The Jigsaw Man: Paul Britton

I met him once you know...Paul Britton....a long time ago. He visited Lincoln as part of his forensic work. He even mentions it in the book - not that he met me - Lincoln!!

Anyway, just finished The Jigsaw man which was very interesting and gave me a number of ideas for the novel. He touches on why the book is called The Jigsaw Man when he says; Take the 4 questions I ask myself at the start of every investigation - what happened, how did it happen, who is the victim and why did it happen? Only when I have these answers can I tackle the most important question - who was responsible? Its like working on several jigsaw puzzles at the same time. One puzzle will tell me what happened, another will reveal how it happened, a third will tell me about the victim and a fourth will show me the likely motivation of the offender. When completed, each of these puzzles then becomes a vital piece in a much larger jigsaw that will help me identify the psychological characteristics of the offender.

He also uses the analogy of a fishing net;
Imagine a fishing net formed by a matrix of hundreds of lines with thousands of nets connecting them. Any single knot may be interesting but when you try to pick it up, all the others come with it. They are all interconnected and you can’t truly understand any single knot unless you understand the principles of those around it. That’s what makes psychology so fascinating. It’s like having a three dimensional map that you journey upon and through.