This book was one of my more interesting texts for my degree in forensic psychology. Douglas's theories don't always agree with the popular thinking, but his logic makes sense once you understand the method. It's interesting reading, until you get to the Ramsey case where his bias gets in the way of following his own method. Some knowledge of the facts of the historical cases helps with the understanding, but the book is definitely written for the popular press. If you like CSI-type stuff you'll probably like this book, although his first book, Mindhunter, was better.

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Excellent accounts of the following cases, some solved and some unsolved:

Jack the Ripper
Lizzie Borden
The Zodiac Killer
The Black Dahlia
The Lindbergh Baby
Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek
The Boston Strangler
JonBenet Ramsey

I had no idea that Lizzie Borden may have been a kleptomaniac. The insights on the Ramsey case are especially good. Don't skip the "Perspectives" section at the end--the authors have some terrific suggestions on how to equip law enforcement agencies so they can solve these types of cases.

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The authors--Douglas worked for the FBI for 25 years--tackle famous cases including Jack the Ripper, Lizzie Borden, the Zodiac killer, and JonBenet Ramsey's murder. This is not sleazy or sensationalistic crime writing; the book is down-to-earth and very convincing of various parties' guilt or innocence. Highly recommended. Now I'd like to see Douglas tackle Scott Peterson and Darlie Routier.

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Do you like true crime? This book has Jack the Ripper, the Black Dahlia, Jon Benet and MORE. Very good read.

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This book includes the cases of Jack the Ripper, JonBenet Ramsey, Lizzie Borden, the Lindbergy kidnapping and the Zodiac killer. Authors give their views on who might have commited these crimes. Very good.

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Got this book through paperbackswap.com on the recommendation of someone else. Thought this book was OK but not a great read. I have read other books and seen TV shows about Jack the Ripper so I didn't think Douglas' analysis of the case offered much new, other than naming a couple folks who fit his profile of the culprit. I had some knowledge of all the other cases in the book. Douglas' reviews of some didn't really add much.

The JonBenet Ramsey case review was the longest at 98 pages and was the only one in which Douglas was involved. He clearly was not impartial and concluded that the Ramseys had no involvement in the murder of JonBenet. Clearly, there were mistakes made by the local PD and the DA's office but I don't think that absolves the Ramseys.

I read many of the Amazon reviews after finishing the book (I usually have an idea of how I'm going to rate a book when I'm done with it but like to read the reviews at that point to see what others thought of it) and many of them noted that Douglas seemed to have a pretty high opinion of himself. I agree. This was particularly obvious in the Ramsey chapter.

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john douglas has always written very well thought out books. a step-by-step process. very good at not "joining the bandwagon" mentality. just the facts at hand or not at hand. even though the book was printed in 2000, it's still relevant as to the understandings of the cases presented.

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If you're a John Douglas fan this book is for you. The cases he reviews here are the most well known and haunting even going back to Jack the Ripper. I had a little trouble with the JonBenet Ramsey discussion but not because I agreed or disagreed with his conclusion but because he went into so much detail that I was worn out when I got to the end of it. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in profiling done right.

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This is a very well written book about all those cases that were never solved offers alot of true facts about the cases and some thoughts on the perps how they commited the crimes ,why, and how come we weren't able to solve them. I read alot of these kinds of books but this was by far one of the best!

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Very interesting read.

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Thrilling detailed accounts of true crimes: JenBenet Ramsey case, Jack the Ripper, The Lindbergh Kidnapping and more.

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this book goes in to great detail of each case. some things that weren't mentioned on tv or in the newspapers

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