The Criminal Mind - by Duncan Harding (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Pre-order this edge-of-your-seat journey into the darkest depths of the human mind from forensic psychiatrist Dr Duncan Harding

"Grips you from the start like a bestselling novel then takes you on an extraordinary journey ... Riveting" JOHN HUMPHRYS

'Incisive, informative and occasionally shocking, The Criminal Mind is an engrossing book' DR RICHARD SHEPHERD, bestselling author of Unnatural Causes

'A penetrating insight into the darkest corners of the human mind. The most moving, surprising and compelling book you'll read this year' M.J. ARLIDGE, bestselling author of Eeny Meeny

- A likeable young girl who's burnt her family home to the ground

- A man with no memory of the night he killed his wife

- A teenager whose visions and voices have had murderous effect

One question binds these and others from the casebook of Britain's leading forensic psychiatrist: Why?

What drives a person to commit seemingly inexplicable crimes? Dr Duncan Harding is the person the police and the courts turn to for answers.

An expert witness, he must try to establish a defendant's mental state and motivation. And their fitness to stand trial.

Growing up in a broken, violent home, Harding became a doctor because he wanted to be good and kind. It led him on a journey that has brought him face to face with psychopaths, taken him to the limits of his compassion and to the darkest corners of his own troubled past.

But he's never turned away nor given up hope. Mesmerising, insightful and redemptive, The Criminal Mind is his unforgettable story.

'Not just another forensic psychiatrist's casebook. . . . a moving account of how Harding became a child and adolescent forensic psychiatrist, caring for mentally disordered child and adolescent offenders' KEITH RIX professor of medical jurisprudence and forensic psychiatrist

Review Quotes

Superbly written, as tense as a thriller, this is a book that will make you miss the bus so gripping are these cases--Daily Mail

Harding's riveting memoir is often very moving ... it left me with a powerful respect for all the people in the health and justice systems who put their lives on the line to keep us safe--MAIL ON SUNDAY

A combination of medical coming-of-age tale and true crime that is particularly gripping ... Harding writes with empathy and insight ... each patient a mystery to unpick--IRISH INDEPENDENT

Insightful, informative and sometimes shocking, The Criminal Mind is an engrossing book--DR RICHARD SHEPHERD, AUTHOR OF UNNATURAL CAUSES, -

A penetrating insight into the darkest corners of the human mind. The most moving, surprising and compelling book you'll read this year--M.J. ARLIDGE, AUTHOR OF EENY MEENY, -

Grips you from the start like a bestselling novel then takes you on an extraordinary journey that reveals, based on the author's own clinical experience, why some of us lead lives of love and some of hate. Riveting--JOHN HUMPHRYS, -

A fantastic read ... a very accessible window into the darker recesses of human behaviour ... hard to put down--JUDGE DAVID WILLIAMS, -

Not just another forensic psychiatrist's casebook, but a moving account of how Duncan Harding became forensic psychiatrist--KEITH RIX, PROFESSOR IN FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY, -

About the Author

Dr Duncan Harding is a consultant adolescent forensic psychiatrist, working with adults and children who commit serious crime. He is a specialist member of the Parole Board for England and Wales, and the college lead for expert witnesses at the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Specialising in forensic mental health, he has provided expert testimony in many court cases involving homicide, serious violence and terrorism, and has conducted research into conduct disorder and criminal psychopathy. He lives in London.