Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets

Last night I was listening to a couple of episodes of Sherlock Holmes on the radio which were pretty good.

Today I went out pretty early to get my groceries for the week. I also managed to get a copy of the book Demon Seed by Dean Koontz in the bargain basement book rack, so I was pretty pleased with that. When I got back I listened to a radio adaptation of A Call for the Dead based on John le Carre's debut novel. The story revolves around spy George Smiley who is called in when an agent who Smiley had been recruiting is found dead, apparently having commited suicide. When he investigates however, Smiley quickly finds out that the situation is more complex then it appears.

Mostly I was reading Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon, which I have now finished. Basically, while he was working as a newspaper reporter, David Simon spent the whole of 1988 following the Homicide Unit of the Baltimore Police Department, and the book is Simon's account of what he saw and heard as he followed the detectives from the crime scenes, to the interrogation rooms, to the morgue, to canvassing witnesses, and to the courtrooms. The book details the process of the criminal investigations in great detail, but it also details the constant joking, insults and banter that the detectives use amongst themselves in the station, cars and bars. It is a fascinating book, managing to be suspenseful, gripping, tragic, heartbreaking and also full of very dark humour. I've never really liked true crime books but it is recommended to anyone who likes a good crime thriller or a police procedural. It was adapted as a TV series in the '90s called Homicide: Life on the Streets.