Murder Squad, by William B. Joyner (used)

Ex-Detective Head Constable "Bill' Joyner was, without doubt, one of the most dedicated and therefore successful of the many crack detectives that made up the famous Johannesburg "Murder Squad". After a long series of particularly vicious crimes, which had the detectives and staff in Johannesburg working at full stretch for weeks on end, Joyner was, at his suggestion, charged with the responsibility of forming and bringing into operation this specialist section, in an effort to check the crime wave and to apprehend those responsible. Almost immediately results were forthcoming. Bill, with his intimate knowledge of the criminal mind and an extraordinary flair for Bantu languages soon got on to the track of a number of badly wanted men. With his devotion to duty exercised as never before, and the help of his loyal team of experts, he soon began to bring before the judiciary many criminals who finally had to pay the penalty required by society. At all times the humanity and understanding of this outstanding detective paid off, and, as is unfolded here, Bill could always obtain informa tion where others failed. Hardened criminals, White or Bantu, would trust him explicitly. A wide selection of his most famous cases, taken from his diary, are recounted here to make a most enthralling book for crime connoisseurs of all ages. This book is a taste of how it was in the Witwatersrand mining towns - Johannesburg, Benoni, Germiston and so on - in the 1950s and 1960s.