The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes - Softcover

Anyone can summarize a collection of cases, but not everyone can make them read well. With a flair for compressed narrative worthy of a good short story writer, Colin Evans entertains and instructs the reader with 100 cases that exemplify the use of 15 different forensic techniques (ballistics, fingerprinting). Some (like the Lindbergh case) are famous, others are barely known, yet each has some unique twist that sets it apart. Many "firsts" are included, such as the first murder conviction without a body, the first use of psychological profiling, and the first use of DNA typing. Evans also brings out the distinct (often flamboyant) personalities of the pioneering experts of forensics and some of their more notable courtroom theatrics. Each case is labeled by name of criminal, forensic technique, date, location, and significant feature(s), making this a useful reference as well as a fun book to read.

This fascinating book describes the development of forensics from the nineteenth century to the present. Cases are classified by 15 forensic types then arranged chronologically. Features riveting stories of how forensic experts were able to identify a person with only one one thousandth of her body parts, the dramatic tale of how a psychological profile helped catch a dangerous criminal who drank his victim's blood, and numerous more narratives of how science triumphed to bring the guilty to justice and free the innocent.