I am an English immigrant in Finland. Trained as an academic researcher (I earned my Ph.D. in 2020), I like to deep dive into my topics and thoroughly research and reference them.

Weirdshire

I began on Medium by writing about events from my home county of Wiltshire, England from the unbelievable Salisbury Poisonings to the murder of a child in 1860 which became the model for detective work in both reality and fiction, to the vanishing of a young man which has been dubbed 'the perfect crime' (and is also my most popular story on Medium).

Spooky Stuff

I have written about paranormal happenings, mostly those occurring in the English county of Weirdshire, I'm sorry Wiltshire. The county boasts a UFO hot spot, an extremely haunted pub, as well as a creepy ancient woodland.

Nordic Noir

My second series of stories might be loosely grouped under the theme 'Nordic Noir.'

I have covered Finland's most famous unsolved murder cases: the killing of three teenagers at Lake Bodom, the death of 17-year-old Kyllikki Saari, and the Tulilahti campsite murders.

I have also looked next door to neighbouring Sweden and written about an unsolved murder dubbed the 'Stockholm Vampire killing.'

I have written about missing person cases from Finland and Sweden. The most bizarre have to be:

Gone for 15 Years Before Anyone Noticed. The disappearance of Vesa Matti Frantsila

“A Very Rare Case”: Missing Finnish Man Re-Appears After 13 Years.

One story I have written which really affected me was the sinking of the Estonia. The personal accounts of survivors are harrowing. Seven years before it sunk, two young backpackers were murdered aboard - talk about a cursed ship!

My most recent (as of March 2022) 'Nordic Noir' tale will take you back to 1880 when a wolf began snatching young children near the city of Turku, Finland.

Facts about Finland

I also publish informative articles about my adopted home country of Finland such as:

Falling with Style: The Story of Finnish Ski Jumper Matti Nykänen,

Six Questions About Life in Finland

Are There Any Dangerous Wild Animals in Finland?

I am proud to be a top writer for the tag 'Finland.'

And Other Stories...

I have also written things that don't fit into my main themes.

Sometimes I'll come across a story that just needs to be researched and told and be compelled to do a write-up whether to expose a Government cover-up, re-visit a mysterious celebrity murder, or talk about a bizarre (but kinda fun) Beatles conspiracy theory (see, not all my stories are grim or tragic!)

Happy reading!

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For all my stories organised by category please follow my Pinterest Board. Why not check out the 'Unsolved Crimes' section and see if you can crack the cases? Or share the stories in the 'Missing Persons' section?

You can also follow me on Twitter @raitapaita