The Jigsaw Man (The Remarkable Career of Britain's Foremost Criminal Psychologist) - Paul Britton > Reviews

Advantages: Portrays the type of people likely to have committed crimes
Disadvantages: Gruesome and unnecessary details

...a hot cuppa and began The Jigsaw Man written by Paul Britton, one of the top and indeed perhaps one of the first Clinical Psychologists, certainly in the U.K. The book covers the writer's journey from a working class family into the police world, originally as a police cadet and ultimately as a clinical and forensic psychologist. We read of his struggle to undertake exams whilst working and bringing up a family at the same time, until the fateful ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting
Disadvantages: Leaves some important facts out

The book by Paul Britton The Jigsaw Man is An interesting book. It tells how an underachiever from a state secondary modern eventually became the best criminal forensic psychological profiler in the UK. In fact from reading Britton's glowing paean of praise for himself, one would be led to the conclusion that Britton was the only forensic psychological profiler in the UK. The book details in somewhat gruesome detail all of the cases that Britton ... Read review

Advantages: Compelling read but dark images stay with the reader
Disadvantages: graphic detail sometimes too much

This book charts the remarkable career of Paul Britton (written by himself), one of Britain’s most respected Criminal Psychologist. The Jigsaw Man charts the beginnings and development of professional psychology as used in the investigation of crime. I read this book during the Xmas holidays over a period of five nights, it kept me awake till yon time which was suprising given that it is not really my type of subject matter. The book is definitely ... Read review

Advantages: great book
Disadvantages: -

The jigsaw man is the story of the amazing yet unenviable career of the country's most prestigious forensic psychologist: Paul Briton. In exploring the deepest recesses and dark cavities of the psychotic and pyschosexual mind he helps to piece together the jigsaw of the most horrific and obscene crimes. In his career he has helped to solve the most notorious cases: the west murders on 35 cromwell street, the Jamie bugler murder and the extortion of ... Read review

Advantages: Not too technical, unputdownable, very very interesting
Disadvantages: Some disturbing passages.

The Jigsaw Man by Paul Brittan is a book that can be read on two levels. The first as a crime book, reading stories of crimes and the people who perpatrated them. Secondly on a deeper level the book gives a valuble insight as to how 'psychological profiling' is used as a tool to understand the workings of a criminal mind, and also how it can be used to identify a suspects life in such a way as to describe them in every detail. Paul Britton fills the ... Read review

Advantages: Gets your mind working
Disadvantages: Sometimes a little disturbing

...cases that he has assisted the police in, eg.,Fred & Rosemary West, Rachel Nickell & Jamie Bulger. Not only does he describe the horrific crimes that have taken place he takes you into the minds of the criminals. It is absolutely fasciniating to read how he doesn't search the scenes for "normal" evidence but how he looks for the psycholgical characteristics that help police identify the criminal. If you have any interest in crime and law, you simply ... Read review

I have just finished reading this book, I couldn't put it down, if you found the shocking details of Fred West and the Bulger cases hard to beleive when hearing it on the news you are about to be shocked again. The evil minds that we get into this book may be hard for some to digest. Excellent read.

Advantages: Awe inspiring, very thorough, thrilling
Disadvantages: Shocking, many gorey details

...would like to make about The Jigsaw Man is that at no time does Paul Britton spare the details of his cases, though some of the things he has investigated are gruesome he is not afraid to describe them thoroughly and with a strange sense of enthusiasm. Alongside this is his struggle to maintain his own self as he explains that for every crime scene he goes to he leaves a part of himself behind and rightfully so considering what he has described. This ... Read review

Advantages: True and amazing, a real eye opener
Disadvantages: can be a bit graphic and gruesome

...interesting job. He has written the book from his heart and explained some terrible things from his career. He does an amazingly interesting job and writes his encounters down for an interesting read. The style is eay to read and explanetury. I would recommend this to any person interested in crime and criminal psychology. I liked some of the cases because they were ones I remembered from the media and that had also caught my heart. The details about ... Read review

Advantages: a very well written book giving an insight into how this sort of work started
Disadvantages: non to speak of

At the moment i am only half way through this book but i have enjoyed reading it so far i havent found it very gruesome just very factual,it is my first book on criminal psychology and has given me a very good insight into how this was infiltrated into criminology.i am also a very avid fan of pathology and would love to know of any books that i could read. I wanted to write about a book i have just read but cant find it on here to give my review ... Read review