American Detective

A look at the role of the detective in American history. Reppetto examines the detective's role in specific cases, whether they were successfully solved or not, throughout the decades when he argues that the detective played a greater, more central role than they do in modern times. These include the bigger name cases, like the Black Dahlia, Dr. Sam Sheppard, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Cleveland Torso Murders, and a variety of mafia-linked cases, in addition to lesser-known, or forgotten, investigations. Each chapter covers several geographically or departmentally-linked cases, and explores some background and biography of the investigators involved and their place in history. These short case studies are bookended with an introductory background of the role and importance of the detective and an argument for a return of an emphasis on detective practices, as opposed to the current status or general perception of law enforcement agencies in the public consciousness. "According to Reppetto, detectives were once able watchdogs until their role in policing became diluted by patrol strategies ranging from “stop and frisk” to community policing. Ultimately, Reppetto argues against these current policing systems and calls for a return to the primacy of the detective in criminal investigations." It's a decent argument, considering the cases analyzed here, although their brevity leaves the reader interested in deeper explorations in many cases.

American Detective, Behind the Scene of Famous Criminal Investigations by Thomas Reppetto was received direct from the publisher. True crime has always held my interest, for many reasons. This book takes the reader through the history of American police detectives before there was such a thing. The book details both the good and bad parts of police detectives, the people involved and departments methods (i.e “by the book). Everyone, including past or present detectives will learn something from the book and anyone interested in law enforcement should read it.

4 Stars

I'm a sucker for true crime and the Roaring Twenties, so when I read that this book covered both, I was most definitely in. The book examines the changing role of the detective within the history of American policing as a whole over a period of around 50 years.

It had a slow start, but once the author brought in real life examples of cases that were investigated (and not always solved), things picked up considerably. I was rather surprised at just how much the TV & film depictions had influenced my view of detectives and how far it was from the actual truth. Overall, I found this an interesting and informative read with a lot of information packed into the chapters. Even so, I would have liked a more in-depth look at the actual investigations at times.

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers, University of Nebraska Press/Potomac Books, for the opportunity to review an ARC.

I love true crime! This was very enlightening! Very educational but informal at the same time! This would be a great read for a high school student who likes history! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review

Loved it, loved how it talks about case I had no idea about, about the police detectives that sloved them and how they help make the police departments the way they are today, with that said I want to think Netgalley for letting read and review it in change for my honest opinion .

(3.5 of 5 stars) This book gives a good history of policing and detective work in the US and tells about how the different types of departments came about. It tells about various private agencies like Pinkertons that were big for a time. There are discussions about many investigators and some criminals. It also goes into some old major cases that were never solved like the Black Dahlia, The Mad Butcher, etc. It’s a fairly interesting read for those who enjoy true crime, forensics, and things of that nature dealing with the past.

An advance digital copy was provided by NetGalley, author Thomas A. Reppetto, and the publisher for my unbiased review.


University of Nebraska Press
Publication date: June 1, 2018

American Detective is a great book about the basics of a violent crime investigation. It started from the 1920s and went to the 1970s with examples, such as the Black Dahlia, Mad Butcher, to John F. Kennedy and many in between that were not quite so high profile. I enjoyed this book. It gave a lot of history about law enforcement and how it works and goes about in doing an investigation. The writing is good, although it could have been better, but the subject matter allowed me to move past that. It was so interesting and truly held my attention quite well. I do recommend this book, especially for those interested in true crime.

I received a free Kindle copy of American Detective by Thomas A. Reppetto courtesy of Net Galley  and Potomac Books, the publisher. It was with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes and Noble and my fiction book review blog. I also posted it to my Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google Plus pages.

I requested this book as the description sounded interesting and I was looking for something a little different. This is the first book by Thomas A. Reppetto that I have read.

The books subtitle "Behind the Scenes of Famous Criminal Investigations" is a bit misleading. The books dives into two subjects - the history of detective work in the United States and many of the more famous unsolved crimes. This  caused the book to have a three star rating due to the fact that the history part, while interesting, does not flow nearly as well as when the author is writing about actual crime cases.

This is the type of book that you may want to check out at your local library before making a purchase at a bookstore or online.

This is a very interesting book that looked at the history and changes that have taken place in the law enforcement through the centuries. The growth, changes, and reinventing the police detective division of major cities. The history behind the major crimes that cause the need for changes in the detective divisions and how they advanced policy and sometimes when back to old policies was very interesting. For people that are interested in criminal justice, and police departments this is a very good book. It looks at issue from today's headlines to show how once again changes are happening and coming.

This is a really interesting book and perfect for anyone with an interest in true crime but is wanting to go back a little further. This book is part case studies and part history lesson. The author writes ably and knowledgeably about famous cases gone by like the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and the case of Leopold and Loeb. There’s some real cops and robbers stuff which went on the early twentieth century which is very entertainingly described. He writes from the perspective of a detective and how the crime was investigated but isn’t scared to point out the procedural mistakes that were made. The author isn’t afraid to air his opinion and there’s a few little digs about how he feels police these days are unfairly treated and maligned. The writing is a little rough around the edges and there’s a bit of jumping around back and forth through history but those are little niggles really. This book is a little off the beaten track and if I hadn’t seen a review copy on NetGalley I doubt it would’ve appeared on my radar over in the UK. It’s worth seeking this book out though. There’s some fascinating nuggets about police work and it was a really enjoyable read. Do yourself a favour and search it out.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

I am into true crime and all of that stuff so I love reading about detective work. I like that you get to see how it has evolved and how cases were handled differently throughout time.

In AMERICAN DETECTIVE, BEHIND THE SCENES OF FAMOUS CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS, Thomas A. Reppetto offers fans of true crime a look behind the scenes of criminal investigations. He writes about the Pinkertons, Elliot Ness, The Black Dahlia and many more. The author was himself once a detective in Chicago so he can talk the talk.