All detectives want to catch a killer. Few can claim to match DCS Bob Taylor's record: his 31-year career saw him head nearly 50 investigations where every killer, rapist and kidnapper he hunted ended up behind bars. He explains how this astonishing clear-up rate owes much to his ruthless ability to enter the minds of the criminals he tracked. His incredible cases include: arrogant killer Michael Sams, murderer of Julie Dart and kidnapper of Stephanie Slater, who boasted he couldn't be caught. For the first time we get the detective's side of this extraordinary saga; The Yorkshire Ripper: then a sergeant, Bob recalls the chaos and bungling which tragically delayed the serial killer's capture; thrill-seeking serial rapist Clive Barwell, who attacked while on day release from jail for armed robbery; a bizarre shoe fetishist with the twisted ability to kill while staring at a pair of stilettos; plus many more equally compelling crimes. Accompanying these powerful first-hand accounts Bob Taylor gives his forthright views on juries, the legal system - and lawyers - and the real way to tackle the drugs epidemic, and much more.

2002-05-02 The public were well served

Too often today we read stories in the media slagging off the police as a bunch of incompetents. Bob Taylor shows that public perception and the reality are two different things and that there is far more going on in police work than the short lived headlines in the press would have us believe. We should be grateful that such dedication to duty is performed in our names, even if we don't always care to recognise it.