Baltimore is a city with more than its fair share of murder statistics. Two of the best cop shows on television in recent years have been set there, Homicide: Life on the Streets and The Wire. If I explain that both of those shows were inspired by this book it should give you some clue as to how good it is. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets was written by David Simon who was a reporter for the Baltimore Sun newspaper. He tended to cover crime stories and after a few years he developed the desire to write a novel. He approached his paper and the police department and asked them if he could spend a year in the homicide department following the detectives and then write a book based on his observations. To his great surprise the powers that be said yes. He was never able to figure out why. This is an incredibly absorbing book written by a skilled author and journalist with an eye for detail and the ability to weave a factual stream into a dramatic and compelling narrative. He uses the real names of the detectives and with the zeal of a fact checking journalist he packs in as much reality as possible. The end result is authenticity and the department is shown warts and all. The truth is often much more interesting than any fiction could be and that is certainly the case here. With all crime writing there is an element of voyeurism, we wonder how people do the things they do, we show an unhealthy interest in the specifics of violent crimes but that’s not what this book is about. There is little or no attempt to uncover motive because in the real world that’s the way detectives work. It doesn’t matter why people kill; it only matters that you can prove they did it in a court of law. The characters are fascinating; their macabre sense of humour and the way they interact with each other is funny and sometimes twisted. The fact they do the job in the face of so many hardships may give you a new found respect but the author retains his detachment. While it is clear he admires many of the men he is studying he still shows their weaknesses and mistakes. The tide of violence is overwhelming and yet both the author and the homicide detectives seem to love Baltimore. The underlying reasons for their toil are revealed through their civic pride. In simple terms they want to make Baltimore a better place. The book is sad and perhaps even depressing in places because it doesn’t offer a sweetened or fictionalised account of life and death in the city and reality rarely has a neat and happy ending. The book was actually adapted into the long running Homicide television series and although they changed various details the material is very recognisable. David Simon also wrote for the show before he went on to write The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighbourhood. He tied together all of his experiences for The Wire. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is one of the most compelling books I have ever read and it was extremely tough to put it down.