Product Review

When Vince McFadden asked me to help his inquiry over the Railway Rapist and murderer, virtually no one outside the police force, and only a few inside, knew what “profiling” was. Today, a professional framework for police work is being built from scientific psychology, as well as many other sources. When firm principles for detective work have been established within the behavioural sciences, investigators will become more competent at helping courts both convict evil criminals, and free those who are innocent.

In 1994, after many years of movies and television portraying the evil side of the human psyche, Dr David Canter published Criminal Shadows. Two decades on, its revolutionary descriptions of psychological profiling still helps to explain the actions of serial killers and psychopaths.

These techniques can help police precisely identify and locate murderers and rapists, even those who have alluded capture for years.

Dr David Canter was a British pioneer in the psychological science of criminal profiling. In prose which takes a clear, structured approach to his subject, he reveals how vicious serial killers and rapists unconsciously cast shadows of their identity at the crime scene. The tell-tale patterns, when scientifically understood, can help police capture these brutal offenders. He also explains the types of criminality and victims.

Criminal Shadows leads the reader through Dr Canter's breakthrough profiling techniques, now adopted by a growing number of police forces throughout the world. Anyone with an interest in psychology or criminal justice should read this book, as should fans of television forensic programmes.

‘In this book, Canter takes us on a fascinating journey through his groundbreaking theories, reminding us that criminals live as “normal” people hidden in our midst, not necessarily as monsters we can readily see. He dissects subtle variations in the underlying “themes” that drive vicious offenders, and shows us how to use these “stories” as clues to a criminal’s personality and identity.’ – Robert D. Keppel, chief investigator of the Ted Bundy cases

David Canter is the Director at the International Centre for Investigative Psychology at the University of Huddersfield, and was formerly Professor of Psychology at the University of Liverpool, England, where he is still an Emeritus Professor. A fellow of the American Psychological Association and a chartered Forensic Psychologist, Dr Canter is the winner of the Golden Dagger Award for Crime nonfiction and the Anthony Award for Best True Crime. He also pioneered the establishment of Environmental Psychology, prior to his work on serial killers.

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