The Murder Guy by Jeff Edwards

I don’t normally write reviews before finishing a book but (a) deadlines, and (b) I’m enjoying reading this one at a slower pace, taking the book a chapter or two at a time — and if that’s the way a book deserves to be read, I don’t want to mess with it just because of the aforementioned deadlines.

The Murder Guy is the account of a journalist’s career bridging the gap between police investigations of major crimes and what the public is told about those events. Jeff Edwards’ first lucky break was as a teenaged newby on his first day in the job, popping into the local bank seconds after armed robbers have fled the scene with bags full of money. Customers and staff were still lying on the floor with hands over their heads, money was scattered over the floor and blowing in the breeze outside. Quite a start!

The book is full of slickly told stories written by a journalist who, early in his career, acquired the nickname of the Murder Guy due to his knack for being in the right place at the right time — or, as his network of contacts grew, talking to the right people at the right time. The relationship between the police and the press is often sensationalised and misrepresented, so it’s refreshing to get an insider’s view of just how it works; Edwards ended up so trusted by the police that he socialised with them and served as an associate lecturer at the National Police Leadership School.

It’s a fascinating insight for writers, offering a different perspective to many true crime books, and also a refreshing change for crime fiction readers looking for something a little different.