This is the book for the true crime aficionado.

I love CSI and John Douglas (retired FBI criminal profiler), so I'm perfectly placed to read, love, and review this book.

David Simon spent a year as a 'police intern' with the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit in 1988, and this book is a masterful narrative account of that time.

The book is loosely centred around the horrific murder of Latonya Wallace, an 11-year old who was dumped in an elderly couple's backyard. We follow the detectives from calls to witness interrogations to arrests to court. Latonya's case is only one case in hundreds that year.

I particularly enjoyed this book because it tied together all the strands of crime detection - forensics, criminal psychology, good old-fashioned police work, and more than a little luck. It conclusively shows that not one particular method can serve to solve crime; a combination of all our 'favourites' need to work together.

This is not a casual read; you need to have a dedicated interest in true crime and crime detection in order to get through all 600-plus pages.

I loved it.