Pam Fish

What a massive compilation of facts this book is – a must for anyone writing crime. Everything that you need to know, expertly indexed for ease of reference. When I was writing my first book, which had a small part of it concerned with the abduction of a child, I would have loved to have had this book by my side. There are items included that you would need to scan several books for, or spend many hours on the Internet, but all can be found in this one volume. It covers the way that crime was investigated in the past and how it is carried out now in the present day. Uncomplicated to read and understand are subjects like forensic pathology, DNA and police procedure. Added to this is the simplicity of accessing information from the chapters itemised under the Reference Guide section; Modern Policing, the Phonetic Alphabet and the Police Caution to name a few. Did you know that the wording of the police caution had changed as a result of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994? It was changed to reflect the fact that people arrested were no longer able to remain silent without the potential that this course of action may prejudice their case. It’s all documented in straightforward to read sections. And, although the abduction in my novel, didn’t lead to murder, the murder investigation team structure was something that back in 2003, when I wrote the book set in the mid 80’s, I had spent quite a lot of time finding out. So, if you are a crime writer I thoroughly recommend that you treat yourself to a copy of this book