When you study successful sleuths in murder mysteries, you begin to see a pattern in their personalities and in their thinking. They are persistent and not usually dissuaded by challenges or roadblocks. They are not quick to be convinced by the obvious but look below the surface for answers. They are always working to connect seemingly unrelated activities and events. They think regularly about motive and seek the root cause of behavior. In fact, you might even view them as practicing psychology without a license!
What makes a psychologist particularly well-suited for solving crimes?
The very nature of being a psychologist is one of investigation and discovery. Psychologists spend their time probing and gathering information; following leads, separating the relevant from the irrelevant; making assumptions and testing them; creating hypotheses; paying attention to “gut checks,” and following their instincts. In fact, at its heart, the very fabric of being a psychologist is one of solving mysteries and bringing truth to light. It could be argued that police detectives and members of the CIA or FBI are really using psychological principles to “connect the dots” of the clues in their cases. They do this to create a complete picture of the crimes and criminals that they are seeking to understand.
In a sense, these professionals are practicing psychology much of the time. However, their training may lack the depth of understanding of the human mind, human interactions, personality, and psychopathology of the well-trained psychologist. In contrast, the training of the psychologist lacks the technology and forensic tools found in contemporary police work, such as DNA matching, finger printing, CCTV, crime databases, etc. Pairing a psychologist with a professional police investigator maximizes the capabilities of both.
Hence, in my book Santa Fe Deception, Scott Hunter, a psychologist with a deep understanding of human behavior, and Miguel Montez, a former FBI field agent and now a Police Detective, are integrating their joint knowledge to create a dynamic and highly effective duo for solving complex crimes in Santa Fe.
In the second Scott Hunter mystery, Dark Revelation, Scott uses his training in understanding psychopaths, and how they take advantage of the most vulnerable, to help solve the case. His ability to spot deception and identify alternative motivations paired with Miguel’s outstanding investigative skills help them identify the real villain.