But the grinding nature of Kreizler’s methods feels more realistic. “That entire board is just speculation.” I found this frustrating at times-Holmes’ rapid (and unlikely!) deductions based on observing and connecting seemingly irrelevant details are often more fun. “It’s just speculation,” John starts at one point. Kreizler’s colleagues analyze each clue for meaning and fill a chalkboard with possible interpretations.

The process requires more guesswork than I remember Holmes engaging in (although to be fair, I haven’t read one of his cases in over twenty years). Most of the novel focuses on this endeavor, following Kreizler and his team as they research and theorize their way to a picture of their quarry. “If word gets out that you’ve brought someone like Kreizler in,” Moore says at one point, “why, you’d be better off hiring an African witch doctor!” But when a killer begins executing child prostitutes in horrific fashion, Teddy Roosevelt-at that time the commissioner of the New York Police Department-involves Kreizler anyway and asks him to covertly profile the murderer. The novel shed light on abject poverty, disease, 'boy brothels', and corruption. He attended Kenyon College and New York University, earning a B.A. The son of Lucien Carr, a former UPI editor and a key Beat generation figure, he was born in Manhattan and lived for much of his life on the Lower East Side.

If you read the historical fiction novel, 'The Alienist' by Caleb Carr, youll be shocked by the description of 1890s New York. Sub-genre: Historical mystery 5 Stars Synopsis: Before the modern day criminal profiler, there were alienists - psychologists. Caleb Carr is an American novelist and military historian. In the 19th century, the field of psychology was still in its infancy, and Kreizler’s contention that childhood experiences shape adulthood is generally regarded with extreme skepticism. RT Okkevwe: I like reading about how backward developed countries used to be.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr