For this blog post, I wanted to focus on the deduction process of a detective. I came across an article called, "How to Think Like a Detective" by Ivar Fashing and in this article, he breaks down the important steps of thinking like a detective. I found it very interesting, and it really broke down the steps or tactics to how a detective approaches a crime scene. The very first step really reminded me of Sherlock Holmes: Assume nothing and find out what you really know. To ignore your automatic assumptions is harder than it seems, but if you really want to know what happened it is essential to slow down and actually double-check what you know with what you assume has happened. Nothing will get you into trouble faster than jumping to conclusions and missing the important evidence that will explain what actually happened. One of my favorite quotes of Sherlock Holmes is "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Thinking like a detective doesn't happen overnight either. It takes practice and work to resist your quick reactions and dig deeper to the real cause of what happened. Another aspect of thinking like a detective is listening. Listening doesn't seem like it would be at the top of any detective's list, however, being a good listener can be the key to uncovering key pieces of evidence. Listening to what people say or, more importantly, what they don't say can tell give you information about what happened. Taking notice of what people say can give you clues about their emotions and their state of mind.  So, if you really want to think like a detective, then slow down and listen because the key to the case might be hiding in the most obvious place. 
Until next time...

For this post, I wanted to do a quick update on my Goodreads Book Challenge. I had set a goal to read 15 books this year, and so far, I'm at 12. Not sure if I can get those last three read this month...but I still have some time. I think my favorite book of the 12 was "The Pelican Brief" and the worst was "November 9" by Colleen Hoover. "Fatal Choice" by Mia Gold was pretty good and "Betrayed" by Lisa Scottoline was also a good read.  I'm starting The Testament by John Grisham right now, so that still leaves two books. Not sure what two books I'll finish up with....but I'll hopefully come up with something soon. I think reading 15 books was a bit too ambitious with everything else I have on my plate. I think the best thing about this reading challenge is that it's really kept me reading, even when I have so many other things to do, I still make time to do some reading. Anyway, that's my quick update on the reading challenge and now I have to go and check more things off my Christmas list.
Until next time..