A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind by Ann Burgess is about a trauma nurse’s journey to create a process to help identify serial killers and stop them before they hurt someone else. During the 1970s and 1980s, progressive activism and sex positivity was prevalent and underneath this forward movement for change was a dark undertone brewing. As cases of sexual assault and homicide began to rise, the FBI responded to the need by creating a specialized team known as the “Mindhunters” or also known as the Behavioral Science Unit in the FBI.
Typically the FBI agents previously used their gut instincts to find and catch serial killers. They needed someone to help create a process that can be used by others to help narrow down suspect pools. The team decided to tap Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess to help them because of her role and research with interviewing rape victims.
In the book, Ann details how her research on sexual assault and trauma garnered the attention of the FBI and how she ended up working with the team. Over the course of two decades, she and the FBI agents in the BSU help create and build a specialized team that focuses on identifying, interviewing, and capturing over a dozen of infamous violent offenders.
Ann illustrates and gives a detailed, behind the scenes look of the creation of the team. She describes their triumphs and roadblocks. She gives a graphic description of the murders and explains how the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit played a role in the capture of each offender.
As a person who loves reading true crime, I found the book to be an enjoyable read. The book covered a few cases that I wasn’t familiar with. I liked reading how Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess contributed to creating a team within the FBI that was dedicated to capturing these violent criminals. I feel that women’s contributions in certain fields are not as widely known or celebrated as their male counterparts. I like reading books that showcase the talents of women in their fields as it’s inspiring to read.
The author gave enough details about each crime to understand it and then explained how the BSU helped capture the criminal. I also like that she went into details about the methodologies they used and explained industry key terms. Her narration style was easy to understand and wasn't overly technical. It was interesting to learn about the different tools investigators can use. For example, I learned about the “check attention” type polygraph and its purpose. The book included a few photos of past crime scene evidence and photos of the team. If you loved the Netflix show, “Mindhunters”, you will love the behind the scenes narrative in this book.
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