Move along nothing new here ( )

This is a book I obtained awhile ago. I was interested in the author's understanding of the Jon Benet Ramsey case in particular. On Christmas night in 1996, a little six year old beauty queen girl was savagely murdered. Found in a room in the basement by her father and a friend, the murder scene was badly compromised by both those who found her, and the many friends that were at the house the day after the murder.

Thus far the case is not solved. While the immediate belief was to blame the parents, in particular, the mother, Patsy Ramsey, John Douglas, a well-known profiler adamantly told all that he did not believe the parents were in any way responsible.

Reading the ransom note very carefully, he believes the murdered was young, immature, used phrases from various movies on the market at the time of the mruder, and that this was a revenge crime in order to case pain to John Ramsey.

Interesting, but too pedantic. There were other cases in the book as well such as the Boston Stranger, Jack the Ripper and Lizzie Borden. I read them, but was disappointed at the lack of the ability to definitely find who committed these crimes. ( )

Some of the cases were interesting, but the sheer bombast of the author was really off-putting. Especially in light of recent studies that have shown profiling, and particularly homology (the idea that similar people will commit similar crimes), is unreliable and not an effective law enforcement tool. ( )

Really enjoyed this, a new (if you can call a book from 2000 new) take on some old unsolved crimes. Unfortunately, this book doesn’t solve anything, just looks at the cases from a different angle. My issue is that I like closure, and I’m definitely not getting it here. But it was interesting to read a new take on some old stuff. ( )

Of course, since this book is a decade & more old, we have a much better understanding of a few of these cases. This whole book could be called, “Police: corrupt fuckups.” I have to agree. In all of these cases, the police are the buffoons or villains of the story. Some of John’s answers were a little far fetched, including a logical fallacy—if this other case has never been solved, why do you think this one should be. Total non-answer. Good book, if a little out of date. ( )