The Corpse Had a Familiar Face: Covering Miami, America's Hottest Beat

I read this book in college as part of the journalism curriculum. I was skeptical at first, thinking it would be boring like the other required reqdings for class, but to my surprise, it turned out to be one of the best books I have ever read! I even recommended it to a friend recently. All aspiring journalists will be even more motivated to get out into the field once they have read this book!

This book is a gem. Once I picked it up, I could not put it down. I even had to rush to the bookstore to pick up Never Let Them See You Cry. This woman has a refreshing tell-it-like-is tone. A truly wonderful book about one of America's most colorful cities.

If you really want to get a feeling for Miami, read this true crime book along with a standard tour guide. Edna Buchanan is as good as anybody in this genre; her love of the city, warts and all, shines through everyone of these gripping pages.

This was my second introduction to Edna Buchanan's great reporting skill and her method of explaining the journalism field in a way almost anyone could understand. As a journalist, I was already leaning toward police coverage, but Buchanan's books really made me hunger for more. I've always been fascinated about human evil and, as Buchanan puts it, how in humans, "the person most likely to kill you sits across the breakfast table from you." Domestic violence is such a killer, and too often ignored or seen as a small crime. But police officers, as Buchanan points out, often lose their lives the most at these calls. Excellent reporting and story-telling!