Murder Investigation Team by Steven Keogh

 Murder Investigation Team by Steven Keogh is a book taking you on a journey right through the criminal justice system from when the murder first took place, flowing the investigation phase all the way to court. The book covers the law of murder, the basics of a murder investigation team (MIT), the crime scene and types of evidence, the arrest and questioning of suspects and the trial. Alongside the theoretical explanations, this book is full of interesting facts and case studies from Keogh's own career.

I loved this book as it takes you all the way from crime scene to courtroom explaining each step of the way from the perspective of a murder investigation proving us with a unique account of his own career. This was a really gripping and fascinating book which takes the reader on an adventure. The case studies really illustrate the points, making the reader aware of some shocking cases and educating us on what the job of an MIT consists of. 

There are only a couple of things which I was not a fan of in this book. Firstly, as Keogh explains in the book, no names are included in the case studies. This is entirely understandable but from an academic perspective makes it impossible to cite these cases in essays and academic work, even though these cases have been public. Also, it would have been nice to see the final chapter about the trial being a bit more detailed.

Altogether, I rate this book 5 stars as it is an outstanding book which I had difficulty putting down. The contents of this book were not all new to me but I enjoyed reading it from someone else's perspective with unique case studies, some of which I have never heard of but also some of the more familiar cases such as that of Colin Stagg and the Birmingham 6. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a career in the criminal justice system, studies topics such as forensic science, criminology or law and anyone with a general interest in how the criminal justice system works.