Mapping Murder: The Secrets of Geographical Profiling - Hardcover

David Canter

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1852270780 ISBN 13: 9781852270780

Publisher: Virgin Pub, 2003

Synopsis

David Canter believes the roots of murder can be better understood by careful consideration of the parallels between the criminal's psychological journey and the actual paths he follows. He conducts a meticulous and fascinating exploration of a number of notorious crimes, taking us on the murderers' journeys in both the psychological and geographical sense. His work has enabled police departments across the world to solve a number of high-profile cases, since his groundbreaking contribution to the capture of the vicious 'railway murderer', John Duffy. He describes how the uptake of this innovative approach is enriching detectives' mental maps of the how and why of murder, throwing light on previously unsolved crimes as far afield as Newfoundland, Las Vegas and New Zealand. With first-hand experience of applying his techniques, Canter expands on his theories of what distinguishes criminals from each other, probing deep into the twisted logic of men whose crimes have shocked the world. For the first time in print he gives a detailed profile of his 'marauders and commuters' theory -- looking at killers whose confused and devious attempts to satisfy their brutal desires led to their capture. An in-depth study is made of murderers like Fred West, and the Belgian, Marc Dutroux -- who constructed 'spiders' webs' to lure and then destroy their victims. He shows how these webs operated like black holes, due to the absence of information related to the disappearance of the victims.

Details are also given of criminal 'marauders' who venture out to find their victims, as well as the 'travelling killers', like Robert Black, Peter Sutcliffe and Peter Moore. Most chillingly, the role of the victims is examined: how someone can unwittingly become etched on a murderer's map without realising the journey they are taking could be their last. Based on the highly acclaimed TV series of the same name.

About this title

About the Author

David Canter is Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool, where he is Director of the Centre for Investigative Psychology. He is best known as the first British 'offender profiler' and it is said the TV series Cracker was based on his work. His book Criminal Shadows won the Golden Dagger award and the US Antony Award for crime non-fiction in 1995 and has sold over 50,000 copies worldwide. He has written for all the UK broadsheet newspapers and is often drawn upon as the expert voice of psychological profiling for numerous television documentaries.

Review

The eminent criminal psychologist and first British 'offender profiler', Professor David Canter, suggests that criminals reveal their identities not just by their methods but also from the chosen locations of their activities. This new science of 'geographical profiling' has enabled police throughout the world to solve a number of high-profile cases by revealing what criminals are trying to hide and what their next moves are likely to be. Professor Canter recounts some engrossing stories about well-known murders and rapists and how they were caught. He also writes of his theories about 'marauders and commuters' whose attempts to satisfy their brutal desires lead to their downfall. There are also in-depth studies of mass murderers such as Fred and Rose West and Dennis Nielsen who construct 'spiders' webs' to lure and destroy their victims.

Edition details

• Publisher: Virgin Pub
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1852270780
• ISBN 13: 9781852270780
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 240