THE life of the disgraced Jimmy Savile has been discussed in a new book.

Author Dan Davies, who appeared at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, discusses Savile in his book In Plain Sight which he compiled following years of interviews with the abuser.

In Plain Sight also focuses on Savile's life while he was working at Bournemouth's Maison Royale in the seventies - the same super theatre-cum-restaurant where owner at the time John Yates was found dead in a swimming pool.

Though he was not able to prove that Savile was directly involved, Mr Davies says he first wondered if the former DJ was capable of murder after he discovered what he called his “darkness”.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Echo, Mr Davies said: “Before we all knew what Savile was about, before the scandal had broken, I was wondering what his darkness was all about. Why was he so determined to not to let anyone know who he really was? He was very controlling. He wanted his own version of events to be told. He would brush you away. He stuck very forcefully to that.”

In Plain Sight discusses Savile’s introduction to the Maison Royale, where he’d been brought in to help market the new super club.

Mr Yates was found dead in 1972. It was soon decided, in May of the same year, that Cherries chairman Harold Walker was to be made the chairman of the Maison Royale group.

An extract from the book reads: “I began to wonder whether the great secret lurking behind the impenetrable face of Jimmy Savile was that he had been responsible for a death, or worse still, he had killed someone himself. The way he talked about the summary justice meted out to those who caused trouble in his dancehalls, of his pride in having former Sonderkommandos under his command, and now the troubling image of a body in a swimming pool all contributed to the darkening cloud of doubt in my mind.”

When Mr Davies asked Savile what happened, he reportedly ‘didn’t blink’ and answered “He fell on his sword, poor *******.”

“He intimated he’d committed suicide, or thereabouts,” Mr Davies added.

“He said he’d turned the club around. It was failing, he’d said, and then it was making huge amounts of money. I said ‘why didn’t you stay’ and he said he’d done his job.”

One extract from the book reads: “When I asked why, he said it was because the directors thought they could make more money without him. 'Six weeks later the place was completely empty.' Beyond the cigar, a low cackle swilled in the back of his throat.”

After Mr Davies appeared at a book event in Edinburgh, a local newspaper - - as reported by the Echo - said he believed Savile could have been behind Mr Yates' death.But speaking to the Echo, Mr Davies said: “I don’t know how much was bravado. I did try my best to look into it but the dates I’ve found suggested that he cannot have been involved.”