Exploring the Mind of a Forensic Psychiatrist Guilty by Reason of Insanity: A Psychiatrist Explores the Minds of Killers provides not only a perspective on the inner thoughts of killers but also the psychiatrists who study them. Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis MD writes about her experiences with serial killers and assassins, such as Ted Bundy and Mark David Chapman in an informal manner that puts the reader more into her mind than that of the killers. The cases depicted in this book are those in which Dr. Lewis collaborated with Dr. Jonathan Pincus, a neurologist. This book is not written in clinical terms in any way but rather with a compassionate tone and a style resembling that of a novel. The narratives vary from a detailed description of Dr. Lewis' first interview with a violent criminal in which she describes his paranoid misperceptions, to those describing the others which describe the progression of her involvement in the study of killers and the changes in her perspectives in analyzing them. 

     The book includes analyses of both prisoners on death row and patients in Bellevue hospital. Case studies include those of killers with Multiple Personality Disorder to those who committed inexplicable atrocities are explained in depth as results of the backgrounds of the killers: motives and how killers choose their victims in relationship to the killers' bizzare histories are also shown. When concluding an interview with an executioner is included. The death penalty is shown in a different light, not only as a consequence to a crime but a continuation of the psychiatric histories of the killers. The reactions of the serial killers to their impending executions are shown as being very different from what would be expected. After reading this book a person's perspective on not only criminals but also how they are treated, and especially their views on capital punishment will change forever.