Cyril Belshaw Case

The Cyril Belshaw Case is a narrative poem in Onegin stanzas, based on the disappearance and death of Betty Belshaw in 1979 after a stay in the Swiss Alps, and the subsequent trial of her husband, the distinguished anthropologist Cyril Belshaw, who died in 2018. Drawing on contemporary sources and later research, it explores the uncertainties that remain around a case that divided colleagues, friends and observers for decades. Combining documentary evidence with the imaginative resources of narrative poetry, this work seeks neither to solve the mystery nor to sensationalize it, but to explore what uncertainty itself may disclose. The author knew Belshaw professionally before the events of 1979.