The Murder File: An Irish Detective's Casebook

by Tom Reddy

For nearly twenty years, Superintendent George Lawlor was head of the Murder Squad in Ireland. The Murder File is a collection of the murders that George Lawlor investigated and solved in the course of his distinguished career. Lawlor was a remarkable detective by any standard. He helped establish the Garda Technical Bureau which provided a scientific foundation for the investigation of crime in Ireland. His work resulted in the Gardai having one of the highest murder detection rates in the world during his time in charge. This selection of George Lawlor's cases includes murders done for love, money and jealousy, as well as out of ordinary hatred. Tautly written, these real-life murder stories make compulsive reading.

Genres: True Crime

224 pages, Paperback

First published March 8, 2005

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

My copy is hard to read because it is badly copy edited and put together so there are jumps in the text and gaps between lines and paragraphs.

The stories covered are remarkable for the society and changes being described over a long period of time during this officer's career. Detection methods were chiefly walking around, observing, talking to people and picking up evidence. The crimes committed were more personal than gangster-related. The telling method is however usually impersonal so we get an overview rather than opinions.