Richard Taylor was born in Singapore and grew up in the south of England. He trained as a doctor at University College London, and was inspired to move into psychiatry, and then forensic psychiatry, by some of the stabbing victims he treated in A&E as a junior doctor; long after the life-threatening injuries had been dealt with, he would find himself wondering about the narrative behind the crime - who attacked whom, and why? He completed post-graduate training at the Bethlem and Maudsley hospitals and then took up a post as Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist. Since then he has gained extensive experience working on cases involving all types of crime including rape, arson, serious violence, murder and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. He has dealt with murder cases of all types over his nearly three-decade psychiatry career, both as an expert witness and as a treating forensic psychiatrist.
An absorbing mix of high-profile case histories and a glimpse into the personal and professional pressures of a career spent at the sharp end of psychiatry. Dr Richard Taylor's knowledge and experience is undeniable. An intricate and brilliantly written psychiatric perspective on the most perplexing of crimes Heartbreaking, horrifying, but a brilliant and insightful book. Beautifully written and very dark A dark, fascinating and often surprising glimpse into the minds of those who kill, from a forensic psychiatrist who's seen it all A fascinating insight into what drives criminality - and a punchy polemic against mental-health service cuts * Sunday Telegraph *