How to investigate a murder

A crime historian's modus operandi

I love nothing more than a historical crime investigation, and I spend many hours following the footsteps of police detectives in the past as they examined crime scenes, identified victims, tracked suspects and hopefully brought them to justice. It is always an engaging and unpredictable experience, with red herrings, unreliable witnesses and stranger-than-truth developments. But sometimes there is the reward of some unexpected, quirky details or even an astonishing twist! Once I’ve completed my investigations, my next step is to create a compelling narrative for sharing the case with others through my posts, talks, articles and books.

I begin my investigation with a firm focus on five basic questions: When? Where? Who? What? and How?