The Blooding [Mass Market Paperback]

Joseph Wambaugh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1989

Fifteen-year-old Lynda Mann's savagely raped and strangled body is found along a shady footpath near the English village of Narborough.  Though a massive 150-man dragnet is launched, the case remains unsolved.  Three years later the killer strikes again, raping and strangling teenager Dawn Ashforth only a stone's throw from where Lynda was so brutally murdered.  But it will take four years, a scientific breakthrough, the largest manhunt in British crime annals, and the blooding of more than four thousand men before the real killer is found.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Wambaugh's latest triumphant venture into true crime turns to Leicestershire, England, and the slayings of two teenagers, killings that were eventually solved through scientist Alec Jeffreys's discovery of genetic fingerprinting. "As Wambaugh's fans have come to expect, this is an eminently readable and most impressive book," praised PW.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Wambaugh, best known for his books dealing with American crime and detection, here tells the engrossing story of two British sex murders and the police hunt for the killer. The title stems from a procedure of genetic fingerprinting detected by examining blood samples, and used by the police to catch the murderer. Armed with the new discovery for detection, the police launched a massive drive to "fingerprint" men in the Narborough village area. Wambaugh gives an inside look at the police and their intense and, at last, successful drive to catch the murderer. He also discusses the process, and some of its limitless possibilities. An excellent account of murder, detection, and this amazing scientific discovery. Recommended.
- Sally G. Waters, Stetson Law Lib., St. Petersburg, Fla.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (November 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553282816
• ISBN-13: 978-0553282818
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #314,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The first 5-star book I've ever read, January 5, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Blooding (Mass Market Paperback)

I read some of the other reviews of this book and found the last 2 to be completely incorrect. This is in fact, not a book for the weak at heart, but it never promises to be. This is very graphic and detailed. So, if you don't like this, don't read this book, but for other true crime fanatics like myself, you will most assuredly love this read. It starts in high gear and stays there throughout. There are no long intros or set-ups, this book hits the ground running and will never leave you thinking that your time could be better spent as some of the other reviews suggest. Sure, if you can't handle the bloodiness and truth of true crime, then go curl up in a corner and read a Harry Potter book!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars True story of first murder solved by DNA tests, February 8, 2003

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blooding (Mass Market Paperback)

This story is set in three neighbouring villages with which I am familiar. The crimes were committed in the eighties, but I only came to know the villages many years later, when I worked in Narborough (the middle of the three villages) from 1998 to 2002. I heard occasional references to these crimes, although never any in-depth conversations. Even now, the topic is too sensitive, so the only way I could find out what really happened was via this book.

Wambaugh gives an excellent account of the crimes and the often futile attempts to solve them. Perhaps occasionally it is more graphic than it needs to be, describing the state of the bodies in intimate detail, but its easy to gloss over that (it is in print, not on film) and there's not too much of that. Some of the main characters, including the policemen and their suspects, are described in great detail. While some may feel that this is just padding, I feel it all helps to make it a good story.

Again, plenty of pages are devoted to false leads, but this may help us to understand why detective work is never as simple as we would like it to be. At one point, after the second murder, the police think they've got their man. The parents can't believe that he would do such a thing and it is at that point that the new science of DNA testing is brought in. The parents are convinced their son in innocent. The police are convinced that he is not only guilty of that murder, but also the earlier one. Did the same man commit both murders and was this particular man guilty? The DNA test results eventually provide answers, but to find out what those answers were, you must read the book.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for fans of 'Forensic Files', October 27, 2005

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Blooding (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a big fan of the forensic programs on Court TV, and I always check the date of the featured crime (almost always murder and/or rape) to see if it occurred before or after DNA testing became common in the United States. If it occurred after 1992, the perp is usually doomed. Even decades-old cases can be solved if blood/semen/saliva samples were properly stored from the crime scene. According to a prophecy in the weekly "New Scientist," there will soon be kits available that will allow police to process DNA samples in less than two hours.

In "The Blooding," former policeman, Joseph Wambaugh writes about the first serial killer who was caught and convicted through the use of DNA testing: two teenage girls in the English village of Narborough were brutally raped and murdered in 1983 and 1986, and it took four years, a scientific breakthrough, and the blood of 5,000 men to capture the killer, Colin Pitchfork. DNA testing also freed the suspect that police had already jailed for the crime.

On September 10, 1984, at nearby Leicester University, Dr. Alec Jeffreys (now Sir Alec) discovered that each human being (except for identical twins) has a unique genetic profile. At first, his DNA profiling technique was used to sort out immigration cases. Then the Leicestershire constabulary became familiar with DNA 'fingerprinting' and collected blood from over 5,000 men in the ultimately successful search for their murderer.

(By 2004, the UK had a national database of 2.5 million genetic profiles from convicted criminals. Statistics show that 38% of all crimes are detected where DNA has been loaded onto the UK national database, compared with a 24% detection rate overall. And 48% of burglaries are detected where DNA has been loaded onto the database, compared with a 14% detection rate for burglaries overall.

Nowadays, even British bus drivers are issued DNA testing kits to help catch passengers who spit at them.)

Wambaugh does not spend much time exploring the scientific aspects of the Narborough Village murders. He tells the interwoven stories of the victims, their families, the murderer, and most especially the policemen who were involved in the hunt.
From the shadowy paths that wound past the grounds of the local psychiatric hospital to the ancient, smoke-filled pubs where the villagers spent their free hours, this author will have you living and breathing the horror of these crimes. There are a few of the patented Wambaugh belly laughs as the Leicestershire police invent their own techniques for 'blooding' the local men. One of my favorite scenes takes place after Colin Pitchfork is apprehended, and he insists on telling his bored interrogators his whole life story before he will confess to his crimes.

Everyone comes to life in a Wambaugh story, but most especially the policemen.

I have never been able to pick up one of this author's books without reading it through to the end, and "The Blooding" is no exception.