Howdunit Book of Police Procedure and Investigation: A Guide for Writers

A reviewer

This is a great reference book for writers who wish to understand police procedures. It is more than that though. Lee explains how the hierarchy of law enforcement is structured between local police departments, sheriffs departments, the state police, the FBI, the ATF, the U.S. Marshals and more. He also gives examples of terminology we all have heard and thought we understood. Such as the difference between a crime scene and the scene of a crime. They are different. Or the difference between homicide, murder, and manslaughter. No they are not synonyms. Yes, this book would make a fabulous gift for writers in your life that even want to barely touch on crime as an aspect in their work to help avoid making cringe-worthy mistakes, but it would also make a great gift for anyone who is interested in going into law enforcement. It would be an excellent reference book for someone trying to understand all the new lingo and terminology involved in that profession. I have to think it would be better written than a lot of dry as sawdust textbooks on the subject. Lee has a great sense of humor and it comes through on the page. This is a great book even if you aren't interested in writing about crime or going into law enforcement, for it will help you to understand the occupational complexities of those who are sworn to protect and defend us.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

This is a good but biased book.

This book has a lot of information that's useful if you want to write about the police. I wish he'd put in something about how interrogations are conducted, though. Furthermore, one problem the book had is that it assumes that the police are always the good guys and that they're always right. From my own experience, that isn't true at all.

A Reader & Writer

This book is very useful for writers who don't have direct experience in a police department but want to include some elements of "police investigation" in their works of fiction.

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