Great 'Inside Look' into Crime Investigation

As a rabid fan of both Crime Fiction (Mysteries, Crime Thrillers, Legal Thrillers, Psychological Suspense, Procedurals, and so on..) and True Crime exposés, I can very much appreciate the less sensationalist "bare-bones" approach that retired DCI Collin Sutton takes to relating this task force inquiry hunting a relatively "routine" Serial Killer. Sutton avoids exploring personal situations (including that of the Killer) - instead discussing the nuts & bolts of how law enforcement caught Levi Bellfield. The author then presents readers/listeners with the evidence gathered and invites them to draw conclusions without making his own interpretations central.
On the one hand, the authenticity is eye-opening and appreciated. On the other, the painstaking procedures demonstrated by Sutton's team of SEVENTY full-time officers make it clear that these investigations are mostly mind-numbingly boring (jurisdictional maneuvering, long stakeouts, meticulous evidence collection, canvassing thousands looking for witnesses, maintaining chains of evidence, filling out reams of documentary paperwork, etc). The fact that the crimes aren't particularly gripping is largely peripheral to the value of the narrative.. I learned a lot.

John Blake Publishing did well to enlist professional narrator Peter Noble to read the book - exhibiting praiseworthy diction, timbre, and cadence - but furthermore delivering a spot-on matter-of-fact tone that enhances the instructive impression I got from the text. The performance is solidly above-average.

I have definitely read more entertaining True Crime chronicles than this 7.5/10 star effort - but am grateful to Audible for making 'Manhunt' available in the 'Plus' catalogue. It provided an edifying couple of afternoons and will doubtless improve my ability to judge other books dealing with crime/crime solving.
Should they ask for a Credit, you wouldn't be crazy to give this book a listen, but I would have to say that there are better options available.

[Incidentally: It's striking how useful CCTV was in solving this case. The balance between privacy and safety is something our society needs to resolve]

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Gripping and moving.

A compelling story. Great narration. It felt like I was listening to the author. The narrator seemed to intellectually and emotionally own the material. The writing of this complex case kept me really engaged. Colin Sutton's heart felt perspective moved me to tears several times. And this even though I had previously seen the 3-episode dramatized version starring Martin Clunes (not John Candy).

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Excellent narration

Despite a very difficult subject, this was an easy listen, thanks to excellent performance by the narrator.

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fantastic book

easy to listen to and follow. I enjoyed every moment and made a long drive entertaining

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surprised anyone goes to jail in UK

Remind me never to get hurt in the United Kingdom. Oh my goodness they overdo everything it seems like you're being thorough but what you're doing is just mixing c*** up and people get away with crimes perit was crimes. The most disturbing line in the book is when and I'm not gonna "it right but he talked about there was a bunch of rapes in England and it was not a serious enough case says to go after. Now we know all about the Britain rape gangs and what went on there it's terrible. This detective he did his best and you could hear that he did but when you have to tell your surveillance team to intervene if a crime is happening that makes me weary that there are 2 set in the rolls. It was very interesting but just like investigations it was too much information

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2 people found this helpful