I read this book when it was released back in 1998 and absolutely devoured it. I was fascinated by offender profiling and the clues that it could provide detectives in solving serious crimes.
Let's cut to the chase - there is still some amazing cases in this book and it is still IMO well worth a read. It's still one of my all time favourite books. There can be no doubt though that Britton's involvement in the Rachel Nickell case leaves a sour taste, particularly because a) in the light of what we now know the mistakes made by police and by Britton himself are glaringly obvious and extremely sad to read and b) in an unfortunate circumstance the Green Chain rapes and the horrific murders of Samantha and Jazmine Bissett are also covered in this book. Again knowing what we now know about the links between the two cases it is hard to read.
That said I cannot agree with all the bandwaggon Paul Britton 'naysayers' that have sprung up on here since the verdict in the Nickell case. Mistakes were clearly made and Britton clearly has a share in the blame for those errors but does that immediately negate all the other cases he was involved with? Does it remove the credit for the murderers and rapists that he did help put behind bars? I consider myself fortunate that I can make my mistakes behind closed doors...
If you are fascinated by true crime and criminal profiling then don't miss reading the Jigsaw Man. It's a gripping book and you can then make your own mind up about Britton's methods. One small word of warning, there is some graphic detail in the book - you need to decide before you read if you can stomach these details and still sleep at night!