In 2001, long before Bernard Madoff burst into the spotlight with his massive Ponzi scheme, Erin Arvedlund wrote an exposé for Barron's questioning Madoff's claimed investment returns. When Arvedlund, then a staff writer for the magazine, pressed Madoff on how he did it, he replied: "It's a proprietary strategy. I can't go into it in great detail."

Well, sorry, Bernie -- Arvedlund now has the details. Her book about Madoff, Too Good To Be True, will be published August 11 by Portfolio, a division of Penguin Group. In the exclusive excerpts that follow, she explains the key roles played by Madoff's London office, and raises questions about just when JP Morgan Chase realised he was a fraud.