Serial Murders (Crime and Detection Series)

The systematic killing of a succession of victims, often over a period of many years, is not a modern phenomenon, but it has increased alarmingly over the past 50 years, particularly in the United States. Psychopathic individuals have discovered the pleasure -- most frequently sexual -- of meaningless murder, and the resultant publicity that their cases often provoke has caused the FBI to be concerned that a growing number of incidents are "copy-cat" crimes.

Serial Murders details several typical cases -- historical and recent -- from the 15th-century French killer, Gilles de Rais (the original "Bluebeard"), to Englishman Dr. Harold Shipman. The author investigates the root causes that led to the development of the killers' psychopathic personalities -- often deprivation and abuse in childhood -- and describes the gathering of evidence that eventually led to their identification and arrest.