Signature Killers by
Robert D Keppel
pbk out September 98
at £5.99
This true crime book focuses on the one central thread, the "calling card"
of the multiple killer that is is often described as the "killer's
signature". As Robert D. Keppel, Chief Criminal Investigator for the
Washington State Attorney General's Office, makes clear in his
introduction, it lies "within the very nature of the killer that his
signature will be re-created in each and every murder he commits. Homicide
detectives who know how to find a killer's signature and understand what
that signature means are usually more successful in solving serial crimes
than their counterparts who proceed, sometimes unthinkingly, along
traditional paths."
One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is that Keppel makes it
clear that he is directly influenced by the detective exploits of Sherlock
Holmes. He contends that a quotation from A Study In Scarlet captures "the
essence of signature analysis at homicide scenes" and also compares one of
the many grim cases described in his book as "a real-life version of a
Patricia Cornwell novel." The account of the murders are relentlessly
bleak, but Keppel has a good deal of interest to say about the way in which
signature killers develop psychologically: "it's not just a matter of
chemistry or parental abuse or head injuries ... what it really comes down
to is choices." It is safe to say that not every reader will agree with
all Keppel's conclusions, but this is a thought-provoking book which
deserves more attention than most true crime fare.
(
Martin Edwards
- author of the highly acclaimed Harry Devlin Mysteries)
Signature Killers by
Robert D Keppel