First of all, I’d like to say that the purpose of this review is to tell you what I thought about the book.  I am not discussing Brent Turvey or personality issues—merely the content of Criminal Profiling.  If you are familiar with Turvey, you are aware that he is a controversial individual…he has what I’d call “followers”, the interested, and even those who seem to do their personal best to ruin his reputation at his heels. Turvey once said that people either really like him or really dislike him and I believe that is an accurate observation. If you are not familiar with Turvey, you are better off because you have no preconceived notions—to learn more about the author please visit his web site (see address at bottom or click on author’s name above).

Next, I’d like to let you know that Criminal Profiling is a true-blue textbook—this book is not like the Evil That Men Do (Hazelwood) or MindHunter (Douglas). You should read this book is if you are genuinely interested in criminal investigations—with a particular emphasis on Forensic Science. This book is meant for educational purposes, in a college setting, for example. It’s heavy reading and requires that you truly pay attention to what you’re reading…I’d suggest having your highlighter ready.  So what’s the book about? As mentioned, criminal investigations—more specifically, how to use investigative techniques to compile a criminal profile that is based on behaviorisms developed from the physical evidence left at the crime scene(s).

The question now becomes: will I learn anything from it?  My answer is: definitely. The author, and his contributors, has demonstrated that criminal profiling can be de-mystified.  How does he do this? He does this by explaining that he  uses the evidence to substantiate what he thinks…for example, a white paint chip is found at the crime scene…Turvey might think it’s from a car, so he makes sure the forensic lab has tested the paint chip to see if additional information can be obtained and if the paint chip is from a car (my example-not Turvey’s). So instead of stating: the offender was driving a white car without any additional information, he shows the reader how he would have come to that conclusion. Perhaps this example is lame…but I digress.  Additionally, he provides a sort of “to do” list—things you, as either a profiler or investigator, should do (where possible) for a thorough investigation of the crime scene(s). He details this quite exhaustively…you will learn from it. He notes (repeatedly) the importance of re-checking your information, confirming what you’ve got, as well as conducting your own investigation as part of a profile. The point being: make sure you’ve got all there is to get and make sure the information is accurate.

Turvey further demonstrates the need for teamwork during an investigation. His philosophy is to bring together all who are, have been or might be able to provide information to a point of working together, as opposed to the sometimes occurring working independently. For example, have the investigator who is handling the case let the forensic lab know what’s been found, where it (the particular piece of evidence) was found, the condition it was found in…etc. By doing this, the forensic lab expert may know exactly what kind of test to perform.  Turvey also suggests crime scene reconstruction to further substantiate what has been found.  As each entity gathers its information, they share with the others. I find this an idealistic approach (though a solid one) and have to wonder if such teamwork could really happen. Turvey seems to think so.

This “how to” book is an excellent resource. I studied it as though I were sitting in a classroom. When I mentioned that it’s heavy reading, I neglected to say that while it is extremely detailed, it is also easy to follow and understand.  I doubt you would find yourself inundated by the information coming in because it’s set forth in a manner that either the professional, beginner, or laymen could appreciate.  I, personally, walked away with a lot of information and respected the hard work and detail that Turvey and the contributors put into the book.

I jotted down some questions before I started reading that I wanted to “satisfy”—they are below with their answers.

Now that I've told you what I liked about the book, I have to address a few things that kind of bothered me about it…nothing is perfect, after all. Remember, though, that these little things do not really take away from the whole of the book. They are just things that you might want to know.

As with many of these books, the author finds faults with many others either in his field or interested in his field (to include other professions that have been interested in profiling.   At this point you’ve got to take the criticism for whatever its worth to YOU…just do so open-mindedly and objectively. The author, at the beginning of the book, talks heavily about questioning what you read and are told (in regards to other information out there) and stresses critical thinking skills. Therefore, it would stand to reason that you should do this when reading some of the criticisms in this text as well.

I also did not like what basically comes down to the equivalent of name-calling.  In other words, less personalizing would have been more appropriate.  I realize this bantering among the professionals is fairly common in certain genres, but for a textbook, I’d expect a little more refraining. Even though he attempts to "cushion" the insults, an insult is still an insult. In my humble opinion, it would have been better had the author simply written something like: based on my personal experience, this is the most effective way to do so and so. Still, there is a flip side to this point. How can he demonstrate what he believes to be correct if he doesn’t show or tell what (and why) something doesn’t work?  

I did find another thing that kind of put me off: the little side-notes he puts in sometimes come across as childish. For example:

“This sentence is guaranteed to get me some heated e-mails from retired law enforcement…” (Page 26).

I don’t know about you, but I don’t really care about that. There’s no value to this otherwise good text in sharing that with us. I found it exceedingly immature and would rather stick to the point being discussed rather than delve into the author's side bars.

It is easy to get wrapped up in things that you don't like about a book or an author, but in doing so, you may miss the larger picture. So while these complaints I've expressed are there, they are not significant enough to disregard the entire text. Just know that they are there and move on.

To conclude, this is an excellent resource, one to be put on your shelf for future use. Despite some of its flaws (and they are a bit minute), it’s an excellent contribution to the profiling field in terms of educational material.  It’s worth your money.

You can visit Brent Turvey's Site: Knowledge Solutions at: http://www.corpus-delicti.com

Thanks to Nick for being so patient while I read the book!