Serial Murder (Studies in Crime, Law, and Criminal Justice) [Paperback]

Ronald M. Holmes (Author), James DeBurger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1988 | ISBN-10: 0803928416 | ISBN-13: 978-0803928411

Based on the authors' own research and personal interviews with convicted serial killers, Serial Murder is the first book to consider the social context and characteristics of serial murder. The authors ask why it occurs, how the murderers choose their victims and assess the impact on the families and associates of victims, as well as community response to serial murder. They also emphasize practical issues such as the ability of police to identify serial murder cases and the determination of jurisdiction.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ronald M. Holmes is Coroner, in the Jefferson County Coroner's office and Professor Emeritus of Justice Administration at the University of Louisville. He is the author of several books, among them Profiling Violent Crimes, Sex Crimes, and Serial Murder. He is also the author of more than 50 articles appearing in scholarly publications. He is Vice President of the National Center for the Study of Unresolved Homicides and has completed more than 500 psychological profiles for police departments across the United States. He received his doctorate from Indiana University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Sage Publications, Inc (January 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803928416
• ISBN-13: 978-0803928411
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,796,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Hundreds of clumsy errors in the text and index., June 2, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serial Murder (Hardcover)

Scholars and criminologists beware! Behind a paper-thin scholarly veneer, this volume is worse than useless to any serious reader. The authors open with self-congratulation of their own "research vigor," denouncing competitors who produce books "loaded with errors," then deliver a slim volume containing literally hundreds of careless mistakes--countless names misspelled, cases misplaced geographically and chronologically (one killer hanged in 1896 is described as active in the 1940s!), etc. The index is a joke, with most of the page citations inaccurate, and that's only the beginning. Some killers appear twice under different names (their own and some garbled version), while others appear to be mythical characters (e.g., "Leslie Hooten"). The most hilarious error finds a list of "Serial Killer Victims" in the index naming several authors from the book's bibliography ... plus O.J. Simpson! Worst of all, the book appears to be one massive ego stroke, with the primary author referring to himself by name more than 80 times in less than 160 pages. At a hardcover cost of 28 cents per page, anyone desiring accurate information on serial murder is well advised to shop around.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but..., June 24, 2008

By 

Rai (Lou, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Serial Murder (Paperback)

This book was required for my Serial Murder class, and while it was interesting in the beginning, it is not anymore. I find it very repetitive and out of date. All of the information found in the beginning pages is from 1993-ish and earlier. It really does need an update. I also think that the authors need to have more sources in the book (it seems like the only sources are from the authors' articles).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Serial Murder--1988 version vs 1998 version, November 13, 2000

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Serial Murder (Studies in Crime, Law, and Criminal Justice) (Paperback)

Two important things must first be noted: Amazon.com is listing a 1988 title (Serial Murder)by Holmes and DeBurger. That book was received with very positive reviews and was widely recognized as a "first" in the attempt to deal systematically with this particular form of homicide. It appears that Amazon.com is publishing reviews that do not pertain to this first edition, but which are based on evaluation of SERIAL MURDER by Ronald and Stephen Holmes, published in 1998 by Sage. The Holmes'(father-and-son) effort represents a buttressing of the 1988 edition with considerable expansion of specific cases and developments in the intervening decade. While there is a bit of "hurrying to completion" evident here with attendant errors, typos, missing or misplaced names, etc., this book--which builds well on the first edition by Holmes and DeBurger-- does represent the best systematic work available on the topic. Amazon.com should pay closer attention to its listings and get book titles linked correctly with their actual authors.