★★★★✩
What makes a person a murderer? Some probably kill for the ‘fun’ of it, or to evade capture for another crime; for others, the crime may give a feeling of power. Some killings are unexplained. I suppose we will never know what makes a successful murderer because, by definition, they would never be caught. You are most likely to be murdered by someone you know, probably a family member.
This book tells the history of the specialist London detectives who have investigated murder for over a hundred years. Written by a prolific author of policing and crime, there is much here that is new and interesting. The idea of a specialist detective force got off to a shaky start, however. The idea that fingerprints could be of evidential value was derided. Somehow, though, fingerprints and forensic science took root and the detectives used ‘bag carriers’ with the necessary equipment to gather in evidence.