Ordered a book about criminal (3,3)
I believe the answer is:
bad lot
'criminal' is the definition.
(bad lot can mean a criminal person)
'ordered a book about' is the wordplay.
'ordered' becomes 'told' ('tell' can be a synonym of 'order').
'book' becomes 'b' (abbreviation for book).
'about' shows that the letters should be reversed in order.
'told'+'a'+'b'='toldab'
'toldab' in reverse letter order is 'BAD LOT'.
(Other definitions for bad lot that I've seen before include "Disreputable person" , "Crook" , "Person of depraved character" , "rubbish at auction?" , "Thoroughly unreliable person" .)