When most people think of an FBI investigation, they picture fingerprints, DNA, and physical evidence.
Those things certainly matter.
But for Behavioral Analysis Unit agents like Samantha Hayes, the investigation often begins somewhere else.
Behavior.
Every decision a person makes tells a story.
Where they choose to go.
How they interact with other people.
The routines they never seem to break.
The lies they tell.
Even the truths they choose to leave out.
Individually, those details may not seem important.
Together, they begin to reveal a pattern.
Behavioral profilers don’t rely on intuition or supernatural instincts. They observe. They compare. They ask why someone acted the way they did instead of simply focusing on what happened.
That’s one of the reasons I enjoy writing Samantha Hayes.
She’s rarely the loudest person in the room. She isn’t chasing dramatic moments or impossible clues. She’s paying attention to the subtle details everyone else dismisses.
A hesitation before an answer.
A reaction that doesn’t match the situation.
A routine that suddenly changes.
Those small moments often become the biggest breakthroughs.
As I researched A Killer in Shadow, I found myself continually fascinated by the psychology behind criminal investigations. Understanding why someone behaves a certain way can sometimes be just as important as discovering what they did.
It’s a reminder that people are constantly revealing themselves.
The challenge is simply learning how to notice.