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    A Good Month for Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad
    A Good Month for Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad
    A Good Month for Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad
    Audiobook8 hours

    A Good Month for Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad

    Written by Del Quentin Wilber

    Narrated by Scott Sowers

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Bestselling author Del Quentin Wilber tells the inside story of how a homicide squad---a dedicated, colorful team of detectives—does its almost impossible job

    Twelve homicides, three police-involved shootings and the furious hunt for an especially brutal killer--February 2013 was a good month for murder in suburban Washington, D.C.

    After gaining unparalleled access to the homicide unit in Prince George's County, which borders the nation's capital, Del Quentin Wilber begins shadowing the talented, often quirky detectives who get the call when a body falls. After a quiet couple of months, all hell breaks loose: suddenly every detective in the squad is scrambling to solve one shooting and stabbing after another. Meanwhile, the entire unit is obsessed with a stone-cold "red ball," a high-profile case involving a seventeen-year-old honor student attacked by a gunman who kicked down the door to her house and shot her in her bed.

    Murder is the police investigator's ultimate crucible: to solve a killing, a detective must speak for the dead. More than any recent book, A Good Month for Murder shows what it takes to succeed when the stakes couldn't possibly be higher.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateJun 7, 2016
    ISBN9781427260826
    A Good Month for Murder: The Inside Story of a Homicide Squad
    Author

    Del Quentin Wilber

    Del Quentin Wilber is a New York Times bestselling author of Rawhide Down, an account of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, and A Good Month for Murder, a true crime account of a series of homicides in Washington D. C. An award-winning reporter who previously worked at the Baltimore Sun and Washington Post, he covers the Justice Department for the Los Angeles Times.

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    Reviews for A Good Month for Murder

    4/5

    62 ratings21 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Prince George's County, Maryland had twelve homicides in February of 2013. The county is adjacent to the District of Columbia and is the wealthiest majority black county in the U.S. It has large pockets of poverty though with all the attendant pathologies of the inner city, crime, drug abuse, poor educational achievement, and the no-snitch culture. It is an interesting book of what law enforcement is up against. There were several police shootings discussed during the book but it was not revealed if they were declared to be justified or not. There was nothing said about any black protests after the shooting incidents.
    • 3/5
      I read this book shortly after reading Ghettocide. It was interesting to pair them together. This was the insider's view of a high crime rate police department. It was, as I said interesting, but a bit difficult to follow. There were perhaps too many detectives featured and the narrative a bit jumpy
    • 3/5
      Received this through Goodreads Giveaway. 3.5 stars. My main complaint is that it was hard to keep track of names and cases, as the author jumped around throughout the book. I also would recommend reading the authors note at the end first; it clarified a few questions I had about the text. Overall, it was quite interesting to see what real police work is like, especially relating to homicide. If you like true crime, this book is for you.
    • 4/5
      Wilber details an unusually difficult month in the life of a homicide squad in a low-income county outside of Washington, DC. Plenty of information about the toll working late hours under difficult conditions take on the detectives, as well as detail about the investigative process itself. Because of the large number of crimes covered in the book, as well as the number of detectives investigating those crimes, I never felt any particular attachment to any character. But maybe that's just as well - after a few chapters, I realized that the overwhelming workload was part of the point of the book! Sad how many of the victims were just innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Made me thankful that my children and I live in a relatively boring community!I would recommend this book to anyone who likes crime novels or police procedurals. Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction!
    • 4/5
      A really nice glimpse into the inside of a homicide unit. There's not a ton of detail about any one case or person, but the book provides a nice overview. Wilber takes us inside the Prince George's County police department's homicide group, visiting many of the crime scenes and following the detectives' investigations during the grueling month of February 2013, when there were 14 murders in those mere 28 days. The book gives a bit of a feel for what those investigators deal with, day in day out, sometimes for multiple days at a stretch with virtually no sleep. We often focus on the crimes/criminals without very much thought for the officers working tirelessly to solve them, and Wilber does a solid job of showcasing them, as humans, quirks and all.
    • 5/5
      The author describes how he spent the month of February 2013 with a homicide squad in Washington, D.C. It was a busy month there with 12 murders and 3 police-involved shootings that became the responsibility of this squad to investigate and solve. Amazingly, they do solve most of these crimes through a lot of hard work. The reader not only gets to see what really happens behind the scenes, but also gets to know each of these unique detectives as they try their best to do a tough job. What makes this book so good is that it reads like a novel, making it truly enjoyable as well as informative.
    • 5/5
      This is a compelling look on how homicide investigators go about the business of dealing with the investigation of violent deaths of all types. It clearly, vividly demonstrates the toll violent death takes on everyone touched by it in a variety of ways - from the victims, their families, the suspects, the perpetrators, witnesses, police officers, crime scene techs, and especially the investigators and their families upon whom the burden is especially stressful because it is relentless. This is an excellent view of how life really is, not how it is made to appear by the media. It is messy, often muddled, confused, and stressful. It is rarely clear cut, always ambiguous and often lacking in finality and/or closure. Handled with great insight and the right touch by Del Quentin Wilber.
    • 4/5
      A nuanced and balanced examination of an over-worked homicide squad in the midst of a disadvantaged community. The victims, suspects, witnesses, and detectives are presented in detail and without filter.
    • 5/5
      An excellent telling of the trials the incredibly dedicated police detectives of the Prince George's County Sheriffs Department experienced during just one month of time, February of 2013, a time of multiple murders. Anyone who finds themselves second guessing the actions of all police based on the misdeeds of a few should give this book a read. The efforts and hard work of these men and women in solving very difficult cases is noteworthy. All the time exacting a personal toll on each of them, and their families. At first I was a bit put off by the frenetic pace and timing of the book, but came to understand that it was an accurate depiction of the events. In real life, the murders do not conveniently come spaced out one at a time, and able to be solved by the end of a one hour TV drama. This was a hard book to put down!
    • 4/5
      Received book as LibaryThing early reviewer. I always enjoy police procedure novels and this one was no exception. Definitely enjoyed the way the inner workings of the homicide division was defined. The novel also gave a very good glance into the characters of the squad. Would recommend.
    • 3/5
      I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.In A Good Month for Murder, Wilber gives his readers inside access to a real homicide squad. In one month, it seems like the murders are never-ending, from interrupted robberies to gang shootings to a tragic case of mistaken identity.Throughout the book, we not only get to know the cases, but the detectives, the victims, the witnesses, and the suspects. Wilber paints a vivid picture of each detective's unique characteristics, each case's deep emotional impact, each interrogation's high stakes, and each unsolved case's haunting unrelenting refusal to let go.The detectives and families never give up hope that justice will be done, but it is an uphill battle, and one that Wilber faces unflinchingly in his writing.
    • 5/5
      This is a compelling read for anyone interested in the life of a homicide cop and/or how homicide investigations are handled. This is not CSI or Law and Order, where homicides are solved quickly and suspects almost always confess at the end. The cases we read about here are real and messy, giving us a clear understanding of how difficult a homicide detective's job can be.In a time when we're seeing lots of negative press coverage about cops, this book offers us insight into some of the more dedicated cops on the force. We see the toll the job takes on them, both emotionally and physically. We also see how difficult it can be for them to have any sort of personal life, when their work is almost always time-sensitive and murders don't stop occurring simply because they're busy. The content here is brutally honest. The author doesn't try to make the cops look better or worse. He shows us things as they happen, the way they happen. At times this made me sympathize with the detectives, and at times it made me uncomfortable. For instance, some of the interrogations were brutal. While I knew this intellectually, reading an actual account brings the reality into sharp focus. I'm not talking about physical brutality, but emotional and psychological. It's easy to understand how and why people confess to crimes they did not commit, and that is a disturbing fact. But, at the same time, I also saw, perhaps for the first time, why the detectives sometimes push harder than they should. They are frustrated, angry, desperate to get a killer off the streets and provide answers to a grieving family.Despite the dark content, the writing style makes this an easy read. The narrative is engaging, with no interference from the author. It's like we're right there as everything happens. We're provided with details along the way, such as little quirks a detective might have, which help bring the people involved to life. This book does not go beyond the scope of the daily trials and tribulations of the Prince George's County homicide detectives. If you're looking for a book that explores social factors and digs deep into the sociological and psychological issues of crime, this is not that book. But if you're looking to better understand the truth of solving a homicide, this is definitely that book.
    • 5/5
      A compelling, if at times emotionally challenging, read that puts many TV police procedural to shame. The real life story of a month with the homicide squad in Maryland's PG County reveals that once again truth is stranger (and way more complex) than fiction. The characters of the eclectic group homicide detectives shine through, along with their various methods of coping with such a stressful profession. - The taut narrative drives the book forward, and the stories are made all the more compelling as these are real victims, real families, real suspects, and real detectives. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      This book provides the reader with a view into the inner workings of a police homicide department during a very busy and stressful month in Prince George's County, Maryland. Wilber does a great job of taking the reader into the lives and minds of the detectives frantically working to solve the 12 murders that occurred in February, along with other previous murder cases. Once started, this book is almost impossible to put down as the action never stops. Even before starting the book, it was obvious that this was going to be a fast-paced adventure as the map on the first page shows the locations of each of the February murders that would be investigated throughout the book. I really wish that more illustrations were provided, such as photos and diagrams of the scenes and of the individuals involved. Also, I found it unfortunate that the book seemed to mostly focus on a case from the previous August, and that the case remains unsolved. The book did seem to end abruptly at the end of February and then a short Epilogue was used to tie up as many of the loose ends as possible.I received this book from the publisher as a LibraryThing Early Reviewer.
    • 4/5
      Covering one month of a busy homicide department in Maryland, this book gives a great portrayal of what goes on behind the news stories that we see. It covers not only the brutality and randomness of homicide but the impact on the community and especially the detectives who are doing their best to solve the crimes and keep their humanity while being mired in the worst it has to offer. At 263 pages it definitely cannot go into high detail on the 12 homicides that took place, but it definitely shows the frantic pace of the job and the varied personalities of the detectives. This is a good companion book to "Homicide: A Year On the Killing Streets" (which is acknowledged by the author as an influence) but that book is 672 pages so "A Good Month For Murder" might be a better place to start. Either way, if you enjoyed one of these two, definitely read the other.This review was based on an advanced reader's edition from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers/Member Giveaway.
    • 4/5
      February, 2013 according to the title was "A Good Month for Murder", or at least a very busy month for murder. The book follows several groups of detectives who "catch" homicides during this period, and the murder of Amber Stanley the previous August. This book would be especially interesting for those who are not familiar with Police Procedurals, as it sets forth how the system works, at least how it works in Prince George's County, MD. However, not the thrill of many other authors who regularly put out "can't put down stories".
    • 4/5
      This excellent nonfiction book covers a month during a journalist's embedding with a homicide squad in Prince George's County, Maryland. Much of the focus is spent on teen Amber Stanley's murder, a high-priority case during that month. It's an easy, quick read that kept me interested the whole way through. If you've ever seen The First 48 on A&E, it's like a written version of that documentary series. My only complaint is that it was difficult for me to keep the detectives straight. They are all listed at the beginning of the book, but I would have liked a short profile of each in addition to the list. Either that or more fleshed-out bios in the text itself. Apart from that minor quibble, a definite recommendation from me for this one.
    • 4/5
      Very well done! The tension, frustration and hard work of the men comes through clearly. The book reads very well. The actual writing is excellent, characters are finely drawn, very alive. I think we'll see this book on award lists.
    • 4/5
      This is a fabulous entry to the true crime genre. Rather than focusing on a specific crime, this book focuses on several teams of homicide detectives in Prince George County, Maryland. All of the cases are ones that occurred in the month of February 2013. For people who enjoy some of the shows on Discovery ID and A&E, like and The Detectives and The First 48, then this book is for you.The front of the book provides a map of the area that is covered by the homicide squads in question and maps where each individual was murdered and their name and age. Prince George County is located in Maryland very close to the Washington D.C. Line. The chapters initially introduce the date, time and which detectives are assigned to the case.From there, the facts of the case unfold. In a very few instances, the case is already underway but there were developments in February 2013 that prompted a greater focus on a case that may have gone somewhat cold. There are a few details provided about the detectives private lives and how they became involved in having a career in law enforcement and how many years they have worked as an officer and in the homicide squad specifically.The victim is then identified and the process of investigating the murder begins. From surveying the initial crime scene, witness interviews, forensic tech collections, notifying the family of the victim all the way through tracking down suspects, narrowing the field and then honing in on the actual perpetrator.An easily solved murder is called a “smoker”. A high profile case is called a “redball express.” High profile cases are those defined by being particularly heinous in nature or involving a vulnerable member of the public – the elderly, the very young, perhaps having fame or notoriety on the part of the victim or the murderer or any case that the media chooses to focus on in a sensational manner.There are certain things that become noticeable right away about the homicide unit. One is that it is populated by very eccentric and quirky personalities. Another is the dearth of womenin the unit. There are only two or three female detectives and they get very little focus in the book. The humor expressed by the detectives is very much in the gallows humor vein and is used as a coping mechanism by those who spend long hours immersed in the unpleasant business of murder. An interesting thing the author did was not to pull punches – if a detective was annoying, obnoxious or narcissistic, that was shown rather than painting a picture of these cops as being overly heroic or idealizing them.Included in the stories as well, were a cop shooting which is investigated by the homicide detectives as murder; a case where they were called in to investigate deaths that occurred during the course of a house fire and a stabbing that walks a very fine line between involuntary manslaughter and self-defense. In other words, there are times when murder is not murder and vice versa. As for solving every case within the first forty eight hours....well, unless it is a smoker, not so much.I would recommend this book whole heartedly and give it a very strong four stars. There is one thing that I would like to draw attention to, more for the sake of the editorial and publishing staff and on behalf of readers. This does not occur too often in the book but it occurs enough to be noticeable to me as a reader and therefore it will be noticeable to other readers.There is an over-reliance on machinery to pick up spelling and grammatical errors. For the most part, it works. What doesn't work however is when a word is spelled correctly but it is the incorrect word – for example, past for passed. Computer aided editing cannot discern context either. People need to be brought back into the copy reading and editing realm. As books become more and more expensive, it becomes harder for readers to accept the dip in quality control of the printed word.The correct use and context is extremely important to readers. While we have progressed as a society in our use of machines in an effort to save money in business, it is important to remember that readers are why books are written. If the errors become noticeable to readers, they begin to impact the reading experience and it becomes detrimental to sales of books and it may deter readers from picking up books by that author or publishing house in the future. A small thing but the one thing that affected my overall enjoyment of what is otherwise a very strong book and a great read. This one is a keeper!
    • 4/5
      A Good Month For Murder ( February, 2013 ) is a stark and realistic view of actual homicides in Urban/Suburban areas of our larger cities. It is reminiscent of the 1990's police procedural tv show " Homicide: Life on the Street " which depicted the homicide unit of the Baltimore PD. I usually do not like a hard core police mystery series like this fictional work. Normally, I prefer the cozy mysteries, especially, British cozies. I have to say that except for the strong language is some instance, I found the book very good and completed it in 2 nights reading. Well done and very realistic to how a real homicide unit works. P.S., My husband retired from a moderately large police department in NC.
    • 5/5
      As I was reading this book, I found myself quite confused because of all the different murders, all in varying states of being investigated. I thought that I might not be rating the book very highly until I realized that this confusion gave me a more realistic picture of what a homicide squad does than any perfectly organized book would do. I could almost feel the tension and frustration of the different squad members. Realistically, also, not every murder is solved. It isn't a television show, but real, messy life. I appreciate more what these dedicated people do now, the hours they put in and the sacrifices they make. I believe that the author, in the end, did an excellent job of portraying a month in a homicide squad.