Strangers on the Street: Serial Homicide in South Africa

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 316 pages
• Published by: Penguin Global May 16, 2005
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0141003561
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0141003566
• Book Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Weighs: 11.2 ounces

Product Description
Micki Pistorius is an investigative psychologist whose doctoral thesis proposed a theory for the origin of serial homicide. She spent six years as a profiler and was involved in 35 serial killer investigations, which she described in her first successful book, Catch Me A Killer.

Now, in this comprehensive study of serial homicide, she offers vital information about the mind of the serial killer, including behavioural patterns and motives. This serious attempt to understand the serial killer can help stop them. For, as the author points out, a serial killer's prospect of rehabilitation is negative, and he must be removed from society for the remainder of his life. Includes a section of black and white photographs of real crime scenes.

Reader Reviews
What this books does, is give a detailed overview of some of the cases of serial killers in South Africa. Each chapter relays the case of one killer on about 4 to 5 pages in chronological order, complete with trial and conviction info. It also includes an introductory chapter by the author herself on the different definitions of serial killers from Ressler, Hazelwood and others. The author herself is a psychologist, so as opposed to the usual perspective of a retired FBI profiler with a decided slant to the investigative angle, she sheds light on psychopathology as a condition of the mind. She aimes to make serial killings a more graspable subject for investigators, sort of a manual of how to understand something that cannot and should not be reduced to simple madness. Personally, it wasn't what I expected or wanted. What I wanted was a different angle, a less Western one, less US-centric. What I got was Psychopathology 101 with examples. Admittedly, those weren't even very well presented examples. Artlessly she strings the events of each case together in chronological order, with no real description or analyses of the crime scenes or the victimology. The info on the trial and conviction at the end of each chapter feels tacked on and needlessly moral. All in all, this might be useful book if you never read anything else on serial killers, as it provides a firm groundwork on psychopathology but isn't valuable for the experienced reader. Comment | | (Report this)