Forensic psychologist Paul Britton can 'walk through the minds' of those who murder, rape, torture, extort and kidnap. He can see the world through their eyes and know what they're thinking. That's why the police have called him into so many high-profile criminal investigations and help them catch who is responsible.

From top-security prisons and mental hospitals to ordinary outpatients' clinics, he has interviewed, assessed and treated people who were damaged or broken. Some were responsible for terrible crimes; others were stopped before it was too late. But the answers weren't always hidden at bloody crime scenes or in post-mortem photographs. Instead, they are mostly buried within someone's mind or deep in their past.

How does he find the truth? In Picking Up the Pieces, Britton reveals the psychological and forensic foundations on which he has based his expertise. It is a remarkable, enlightening and, at times terrifying, journey into the dark recesses of that complex organism we call the human mind.