Barry Ward, of Penn Street in Oakham, was caught up in the sinister tale while working in Australia during the Seventies.

His new book, The Nelson Conspiracy, echoes the real-life story of murdered newspaper publisher Juanita Nielsen who Barry met when she was working as editor of a King's Cross newspaper in Sydney. She disappeared soon after on July 4, 1975.

Barry, 75, said: "We weren't close friends but I couldn't ignore the story when it broke and opened an investigation into the case with my colleague Tony Reeves.

"It wasn't long before we realised we were onto the story of a lifetime."

Eventually the pair established the truth behind Juanita's murder and identified the key players in the cover-up which they now describe as a major conspiracy involving police and political corruption at the highest levels.

During their inquiries Barry and Tony discovered that they were under constant police surveillance and that their phones were tapped.

When they traced a man police said was a key witness they were beaten up, abducted and handed over to the Darlinghurst police who threw them into jail.

The charges were later dismissed after an eight-day trial which curiously attracted no media coverage.

Barry said: "Even though we introduced Juanita's name in the first hour, the case was totally ignored by Sydney's media, their crime and court reporters orchestrated by the PR department of the NSW Police."

The pair ignored death threats and went on to trace witnesses to back up their belief that Juanita had been murdered because of a story she was about to publish on organised crime and corruption. They knew where, when, why and how it took place, what happened to the body and the identities of the three killers.

They called for a judicial hearing but their pleas were ignored and on hearing the death threats were about to be carried out, both men fled the city and Barry continued to follow the case although it has never been solved.

Barry, who started his journalism career in Bermuda before working in Nottingham, London and Sydney, has based his new book on the facts of the case which are presented as fiction. It is the third version he has written during the last 30 years.

The Nelson Conspiracy is published by Legend Press priced £7.99. The first three chapters are available to view online at www.thenelsonconspiracy.blogspot.com