The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder

"Written in an engaging manner that challenges critical thinking throughout, the text is very readable and balances providing facts grounded in research with case examples."
―Minna Cirino, Shenandoah University

Now with SAGE Publishing, The Will to Kill: Making Sense of Senseless Murder explores extraordinary and seemingly inexplicable cases of homicide―not to sensationalize them―but to educate students about these crimes. Authored by renowned experts, the Fifth Edition places recent crimes in context by reviewing current homicide laws, introducing the latest theories that seek to explain murder, and presenting up-to-date statistical data that identify homicide patterns and trends. Students develop a foundational understanding of a variety of topics, for example, domestic and workplace homicide, cult and hate killings, murders committed by juveniles, and serial slayings. Students also examine various criminal justice responses to homicide, including the strategies and tactics employed to apprehend, prosecute, and punish killers. 

New to the Fifth Edition

• Up-to-date research and data offers students the latest statistics on homicide patterns and trends in recent years. 
• New illustrative cases cover various forms of homicide, focusing on crimes that drew significant interest from the public and policymakers alike and provide students with unique insights into violent behavior.   
• Updated coverage of recent controversies, legislative changes, and Supreme Court decisions includes heightened concern over mass shootings, hate-motivated homicide and terrorism; new laws, shifting policies, and Supreme Court rulings pertaining to gun rights, juvenile offenders and the death penalty; and advances in surveillance technology, computer-aided investigation, and DNA forensic testing. 
• Early introduction of theories helps students to understand the definition of homicide/homicide laws before developing a theoretical framework to explain violence. 

James Alan Fox is the Lipman Family Professor of Criminology, Law, and Public Policy at Northeastern University. He has published 18 books, dozens of journal and magazine articles, as well as hundreds of freelance columns in newspapers around the country, primarily in the areas of multiple murder, youth crime, school and campus violence, workplace violence, and capital punishment. As a member of its Board of Contributors, his opinion column appears frequently in USAToday. Fox led the investigation of Seattle’s Capitol Hill mass shooting and was part of the task force investigating the serial murder of college students in Gainesville, Florida. He also served on President Clinton’s advisory committee on school shootings, and a Department of Education Expert Panel on Safe, Disciplined and Drug-Free Schools. In addition, he has been retained as an expert witness/consultant in several mass shooting cases, including the recent massacres at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, Texas, and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Fox is one of the principals in maintaining the Associated Press/USA Today/Northeastern University Mass Killing Database. Finally, he has received several awards and honors for his work, including the Hugo Adam Bedau Award for excellence in capital punishment scholarship.

Jack Levin is the Brudnick Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at Northeastern University, where he codirects its Center on Violence and Conflict. He has authored or coauthored more than 30 books, most recently The Violence of Hate: Understanding Harmful Forms of Bias and Bigotry and The Allure of Premeditated Murder: Why Some People Plan to Kill. Levin has also published more than 250 articles and columns in professional journals, books, magazines, and newspapers, such as The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Dallas Morning News, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, and USA Today.  Levin was honored by the Massachusetts Council for Advancement and Support of Education as its “Professor of the Year” and by the American Sociological Association for his contributions to the public understanding of sociology. He has also received awards from the Eastern Sociological Society, New England Sociological Association, Association of Clinical and Applied Sociology, and Society for the Study of Social Problems. Moreover, he has spoken to a wide variety of community, academic, and professional groups, including the White House Conference on Hate Crimes, the Department of Justice, OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (a membership of 59 countries), and the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Kenna Quinet is an associate professor of criminal justice in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). She is also a certified medico-legal death investigator and Deputy Coroner at the Marion County Coroner’s Office. Her research interests include homicide, missing persons, causes of death, unidentified and unclaimed dead. Quinet teaches homicide courses as well as an animal rights course at IUPUI and she has won more than 15 teaching awards. Since 1992 she has worked closely with law enforcement, provided more than 80 media interviews, does cold case homicide consultations and serves as an Indiana representative for NamUs, the national missing and unidentified persons system.