Motives For Murder

*WINNER OF THE CWA SHORT STORY DAGGER WITH THE TRIALS OF MARGARET BY L. C. TYLER* In honour of multi award-winning author Peter Lovesey, the members of the Detection Club have written twenty-two twisty - and twisted - short stories that will take you on a journey from cosy English towns to the glaciers of Iceland and the glittering towers of Dubai. The collection is edited by current Detection Club president Martin Edwards and features stories from Ann Cleeves, Simon Brett, Andrew Taylor and several other best-loved crime authors. The Detection Club was founded by the crème de la crime of British crime writing in 1930 and its members included Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Anthony Berkeley and the Club's first president, G. K. Chesterton. The Detection Club was a way for crime writers to get together, socialise and discuss ideas, a tradition that continues to this day. Authors include: Ann Cleeves - Simon Brett - Andrew Taylor - Len Deighton - Peter Lovesey - Michael Jecks - Michael Ridpath - Kate Ellis - Ruth Dudley Edwards - Alison Joseph - L. C. Tyler - Catherine Aird - David Roberts - David Stuart Davies - Janet Laurence - Liza Cody - Martin Edwards - Kate Charles - John Malcolm - Marjorie Eccles - Michael Z. Lewin - Susan Moody

Human psychological and physical well-being is damaged and destroyed when people are deliberately killed by other people. There are millions of primary and secondary victims of murder throughout the world, and human society as a whole is a tertiary victim of murder. Despite this, people are often fascinated and engrossed by stories of homicide and killers. This book provides a fascinating exploration of murder, providing an insight into what leads people to kill and what effect this has on society as a whole. This book is organized into five chapters that each answer a specific question on murder: What is Murder? Who Commits Murder? Why Commit Murder? Why is Murder Devastating? Why is Murder Fascinating?

Who are the men committing the rising number of serial homicides in the U.S. -- and why do they kill? The increase in these violent crimes over the past decade has created an urgent need for more and better information about these men: their crime scene patterns, violent acts, and above all, their motivations for committing these shocking and repetitive murders. This authoritative book represents the data, findings, and implications of a long-term F.B.I.-sponsored study of serial sex killers. Specially trained F.B.I. agents examined thirty-six convicted, incarcerated sexual murderers to build a valuable new bank of information which reveals the world of the serial sexual killer in both quantitative and qualitative detail. Data was obtained from official psychiatric and criminal records, court transcripts, and prison reports, as well as from extensive interviews with the offenders themselves. Featured in this book is detailed information on the F.B.I.'s recently developed Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (VICAP) and a sample of an actual VICAP Crime Analysis Report Form.

The small town of Coalmont, Tennessee is shattered when a car crash on graduation night leaves three of its teenagers dead and another three fighting for their lives. Four years later, the aftershocks still ripple through the town, and no one feels them more than Natasha Hawthorne, the young driver. When someone targets the survivors of the horrific crash for murder, the obvious motive is revenge. But things aren’t always what they seem, and the notion of revenge served cold doesn’t ring true with Brady Simms, newly appointed police chief. To make things even more difficult, Brady ultimately finds himself standing squarely between the killer and his next victim, the woman who broke his heart four years ago. As the killer escalates his attacks, Brady’s only hope of saving the intended victims is to get into the mind of a sociopath. When the relative of the first victim makes a startling revelation, Brady reopens the investigation and what he finds will change all of their lives forever.

ONE MURDER. TWELVE SUSPECTS. TWELVE MOTIVES FOR MURDER . . . Sit back and become a real armchair detective. A murder mystery told entirely through interviews. Private Investigator Elizabeth Chalice needs YOU to help her solve this case. It's a beautiful Christmas day in Como, and the Caswell-Jones family are celebrating with their nearest and dearest in their Villa Janus. Merriment and limoncello abound . . . That is, until Jonty Caswell-Jones is found dead in his study. With no staff today, the only suspects are the guests and the family. Under the surface, tensions have been brewing, guests seething, and rivalries have reared their ugly head . . . Jonty's wife, Catherine, knows there's a killer among them so she calls her acquaintance, Elizabeth Chalice, to investigate. She wants to keep this firmly within the family if she can. No one else must know. As each suspect is interviewed in turn, Elizabeth must work out who killed Jonty and why. And is anyone else in danger? But with twelve suspects each with their own very clear motive, anything is possible . . . DOWNLOAD THE AUDIOBOOK FOR THE FULL IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE

Using multiple data sources and methods, this book involves a micro-historical analysis of the nature of change and stability in homicide situations over time. It focuses on the homicide situation as the unit of analysis, and explores similarities and differences in the context of homicide for different social groups. For example, using Qualitative Comparative Analysis, we investigate whether various social groups (e.g., men vs. women, teenagers vs. adults, strangers vs. intimates, Blacks vs. Whites) kill under qualitatively different circumstances and, if so, what are the characteristics of these unique profiles. The analysis of over 400,000 US homicides is supplemented with qualitative analysis of narrative accounts of homicide events to more fully investigate the structure and process underlying these lethal situations. Our findings of unique and common homicide situations across different time periods and social groups are then discussed in terms of their implications for criminological theory and public policy.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Don’t miss the excerpt of Jonathan Kellerman’s The Murderer’s Daughter in the back of the book! Jonathan Kellerman writes razor-sharp novels that cut to the quick. Now comes Motive, which pits psychologist Alex Delaware and homicide cop Milo Sturgis against a vicious criminal mind—the kind only Kellerman can bring to chilling life. Even having hundreds of closed cases to his credit can’t keep LAPD police lieutenant Milo Sturgis from agonizing over the crimes that don’t get solved—and the victims who go without justice. Victims like Katherine Hennepin, a young woman strangled and stabbed in her home. A single suspect with a solid alibi leads to a dead end—one even Alex Delaware’s expert insight can’t explain. The only thing to do is move on to the next murder case—because there’s always a next one. This time the victim is Ursula Corey: a successful, attractive divorcée who’s been gunned down—not a robbery but an execution, a crime that smacks of simple, savage revenge. And along with that theoretical motive come two strong contenders for the role of perp: the dead woman’s business partner/ex-husband and her divorce lawyer/secret lover. But just as Alex and Milo think they’re zeroing in on the most likely suspect, a bizarre new clue stirs up eerie echoes of the unsolved Hennepin murder. And the discovery of yet another crime scene bearing the same taunting signature raises the specter of a serial killer on a mission, whose twisted method is exceeded only by his manipulative and cunning madness. Praise for Motive “Jonathan Kellerman has mastered the art of lean, evocative prose [in] a series that grows stronger with each volume.”—New York Journal of Books “One of [Kellerman’s] best works to date . . . Motive is wonderfully made, equally well-driven by plot and character, and shouldn’t be missed.”—Bookreporter “[Motive] will even keep genre veterans guessing. . . . The twists are both shocking and logical, and the byplay between the leads entertaining.”—Publishers Weekly Praise for Jonathan Kellerman “Jonathan Kellerman’s psychology skills and dark imagination are a potent literary mix.”—Los Angeles Times “A master of the psychological thriller.”—People “The combination of Alex Delaware [and] Detective Milo Sturgis . . . makes for the most original whodunit duo since Watson and Holmes.”—Forbes