Name: The Jigsaw Man
ISBN: 9780593040669

Paul Britton

Britton is one of the country's leading criminal psychologists and offender profilers. Dubbed The real-life Cracker, he has assisted the police in over 100 cases including the murders of Jamie Bulger and Rachel Nickell.

The Jigsaw Man

The autobiography of Paul Britton, one of the foremost offender profilers in the world. Over the past dozen years, Britton has assisted the police in over 100 cases involving murder, rape, arson, extortion and kidnapping. He has also advised the FBI and the Russian Ministry of the Interior.

Eleanor Luhar

My psychology teacher recommended this book at the start of the year, and as it's about the field of work I'm hoping to go into I thought I'd read it. It did take me quite a while to finish, but I still really enjoyed reading it.

Paul Britton, a successful forensic/criminal psychologist, goes into detail on some of the most horrific cases the UK has seen. He discusses his role in the House of Horrors, the contamination of Heinz products, and the abduction of a newborn baby, as well as countless other murders and rapes.

As well as his psychological profiles, Britton talks about his personal experience with working with the police, and how his personal life was affected. He also mentions his NHS career in psychology.

Because this is my ideal career, I found this all very fascinating. It definitely isn't a book for the fainthearted, though - Britton's descriptions of crime scenes and offences are brutally honest and vivid, and I was honestly so shocked by the cases he worked on. As Britton says, it really does make you see the world in a whole different light when you're aware of offenders walking the streets right now.

This was really interesting and gave a lot of insight into the life and career of Paul Britton. It didn't glamorise the career or the offences committed. 4 stars.

Mary Baldwin

A really interesting account of the development of offender profiling through the career of one of the first psychologists to enter the field. Some reviewers have commented on a use of 'pop psychology' by Britton. What I'd say is, the book is aimed at readers without a detailed knowledge of psychology; simplification is inevitable. Secondly, it's pop because it's common - only negative if that also makes it inaccurate. 

The cases are detailed, and I'm sure it would be interesting to read in more depth about that of Stagg/Nickell/Napper - a case some are criticising Britton for. To my mind he has always been open about the limitations of a profile and shouldn't be under critique with the bonus of hindsight.

It's not exactly an educational read, but you will get a good understanding of how and why a profile is formed alongside some pretty hideous crime scene accounts.

Lauren

Fascinating insight into the perspective of Britton and his processes. Useful for cross-comparison of methods across time and between forensic psychologists. Particularly interesting given Britton's specialty being in Clinical Psychology, developing forensic perspectives over time.

However, the perspective can often come across as more narcissistic recall of events, and may be prone to present perspective within the field interfering.

It's an interesting read if you're interested in the development of forsensic psychology- but I recommend keeping in mind the (possible, but evident) bias in his recall of events.

The Jigsaw Man

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