An
insightful book by former
FBI investigator
John Douglas. This man spent his career creating
psychological profiles of serial killers and figuring out their motivation. In that time, he headed up the FBI's
Behavorial Science Unit. The
detective from
the silence of the lambs is based in reality on the author.
The unit would receive unsolved cases from local and state police. They are famous for catching the Atlanta Child Killer and interviewed Son of Sam David Berkowitz (Douglas was the first to make him admit all the satanic stuff was a lie) as well as Charles Manson.
The book focuses on Douglas's career and then moves to the methods he uses to analyze the crime scene and get into the mind of the killer, as well as carry out interrogations designed to make the killer confess, such as bringing in the murder weapon and putting it in the corner of the room.
There have been sequels, focusing on stalkers, serial killers, and even showed some crime scene analysis of the O.J. Simpson case. This is the first book, followed up by Into the Mind of a killer and Obsession Excerpts have been in Reader's Digest.
I'd say this book is a must-read for any forensics student, shows some famous cases, evidence, and step-by-step crime-solving. For example, by the method of killing from behind, the author was able to tell the killer had a speech impediment!