Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind

by Ann Wolbert Burgess, Steven Matthew Constantine (Primary Contributor)

A vivid behind-the-scenes look into the creation of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit and the evolution of criminal profiling, written by the pioneering forensic nurse who transformed the way the FBI studies, profiles, and catches serial killers. Lurking beneath the progressive activism and sex positivity in the 1970-80s, a dark undercurrent of violence rippled across the American landscape. With reported cases of sexual assault and homicide on the rise, the FBI created a specialized team—the "Mindhunters" better known as the Behavioral Science Unit—to track down the country's most dangerous criminals. And yet narrowing down a seemingly infinite list of potential suspects seemed daunting at best and impossible at worst—until Dr. Ann Wolbert Burgess stepped on the scene. In A Killer By Design , Burgess reveals how her pioneering research on sexual assault and trauma caught the attention of the FBI, and steered her right into the middle of a chilling serial murder investigation in Nebraska. Over the course of the next two decades, she helped the budding unit identify, interview, and track down dozens of notoriously violent offenders, including Ed Kemper ("The Co-Ed Killer"), Dennis Rader ("("BTK"), Henry Wallace ("The Taco Bell Strangler"), Jon Barry Simonis ("The Ski-Mask Rapist"), and many others. As one of the first women trailblazers within the FBI's hallowed halls, Burgess knew many were expecting her to crack under pressure and recoil in horror—but she was determined to protect future victims at any cost. This book pulls us directly into the investigations as she experienced them, interweaving never-before-seen interview transcripts and crime scene drawings alongside her own vivid recollections to provide unprecedented insight into the minds of deranged criminals and the victims they left behind. Along the way, Burgess also paints a revealing portrait of a formidable institution on the brink of a seismic scientific and cultural reckoning—and the men forced to reconsider everything they thought they knew about crime. Haunting, heartfelt, and deeply human, A Killer By Design forces us to confront the age-old question that has long plagued our criminal justice "What drives someone to kill, and how can we stop them?" As Featured on ABC 20/20  One of Amazon's "Best True Crime" Books A "Best Book of the Month" Pick for Amazon (December 2021) An Apple Audio "Must-Listen" (December 2021)

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime, Psychology, Audiobook, History, Memoir

352 pages, Paperback

First published December 7, 2021

About the author

Ann Wolbert Burgess, D.N.Sc., APRN, FAAN, is an internationally recognized pioneer in the assessment and treatment of victims of trauma and abuse. She has received numerous honors including the Sigma Theta Tau International Audrey Hepburn Award, the American Nurses’ Association Hildegard Peplau Award, and the Sigma Theta Tau International Episteme Laureate Award. Her courtroom testimony has been described as “groundbreaking,” and she has been called a “nursing pathfinder.”

Reviews

[MarilynW · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Killer by Design: Murderers, Mindhunters, and My Quest to Decipher the Criminal Mind
by Ann Burgess with Steven Constantine

Ann Burgess came to the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit after her research on sexual assault and trauma caught the attention of the FBI. Whereas the people she would work with were focusing on those who committed the crimes, her work had her focusing on the victims. She was able to work with BSU agents to interview convicted serial killers so that a structured method of criminal profiling could be developed and used throughout the country to catch violent offenders before they could do more damage. But first, criminal profiling methodology had to be established, defined, and refined so that law enforcement across the country would have a means to identify possible suspects without the inference of bias.

To be able to understand the criminal mind Ann and the agents had to get inside of minds of thirty six serial killers, a number that they would add to later. This book discusses horrible crimes in great detail. One thing that helped with their research is that the serial killers, for the most part, loved detailing their thoughts, actions, likes, dislikes. They thrived on reliving everything in detail.

The book is very interesting but not to be lost in the exposing of serial killers and their motivations and thought processes, are the victims, each and every one of them them a person who mattered, who had a life that was cut short by the cruelty of depraved men. As Ann Burgess says at the end of this book, it was always about the victims for her. That was obvious as I read this book and that is how I could continue to read it. I read mysteries and thrillers on a regular basis, many which deal with murderers and their victims and it can be easy to let it all go once the book is laid down. I know that television, movies, and books have numbed us to violence in real life. It's made serial killers famous, given them cult followings and minimized and erased the names of those whose lives they took so violently. For me, Burgess makes clear that she doesn't want these victims to be forgotten and that was important to me, as I read this book.

Pub: Dec 7th 2021

Thank you to Hachette Books, Scene of the Crime, and Novel Suspects for this ARC.

[Petra X · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you ever read a book that's kind of meh, and you think you'll finish it when all of a sudden it ups its game and becomes amazingly good? This one did that! You can see from Reading Notes below that I didn't thing much of it, but by the time I finished it I wanted more. The author was working, at a very high level, profiling serial killers when she latched on to something I hadn't thought of that she wanted to challenge. A snippet of overheard conversation:

“The Kemper case, though. I don’t know if you’ve heard about him. He’s sometimes called the Co-ed Killer. He did some pretty crazy stuff and didn’t get caught for years. He’s my favorite serial killer.” The author was struck by that, and wrote:

What did it even mean to have a favorite serial killer? Then, suddenly and with great clarity, I was struck by the significance of the remark. Serial killers were gaining notoriety for their crimes. As public fascination with these offenders grew, so too did their mythology. Their stories were becoming familiar, compelling, even entertaining—offering a never-before-seen glimpse into the darkest corners of human nature. The killers were becoming distanced from the heinous carnage they’d left behind and transcending into the status of cultural icons.

The author worries that these brutal killers who have no emotions that don't relate to themselves and their desires to torture and murder have become media personalities:

The public was beginning to accept them as archetypal stories of classic Americana. Somewhere along the line, the public’s initial shock about killers like Ed Gein and John Wayne Gacy had changed from repulsion to fascination. It got to the point where a police artist’s sketch of the Unabomber became an iconic T-shirt. It was disturbing. Because despite how obviously horrible these killers were, despite their utter brutality and the pain they inflicted upon their victims, they’d somehow become romanticized. They were a new type of celebrity.

That really made me think on just how serial killers have become an industry that is almost exactly on a par with say Hollywood stars (apart from the interviews). There are endless newspaper, magazine, internet sites books, documentaries and even films made about them. We thrill to their vicious coldness, but we aren't feeling them, we are feeling what the media are exploiting for money. The author puts it well:

The spotlight of entertainment glosses over reality and focuses on serial killers only in their most appealing forms. Like Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, killers were often portrayed as charismatic, even likable. They were given qualities of empathy and charm that made it easier to separate them from the unimaginable malice of their actions.

When the truth of the matter to this psychologist and expert forensic profiler is,

Serial killers had emotions, yes, but these emotions lacked depth. They didn’t care about others. They didn’t want to make friends. They didn’t have empathy. They only wanted victims. Connection—through charm, flattery, or humor—was part of their act. It was simply a means to an end.

These are the worst of criminals, but they get the best, most extensive 'celeb' portrayals in the media.

The most powerful part of the book was the extensive interview with the serial killer Henry Wallace where the author had been called in by the defence (which probably made Wallace more open than if she had been on the prosecution side). He was unusual being Black - almost all serial killers are White males - and also, dreadfully, having known well most of his victims - these were his friends and co-workers. He got a sexual rush from strangling them, then demanding oral sex, then rape, and finally murder. He'd never been able to get out of his head the gang rape of a girl in school that he'd witnessed - and enjoyed. Perhaps the sexual element is put best in this sentence by the Bind, Torture and Kill murderer, Dennis Rader, and perhaps this is what lies behind so many serial killers motives, people are just objects to indulge their twisted and murderous fantasies out on, then to be discarded, but with pain, suffering and humiliation.

BTK Killer Dennis Rader told the investigators that he “was getting a hard-on” when they showed him his own drawings and photos of his dead victims.

__________

Notes on reading Maybe I've read too many criminal profiling and forensics books, but there just isn't anything new in this. One thing I read horrified me though, the author interviewed every rape victim (all female) who came into a hospital after the rape, "In all we interviewed 146 individuals from the ages of three to seventy-three." Three! What kind of man (or let me be politically correc,t person with a penis) rapes a three year old?

In the UK sexual assault and rape crimes committed by women went up exponentially. An investigation showed that the rate hadn't actually gone up, the rapes were committed by men identifying as women. Because of planning prisons, probation and treatment, the police were asked to revert to the recording of biological sex. The police in Scotland refused. Women have become the third sex, bottom of the heap, our experience as women whether politically, as feminism, safety as shelters, sports, or in any other way considered irrelevant, unimportant in this time of biology being ignored in favour of personal gender identification.

If this offends you, consider what Salman Rushdie said, and he got a death sentence rather then denouncing, cancelling and deplatforming, "Nobody has the right to not be offended. That right doesn't exist in any declaration I have ever read. If you are offended it is your problem, and frankly lots of things offend lots of people."

Respect for people and how they want to be identified and live their lives should be the norm and unremarkable. Unless it causes harm or pushes a biological sex into a position to their extreme detriment as with sports and rape statistics, then there needs to be an acknowledgement of biological differences and a consequent negotiation of positions.
__________

Criminal profiling. CSI in hardback! I love these books. I always wonder what a murderer is like. I know people who could get angry, who could slap or punch someone, but I cannot imagine anyone who could plan and then kill a person and then carry on with their lives as if nothing happened. I think that the fascination of these books is that wonder I might be able to imagine them, not intellectually, but as people I might meet. I wrote that as I started the book. Having read it, I know I am very lucky not to have met any of them, and really I cannot imagine what they are like, they look like us but are monsters in every sense of the word, the sort that frightened us as children but worse.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Giveaway Win!

Two of my favorite tv shows are Mindhunter and Criminal Minds. Ann Wolbert Burgess lived those shows in real life. Ann was one of the first women in the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit. She studied the minds of sexual serial killers. She was instrumental in gathering the information we now know about serial killers.

Some people are just built different. Ann Wolbert Burgess went into a line of work that I do not have the stomach for. The thought of sitting across from a serial rapist or serial killer and listening to them recount their crimes is just not something I could do but I'm glad that people like her and her colleague Candace Delong exist. We cant know how many lives were saved by criminal profilers.

If you love True Crime than you will love this book. This isnt a biography, you learn almost nothing about Ann Wolbert Burgess' personal life. This book is about her work and I respect that.

A Must Read for True Crime lovers!

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

"[Serial killers] were often genuinely unable to explain why they killed. They didn't have the answers, but this didn't mean their actions lacked cause. They killed for a reason - and I was going to figure out that reason." -- the author, on page 128

I was mostly unfamiliar with the work of author Ann Wolbert Burgess - an accomplished forensic / psychiatric nurse who was part of the FBI's now-renowned Behavioral Science Unit (a.k.a. the criminal profilers) from its rocky inception in the late 1970's until she departed for other work-related opportunities approximately 20 years later - prior to her career memoir A Killer by Design. However, I did recall seeing her name before as she co-authored - along with notable FBI agent-profilers John Douglas and Robert Ressler (oft-credited with coining the term 'serial killer') the textbook Sexual Homicide Patterns and Motives in 1993. And speaking of the retired agent Douglas, Dr. Burgess' memoir is reminiscent of his string of analytical bestsellers (including Mindhunter, Journey Into Darkness, and The Anatomy of Motive) that he churned out starting in the mid-90's. However, Dr. Burgess brings something a little new to the table with her book - she was initially the only woman affiliated with the unit (although the agents treated her well), and she had a bit of outsider status at first because she was not a duly authorized law enforcement agent. Burgess was requested to assist with various FBI investigations - which were showing an escalating number of rapes connected with murder sprees - due to her years of experience / background with sexual assault-based trauma and offenses. She has crafted a straightforward yet still very readable true crime book, and I especially liked in a concluding chapter that she expressed disgust with the increasing lionization or celebrity status of serial killers starting in the late 20th century.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

My decades spent studying serial killers weren't for the game of cat and mouse, nor because I found these killers entertaining. And I didn't do it because I empathized with their plight or because I was trying to rehabilitate and reform them.
For me, it's always been about the victims.
They are the reason I persist. They are the reason I stared down the darkness, time and time again. They are the tragic human cost of a serial killer's self-discovery, the helpless victims of chance and circumstance. They are living, breathing bodies of boundless possibility reduced to headlines and statistics. And although many of their names have been lost to history or relegated to footnotes in the retellings of serial killers and their crimes, I will never forget a single one.
It's the victims who matter. This story is as much theirs as it is mine.

If you're familiar with Mindhunter, you'll be aware they based the show around the real life group of agents - and consultants! - who founded the BSU and established criminal profiling as a discipline. Though her character was the most changed for fiction, Ann Wolbert Burgess was an integral member, and I was so excited to see this book be released.

It absolutely lived up to my self-generated hype - I can't even tell you how much of this is covered in highlights, but SO MUCH. Ann's perspective was the most unusual amongst the others that we've heard from, being a professor of psychiatric nursing and firmly the most adept with research methodologies and data interpretation. She'd also taken a victim-first approach for most of her career, as opposed to the agents whose jobs were structured based around catching killers - it turned her approach and her perspective completely around from the usual approach. That's not to say other agents I've read don't care - they absolutely do - but there is a very different "voice" to Ann's writing, one I really enjoyed hearing from.

A Killer by Design essentially covers Ann's involvement in research, involvement with the BSU and its formation, and a summary of some of the cases she was involved in and how they changed some level of understanding. The book is conversational and easy to read, and everything I'd hoped she'd write some day - absolutely fascinating, and with a level of insight that speaks to the value of decades spent in a discipline. Definitely one I'd recommend.

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars
This was an interesting non fiction book that covered the creation of the FBI criminal profiling unit. A lot of the information in this book has been covered in other books like Mindhunters so avid true crime readers won't find a lot of new details. This book provides the experience of the first female profiler on the team and I expected there to be more about her challenges being a woman in a man's world. Instead, this book mostly recounted the popularized history, rehashing the crimes of popular serial killers. It was a well written book with a concise narrative, but it just wanted anything new.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

I made a compromise with myself and updated this book to a 2 star rating, because it was competently written. I'm a fan of psychology and I particularly enjoyed reading other books about criminal behavior. I expected some memoir combined with science about an inspirational woman profiler working with the FBI to break ground. That's not what I got. Because I abandoned this book at the 70% mark I feel confident in giving it a review.

Here are the reasons why this book angered me and made me abandon it:
- Disruptive authorial intrusion meant to congratulate the author: I expect indeed that a person working in this field needs to be tough and resilient. So the author made sure we understood how unfazed she was. She constantly tells us how she was being 'tested' by the agents and how she passed the tests. It sounded more like she lacked empathy however. Another problem: some of 'tests' are clearly not tests, but the author congratulating themselves again. For e.g.: the author woke up at 6 am after a short night sleep while at Quantico because the firing range opened at 6 am and the noise woke her up. The author concludes: the agents tested her to see if she's resilient. Real conclusion: the firing range opened at 6 am. Whether she complained or not. And not even asking if she can get a room somewhere further from the range is just illogical self-torture. Operating on too little sleep means being less cognitively competent the next day. Science says so. Way to congratulate a toxic system just so that the 'boys' can see our female author as one of them. (PS: If a male author had been going on and on about how he passed brutal tests I'd have quit the book even sooner. This is not the type of writing I want to read, but I kept hoping the female perspective will bring something new and raw.)

- Exaggerated appraisal of the importance of her work: we have one chapter where the author interviews a young child and gets her to draw the abduction of her friend. The author tells us those drawings and states that this interrogation was crucial to catching the killer. We are then walked through the history of how the killer was caught. The little girl's contribution is so minor it's not even mentioned. If the contribution was more significant, then the author failed to clarify this. If not, this sounded like more self-lip service. The work should have been impressive enough that exaggerations were not necessary.

- The science is never properly explained: the author tells the agents early in their collaboration that they need to conduct their interviews in a scientific manner. How where some scientific hypothesis generated? How where they tested? Why does one behavior means this and not that? I understand an element of gut feeling is required at the beginnings of a field, but this sounded like pure guess work.

- Bad science not even addressed: polygraph tests? Bite marks? Yes, they are discussed as if they are key, reliable, investigational methods. Except, whoops, they've come under so much scrutiny that convictions are now being overturned when such methods were used. This made me again doubt the scientific accuracy of the author's conclusions.

- What about those moments when profiling failed spectacularly? Well, at the 70% mark they had not yet been properly addressed. There were only two cases given that presumably had baffled the profilers, but a clear explanation as to a) how far the predictions deviated from the truth, b) what lessons were learned is not given.

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent! But there are sooo many trigger warnings. Serious warnings. It’s very open, honest, and in your face. But I was so glad to have a BSU book that didn’t focus on John Douglas. Or wasn’t written by John Douglas. Very hard to come by since he’s such a sell out.

[Erin Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publication date: Dec. 7, 2021

In the 1970s and 1980s, serial killers in the United States were rampant. So much so, that the FBI decided to form their own team to help understand, investigate and eventually arrest these violent criminals. As one of the only females in the Behavioural Sciences Unit (BSU), Ann Burgess, a psychiatric nurse, teamed up with a handful of male FBI agents to compile a way to analyze and study what they knew of current serial killers- in hopes of using this information to help the FBI capture future serial killers before they got started.

John E. Douglas, the writer of “Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit”, and one of the founders are the Behavioural Sciences Unit, was a part of Ann’s original team. Having read much of Douglas’ work, I found it interesting to read about the BSU from another perspective, and a female one at that. In an era when females even more stereotyped and pigeon-holed, Burgess brings an interesting take to the criminal mind, and adds a critical component to the developing team.

The book outlines various serial killers from this era, both highly known and less so (including BTK), but Burgess also goes into detail about how the BSU was formed, and the challenges and struggles she faced as a non-agent, and as a female, trying to make a difference in the criminal justice system. I really enjoyed the deep-dive into some of the most criminal minds in history, and these chapters kept me engaged and drawn in. I had less interest in the development of the BSU as a whole, and the science behind the formation of the collection of data. I wanted more serial killers (because, who doesn’t?) and I would’ve really appreciated a bit more of Burgess, especially from her days in psychiatric nursing.

Dark and creepy, “A Killer by Design” is gruesome and not for the faint of heart. Grisly crimes are documented, many are sexual in nature, so it definitely isn’t “light” reading. However, it is a well-told true crime story featuring many of the most prolific serial killers from the era when there was so many to choose from. Burgess’ viewpoints of being a female in a male dominated world were powerful and eye-opening and I immediately bonded with her. This is a must-read novel for fans of “Criminal Minds” or “Mindhunter: Inside the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit”, and anyone who wants just a little bit more information on how the serial killer mind works, and how they become who they are.

[Miya (severe pain struggles, slower at the moment) · Rating 4 out of 5]

True crime fans will love this! Super interesting. Couldn't put it down

[Rachelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved getting to hear about the development of the BSU and criminal profiling through Ann Burgess's view point and experiences. I throughly enjoyed Mindhunter and this book is equally as fascinating.

[Ruthy lavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating!
One of the best books about criminal profiling that I’ve read.
Easily worthy of 4.5 stars ⭐️

[Sara]

Of all the true crime books I've read about the BSU, it's illuminating that I've never read from a woman's perspective. The 70s and 80s within the FBI was a heavily white, male dominated space and that left them vulnerable to forgetting the female perspective. Ann Burgess not only held her own with these extroverted, very self assured men, but also managed to really make a difference within the structure of the FBI and how they profile and catch serial killers.

The opening few chapters were particularly interesting, as Ann goes into detail about how she came to work within the BSU and how she felt an immediate connection to the female victims, who often came to be overshadowed by their perpetrators. On top of this, her writing style is incredibly down to earth, taking out a lot of the bravado of Douglas while keeping the text informative and educational. This is easily one of the best true crime books I've read in recent years, and I only wish more women in the field would write about their experiences.

[Brittany McCann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly well-written and perfectly paced. This book is a wonderful example of spectacular editing and writing. Ann Wolbert Burgess gives her account of the FBI's BSU (Behavioral Science Unit).

Having gotten into the MindHunter's show, it was great to see her voice now joining those of her male counterparts. Having the female side of looking at things from a different perspective is excellent. Ann seemed more affected by the violent crimes inflicted upon women, especially those involving rape.

This is just one more angle into psychoanalyzing killers and coming up with ways to identify culprits in local communities.

Worth a read if this is a topic you are interested in. It reads in a narrative flow.

5 Stars.

[Valerity (Val) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading about Dr. Ann Burgess and how her serious work on researching sexual violence eventually got her to working with the FBI. She helped refine their work on interviewing serial killers so that it would be more useful. Burgess also shares her experiences on different cases during her time with the FBI in the early days of profiling. Good history here and a woman’s perspective on the subjects for a change. For true crime lovers. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Ann Wolbert Burgess, and the publisher.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dr Ann Wolbert Burgess documents the development of the Behavioral Science Unit (BSU) at the FBI. The team she worked with were pioneers of criminal profiling. There work in helping understand serial killers helped police catch them. The examples of Kemper, BTK, unabomber and others were interesting in the methodology they developed. Disorganized versus organized killers and studying the victims.

It seems to me that since the BSU began advances in DNA analysis, CCTV and using mobile phone location have all helped. Yet, serial killers still escape. Here in the UK Dr Harold Shipman murdered 250 elderly people. He only got caught when he forged a will of one of his victims. Yes, up to 250 victims. It raises the question in any country in the world how many doctors are doing similar murders. He did not fit the profile of a serial killer. Though profiling is excellent it is a tool and there will be exceptions.

Police in the US during the 70s, 80s and 90s also were unable to solve the crimes until many victims had been murdered. The Unabomber was caught due to his brother recognizing his prose in a article newspapers published from him. Profiling will always have limitations although it is a valuable tool in detection and hopefully prevention.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

A frustrating read, basically a 2.5. On the one hand, her background in developing profiling is fascinating. On the other, I feel there are three major flaws with this book. The first is that she does not address any significant limitations to profiling, probably because she reduces crimes to their data. Didn't catch the killer in a timely fashion? Well, they just didn't follow the profile.

The second issue, and one I will admit is nitpicky, is the sheer amount of dialogue in this book. The transcriptions from tape I will give her, but there are also lengthy conversations that were obviously not recorded. Could distortions of time factor in? The other people involved are dead, so hard to say.

The third issue, and a glaring one for me, is Henry Louis Wallace. Throughout this book, Burgess shows no concern about other killers receiving the death penalty. However, here she insists his mental illness is just too great to be truly responsible for his crimes. Having read over 200 pages before this breaking down the trauma and mental disorders of other rapists and/or killers, I was left confused. Why does he merit more of her care than those others? And then the book abruptly ends with her insisting that she has always taken on this work for the victims...even though she was hired for a serial killer's defense. A true head scratcher.

[lilias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ann C. Wolbert Burgess is so unbelievably cool.

I’d wanted to read one of her books ever since I saw her as played by Anna Torv (love) in Netflix’s Mindhunter, but before A Killer By Design, her catalogue of books is scientific to an intimidating extent. I say intimidating because of the nature of her work; she is an expert in rape, having worked with victims and interviewed perpetrators, collecting data to further improve society’s understanding of the act.

Burgess’s expertise was fundamental in the development of the BSU of the FBI, along with John Douglas, Robert Ressler, and Roy Hazelwood. Their self-appointed task was to bring what we now know as criminal profiling into crime investigations. To do so, they interviewed many serial killers and other offenders, many of whom had committed severe acts of sexual violence. What Burgess brought to the BSU and to criminal profiling was crucial: she brought the experience of being a woman and she brought the data and the research to back it up.

[Laura Peden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ann Burgess’s research on sexual assault & trauma caught the FBI’s attention at a crucial time. They were at the beginning stage of creating the Behavioral Science Unit. This true crime memoir takes you behind the scenes as these “Mindhunters” study and hunt serial killers, but from the perspective of a female. She works alongside John Douglas & Robert Ressler. The first half was a little dry & textbook but once they form the group and start studying & hunting, it really picks up! Highly recommend. Listening time just under 6 hrs at 1.55x.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid read especially for those new to serial murder books such as this. I’ve read a lot about the subject so perhaps that’s why it didn’t resonate as much with me. I’d heard about all of the cases discussed in detail elsewhere and didn’t really find anything new to me here which is why I’m rating it 3 stars.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever wanted to learn about the origins of the criminal profiling of serial killers, this book tells not only the history of psychological profiling but also how the FBI found some of the most notorious and violent killers through the eyes of Ann Wolbert Burgess.

I had the pleasure and privilege of hearing Ann speak at an event at my work where she shared her insight into her work and answered questions. She also shared copies of her book, which is where I got my copy of A Killer by Design. I was amazed by her, and her book did not disappoint.

Ann, an expert in sexual assault victimology, worked for the FBI in psychologically analyzing crimes and their victims to build profiles of serial killers. Through this book, Ann takes us through her career into the cases of infamous offenders she helped to capture and bring to justice. Ann's perspective on serial killers and their victims is not only analytical and educated but also human; she shares her own struggles with bringing the victims to light and avoiding the magnification of serial killers in the media. She shares an insider perspective on the FBI's investigation, which is fascinating for any true crime buff. My only real disappointment about this book was that I wanted more insight into the "how's" of profiling. Profilers can identify if a serial killer was in the military, wore a fancy watch, or likes a certain type of cuisine, but I would have liked to learn their method for arriving at these conclusions in more detail.

Overall, however, if you enjoy true crime or espionage, this insider perspective is outstanding.

4/5

[Charlotte Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bit different to what I normally read. But I saw someone on TikTok recommend it to fans of criminals minds so I decided to give it a go.

I found it interesting looking into why serial killers kill and how childhood events shape their futures.

I liked how the author really tried to focus on the victims and make sure to tell their stories too.

[Goagzyit · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides the experience of the team's first female profiler, an engaging non-fiction book that covered the creation of the criminal profiling unit.

[Clued-in With A Book (Elvina Ulrich) · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Behaviour reflects personality. The best indicator of future violence is past violence. To understand the "artist," you must study his "art." The crime must be evaluated in its totality." - John E. Douglas

A Killer By Design is a detailed behind-the-scenes look into the creation of FBI's Behavioural Science Unit and how criminal profiling has evolved throughout the years to what it is today. And it all begins with the psychiatric nurse, Ann Burgess.

Together with her sociologist friend Lynda Lytle Holmstrom, they published their findings on their interdisciplinary research project which focused on victim response to rape in the American Journal of Nursing. Their article titled "The Rape Victim in the Emergency Ward," caught the attention of Roy Hazelwood, who was a pioneer of profiling sexual predators. From then on, she has been working together with the FBI in researching, and refining the process of profiling to what it is today.

There are a lot of cases discussed in this book - Henry Wallace (Taco Bell Killer), Ed Kemper (Co-ed Killer), Jon Simonis (Ski Mask Rapist), Montie Rissell, and many more. These are violent criminals who committed very violent crimes. I truly admire Burgess' bravery and passion in advocating for the victims through her impeccable research that often means confronting these criminals.

The profiling part was incredibly spot on and it gives me chills reading the cases where criminals were caught because of how accurate the profiling was.

In a nutshell, this was one fantastic read but definitely not the for faint-of-heart as the crimes were dark and disturbing. But if you can stomach these, then I would definitely recommend this book. You will be amazed by the research done, the interviews, the process of profiling and the kind of work profilers do!

TW: violence, murder, sexual assault, domestic abuse (including children and animals)

Pub. Date: Dec 7th, 2021

***Thank you Hachette Books, author Ann Burgess and NetGalley for this gifted review copy to read. All opinions expressed are my own.***

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was really good. I’m very interested in true crime and this was about the birth of “profiling” criminals and I found it fascinating! I learned a lot about the nuts and bolts that go behind catching serial killers and how they studied them. The novel went into detail how profiling began and the persons who would be the first team. I enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
This won’t give the reader closer but will give insight to what goes on in the mind of a killer. I commend the authors and the great detail they took to make this.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the like the narrator.
Thanks Hachette Books via NetGalley.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Brief synopsis: A behind the scenes look at the early days of the FBI’s criminal profiling unit (aka mindhunters) from the unit’s first woman.

I’m a huge true crime buff- I’ve read Mindhunter, watched the Netflix adaptation, and read one of Robert Ressler’s books- but this is my favorite of the criminal profiling memoirs I’ve read.

What I liked:
🔍 Dr. Wolbert Burgess is a badass, she is SO smart
🔍 How victim-focused her work is
🔍 Learning more about the history of the FBI
🔍 Super fascinating lesser known cases
🔍 She makes the profiling process and material easy to understand

What I didn’t like:
🔍 I wish I could hear more about what she is up to now (but perhaps this is setting up another book!)

This is a fantastic true crime read. There aren’t many female voices at her level of expertise, so it was truly amazing to hear about her experience. She is very data/research driven and a great representation for woman in the science field. You can tell she held her own in the boys’ club atmosphere of the early days of the FBI.

Since I’ve read and watched a lot of true crime material, I really enjoyed learning about the lesser known (but intense) cases, but she also discusses more mainstream cases like those of Kemper, BTK, and the unabomber.

As this is a memoir of someone who dealt with brutal killers, this isn’t for the faint of heart. I appreciated that a trigger warning was included.

⚠️: violence, murder (including of children), sexual assault, animal abuse, child (sex) abuse, sexism/misogyny, racism, mental health

[Dive Into A Good Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have always wanted to know the inner workings of a serial killer's mind, A Killer by Design is the book for you. Ann Wolbert Burgess is a forensic and psychiatric nurse who worked with the FBI for over twenty years. Her work helped develop criminal profiling as it is used now and establish the Behavioral Science Unit. Her masterful writing makes you feel as if you are sitting in on one of her lectures at Quantico, learning the steps to profile one of the elusive killers that is on the loose.

A Killer by Design brings you down into the underbelly of the FBI, where the most brilliant investigators work to come up with new techniques and steps to catch a killer. Burgess' does a masterful job of balancing the know-how of catching a killer, with the chilling, nail biting, hair raising cases that she worked on while at the FBI. Tears were streaming down my face as I read about the children who were abducted and later killed in Nebraska. Fear raced down my spine as I she described Edmund Kemper, also known as the Co-Ed Killer. I am in awe that there are people who are willing to work for the victim and their families. Their dreams must be haunted, and their thoughts must be terrifying.

This is a book for all the Criminal Mind lovers out there. You will not only delve into the dark, terrifying world of these serial killers. You will also learn what made them killers, and how you can catch them by understanding their thought processes. Burgess' is a master when it comes to writing and drawing you into the inner workings of the FBI and the reality of how they are caught. One point of the many points that stood out for me is that criminals are always changing, whether they must adapt to DNA, to profiling, new technology. Which means to catch them law enforcement has to change as well. The BSU was not always highly thought of. They had to dig and scratch their way to the surface, to prove that what they are learning is useful and beneficial to all. Thank you to Ann Wolbert Burgess, Novel Suspects and Hachette Books for sending me this fascinating, stimulating book.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really excited when I found this book because I've always been interested in this subject matter (the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit/Mindhunters/etc.) but I didn't want to read the Mindhunter book by Douglas because I had heard he has a pretty misogynist/male centric view and didn't want to read a dude blaming women for violent men. While there is still a little bit of the mother-blaming here, it's still a far better perspective so I am grateful for that.

Honestly I had to put this down a couple times and take a break. The chapters where Burgess goes into details of the interviews and perspectives of the killers/rapists were particularly nauseating. They were very insightful, but still hard to read. I literally cried when I read the passage where she talks about the women who was raped and assaulted to the point of brain damage and while in the hospital would ask when her mother was coming to visit and cried when they reminded her her mother had passed away.

My only criticisms are the mother-blaming (she did this a lot with Wallace in particular, blaming his mother and his wife for his violence) which admittedly wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, and lack of acknowledgement of male violence as an epidemic. I felt there was an overarching "Ahh people are so complex" mindset while there was never anything about hey, women experience far worse far more often and yet all your serial killers are male - talk about why MEN are the ones who commit these atrocities. Unfortunately there is never going to be an end to male violence as long as the patriarchal power structures investigating these crimes don't acknowledge it.

Anyway this was a very insightful read and while I don't know that I agree with Burgess on everything, she's highly intelligent and her perspective is valuable. Although the subject matter was brutal to get through, this was a good read and I got what I wanted out of it.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a true crime addict so I was super excited to review Ann Wolbert Burgess's account of her time working at the FBI. I would recommend this book for fans of John Douglas and Robert Ressler, but her account is different from those written by other members of the behavioral science unit. Burgess brings a different perspective as a woman, and a forensic nurse instead of an FBI agent. Her book explains not just criminal psychology but also examines how the agents' minds worked. Burgess goes into detail explaining the profiling process and how it was applied to early case studies. I would recommend this book if you want to know how serial killers develop, how the science of criminal profiling was created, and/or how the FBI modernized in the 70's and 80's.

[David Blake · Rating 2 out of 5]

Barely two stars...if I was a profiler, I'd id the author as an ego-centric academic with a misshapen view of her impact on solving cases, taking credit for several high profile crimes that were clearly resolved by evidence-based detective work.