This thoroughly revised and updated text is about the circumstances in which people kill one another. Authored by renowned experts, it reviews homicide laws, introduces theories purporting to explain murder, and presents up-to-date statistical data identifying homicide patterns and trends. It covers topics ranging from domestic and workplace homicide to cult and hate killings; murder committed by juveniles to serial slayings. Finally, it examines criminal justice responses to homicide, including the strategies and tactics employed to apprehend, prosecute, and punish killers. Virtually every chapter in this edition has undergone significant revision. In particular, this edition reflects recent legislative changes and Supreme Court decisions, includes new case examples, and contains extensively expanded discussions of family and school homicide.