Killer Triggers

Homicide investigations often reveal common motivations behind murder: fear, rage, revenge, money, and lust, with madness occurring more rarely. These triggers frequently overlap—sex and revenge often appear together, as do rage, money, and revenge. This book presents Joe Kenda's memories of homicide cases he investigated or oversaw, examining the trigger that led to death in each instance. Kenda chose this thematic approach because understanding a murder's motivation, while not always essential to solving it, can sometimes point toward the killer. Even when a case is solved without identifying the trigger, the question of why lingers in our minds and disrupts our peace, perhaps because we recognize in these crimes the potential darkness within ourselves—the triggers that might be pulled.