Criminal law science is inextricably linked with fiction. Like the art of words, it strives to comprehend the philosophy of life, the nature of man, the motivation of his actions. People, interacting, enter into different relationships - family, work, friendship, neighbors... They seek justice or power, help or take revenge, harm or support, crave protection of rights or retribution. Peering into the scenes of life, the master of words tries to portray the criminal and his act psychologically accurately. His pen creates a picture of a crime, identifying the motives of people’s actions in certain situations, often unfamiliar to a lawyer in real life, but nevertheless plausible and quite possible. A writer’s assessment of characters and relationships is important for understanding the mores of society. That is why literature becomes an invaluable source of knowledge of the complex inner world of a person who decides to commit a crime or commits it in a state of passion. The author turns to primary sources - the pages of his book contain quotes and entire excerpts from works that make up the golden fund of world literature. The publication analyzes the motives of human criminal behavior throughout the existence of the book - from Homer’s Iliad to the latest works of Coelho and Suskind. This is the idea of this interesting book, certainly useful and necessary for everyone associated with criminal law science or practice.