SEX, RACE, ALCOHOL, PREVIOUS ARREST RECORDS, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL FRUSTRATIONS BORN OUT OF CONDITIONS IN THE HOME ENVIRONMENT ARE EXAMINED AS PRECIPITANTS AND ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS OF HOMICIDE. TWO ARTICLES EXPLORE THE VICTIM-OFFENDER RELATIONSHIP AND VICTIM-PRECIPITATED HOMICIDE. INDIVIDUAL REPORTS ANALYZE THE SOCIOPATHIC MURDERER, THE MASS MURDERER, AND THOSE WHOSE CRIME IS CHARACTERIZED BY SEVERE MENTAL DISTURBANCE, UNEXPECTED SUDDENNESS, OR SUBSEQUENT SUICIDE. CROSS-CULTURAL EVIDENCE OF SIMILARITIES OR PATTERNS OF HOMICIDE IS PROVIDED BY ARTICLES ON MURDER IN ENGLAND, AFRICA, AND CEYLON. THE BOOK CONCLUDES WITH TWO THEORETICAL PROPOSITIONS FOR THE CAUSE OF HOMICIDE. ONE OF THESE STRESSES THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE OFFENDER, WHILE THE OTHER DEMONSTRATES THE PROCLIVITIES TO VIOLENCE OF CERTAIN CULTURALLY ISOLATED SUBCULTURES.