were manipulated by a person they trusted with their lives,” says Logan. “It’s a cautionary tale of how easily innocent individuals can be ensnared in criminal activities, and it reflects their bravery in the face of staggering adversity.”
Continuing, “You only have to go online and search for ‘female drug courier duped by love’. The stories are everywhere. Toddie and Beezie’s story might feel very ‘far away’ for some, but it’s happening right now to some other unsuspecting and innocent person. Toddie and Beezie trusted someone they loved, and it came back to bite them in the most terrifying way. How betrayed they must have felt – and did feel – is unimaginable.”
With its unique blend of investigative journalism, narrative storytelling, and historical insight from someone who was ‘right in the middle of history’, the true crime story ‘Betrayed’ has been a huge hit with readers from both sides of the world.
“The brilliant author reports the facts and timeline of the events but also gives the personal nature of the women with excerpts from their diaries and recanting personal conversations he had with them. ‘Betrayed’ – an incredible story that will invoke all your emotions and keep you reading until the end. As written by a journalist who also became their friend and advocate.” – Suz Powell, Amazon Reviewer.
“Within the first few chapters, I was completely absorbed with following the women’s story. I love how the author weaved multiple perspectives throughout the book – of the women as they traveled, and then the Australian narcotics officers tasked with investigating the women. I couldn’t help but empathize with the women and the situation in which they found themselves. This would make a great movie!” – Cindy, GoodReads Reviewer
‘Betrayed’ is published by Hachette Australia (ISBN – 10: 0733648606 / ISBN 13: 978-0733648601) and available now: https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=Betrayed+sandi&ref=nb_sb_noss
For more information about the author, visit: https://sandiloganauthor.com/2024/04/26/now-a-2024-uk-true-crime-award-winner/
About the author:
After a career in journalism spanning a decade from 1974, Sandi Logan joined the Australian foreign service and undertook postings to Papua New Guinea (Port Moresby), Germany (Bonn) and the United States (Washington, DC) before returning to Canberra as a senior executive and spokesman for various Australian government departments, agencies, and federal ministers. He has been consulting privately in communications strategy since 2014. Sandi was first alerted to the story of Americans Vera Todd Hays (Toddie) and Florice Bessire (Beezie), who became known as the ‘Drug Grannies’, as a 21-year-old journalist, before taking up an active role fighting what he perceived to be the injustice of their case. ‘Betrayed’ is his first novel.
Sandi Logan 