Simon Winchester's books are often driven by dramatic events: homicide, eruption, earthquake.
Big Brother still has a very stubborn rump of viewers (between 1.8 and 2 million since the 10th series began on 4 June) and it is still possible that a dramatic twist – homicide, suicide, or swine flu sweeping the house – could make the numbers jump.
In Colombia the mayor of Cali, Dr Rodrigo Guerrero, developed an innovative data-led approach towards crime which saw a dramatic drop in homicide rates, from 80 per 100,000 in the 1990s to just 16 per 100,000 in 2012 in Bogota.
The public-security council said in a statement that Colombia's Medellin, in 49th place this year, has made the most dramatic drop in homicide rates — in 2010 it held the tenth spot on the list.
Despite a dramatic decline in homicides over the last ten years, homicide rate in Medellin, Colombia second largest city continues to rank among the highest of cities in Latin America.
The military approach to combating drug trafficking, the report said, "has led to a dramatic escalation of homicides in Mexico since 2007, making it the second-most deadly armed conflict in the world in 2015".
The trials begin at a fraught time for the city, as Baltimore has seen a dramatic spike in homicides this year, with 311 murders so far in 2015 100 more than the city saw in all of 2014.
We also briefly discuss a critical confounding factor, namely the dramatic increase in the homicide rate within the Mexican border states.
A report on drug violence issued this week by the University of San Diego's Justice in Mexico Project noted a dramatic decline last year in homicides in the border states of Chihuahua, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila, all crucial smuggling regions.
This strategy was responsible for the dramatic decline in Boston's homicide rate during the 1990s.
