Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime by Val McDermid

Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime Reviews

• 
  Mariah Roze

  This book was fantastic! It really dove into my obsession with true crime and taught me all about the different types of forensics science, which is something I knew very little about. Also, it did it an enjoyable, not textbook, way. It was lead by constant examples and crimes that have happened to teach about each form of forensics science. It also talked about how it has developed and changed over the years.
  
  
  I highly suggest this book to anyone that enjoys true crime!
• 
  Barbara

  
  
  
  Val McDermid
  
  In "Forensics" popular mystery writer Val McDermid outlines the development of modern forensics (scientific analysis of evidence) - a discipline that has literally made it much harder to 'get away with murder.' Rudimentary forensic investigations began long ago: a Chinese coroner's handbook from the 1200s records the story of a murderer caught when flies were attracted to traces of blood on his scythe. Nevertheless, it's likely that many criminals went undiscovered before modern investigative techniques were formulated.
  
  
  
  
  
  Each section of the book covers a different topic related to criminal investigations such as: the crime scene, fire, insects, pathology, poisons, blood spatter, fingerprints, DNA, bullet markings, and so on. A brief review can't cover the wide array of subjects addressed in the book but I'll give a few examples to provide a 'taste' of the material.
  
  Crime Scene:Modern cameras/photography techniques can record a crime scene in 3-D. Thus experts can determine where a shooter was standing, the trajectory of the bullet(s), how the victim fell, how the blood sprayed, and so on. And the photos can help a jury visualize the crime.
  
  
  
  
  
  Arson: Additives in accelerants can be used to learn where the fuel was obtained and microbes (diatoms) in the the match heads can be used to trace the matches. One anecdote in this section was distressing: A fire in Ireland's 'Stardust' nightclub in 1981 caused many deaths and injuries because the club owner had locked or blocked most of the fire exits. Arson experts found that the owner didn't start the fire (it was apparently electrical) but he clearly caused the mass carnage. Still, the owner wasn't held legally responsible and even got a big insurance settlement. (I hope Ireland has changed some laws since then.)
  
  
  Stardust Disco
  
  
  Fire inside the disco
  
  
  Firefighters at the disco
  
  
  Aftermath of the disco fire
  
  Insects: Different kinds of insects attack a dead body in a specific order - so the bug population on a corpse can help determine the time of death. Moreover, the insects consuming the corpse can be ground up and analysed for poisons that were in the body. That's a 'twofer.' 🙂
  
  
  
  
  Insect life cycle
  
  
  Flies and maggots on a corpse
  
  
  Decomposition is sped up by insects
  
  
  Forensic scientist observing insects
  
  Pathology: Medical examiners study the body to determine cause of death. Stab wounds can help identify the murder weapon; contaminated body parts can reveal poisons; bullets can point to the gun used; etc. If the knife is sticking out of the victim, of course, that's a huge clue.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Blood spatter: One expert McDermid interviewed noted that she needed to study the entire crime scene in detail to make sense of the blood splatter evidence. She didn't like detectives telling her 'just look at that section of wall beside the victim'... because tiny drops of blood can spray far and wide.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Poisons: Arsenic and other poisons were apparently the murder weapon of choice for royalty (as well as the common folk) for centuries - since there was no way to prove that corpses contained toxins. Once scientists learned how to test for toxins, however, poisoners were regularly caught. Nevertheless it's daunting to think how many people got away with murder over the course of history.
  
  
  
  
  
  DNA: This is the 'gold standard' of forensic analysis. If someone's DNA is on/in the victim or at the crime scene that person was almost certainly there. This isn't always 100% accurate though, because of human error. McDermid relates an anecdote about a lab tech who used an improperly cleaned tray (someone's saliva was already on it) to analyze DNA...so the spitter was initally accused. Another possible problem here is deliberate contamination of the crime scene by the perp. (Some murder mysteries I've read use this plot device. The perp brings a condom with someone else's sperm and sprinkles it on the victim.)
  
  
  
  
  
  I was reassured though, when one forensic expert noted that it would be almost impossible for a perp to purposely plant evidence/set up a crime scene to implicate someone else. The analyst noted that the perp would tend to overdo it or do it wrong. For example: leave too much blood; leave the wrong pattern of blood; plant too many glass shards; put evidence in the wrong places; and so on.
  
  At the end of the book I was dismayed to read that attorneys (usually on the defense side) routinely try to intimidate/manipulate expert witnesses to spin things in a certain direction rather than to discover the truth. In some ways vigorous cross-examination is good: One section of the book tells the story of an 'expert witness' physician who insisted that - if several children in a family succumbed to crib death - the parents were definitely murderers. In one afflicted family, crib death turned out to be a genetic predisposition - but the mom, wrongly imprisoned then exonerated, committed suicide. And the 'expert doctor' had his license revoked. Still, I would wish the facts could be brought out without 'politics'.
  
  
  
  
  
  This is a fascinating book, highly recommended - especially to readers interested in true crime.
  
  You can follow my reviews at
  https://reviewsbybarbsaffer.blogspot....
• 
  Jim

  I've never read a mystery by McDermid, but am quite impressed by this nonfiction book. She did a great job putting forth the basics of each branch of forensics, its history, examples of cases in which it was used, & - perhaps best of all - why & when it isn't used due to cost. She also pointed out a lot of problems with some of the tests. Most of her examples are based in the UK, but some lead to Europe & the US. She also mentions historical examples from around the world.
  
  I don't recall her actually saying it directly, but overall forensic science really began in the mid 1800s & generally trailed the scientific revolution since the public (juries, lawyers, police, & judges) had to accept it first. She brought up several notable cases where bad science caused horrific miscarriages of justice & where new science wasn't believed, so let the guilty walk. I didn't keep a running review of this unfortunately, so I'm just going to toss in whatever highlights I remember.
  
  Table of Contents:
  The crime scene isn't just the room where a crime was committed, but could well be half a dozen scattered along a get-away route. Sensitivity of tests has made them so fragile in many ways. Digital pictures/videos have really helped to preserve them, but at least one investigator still likes to sketch them since it helps her see them better.
  
  Fire scene investigation was basic & OK, but missed a lot of the more interesting points I read about in "Trial by fire" on of the articles in
  The Devil & Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness & Obsession. The upshot of both is that fire is often used to hide crimes, but it isn't as certain as it once was.
  
  Entomology bugs are often used to narrow down when a murder occurred & sometimes even the area.
  
  Pathology is checking out the body for causes of death. It's come a long way & some of the experiments that increased our knowledge are as gruesome as the murders themselves. Some are surprisingly old. It can also refer to the murderer, an area where some gross miscarriages of justice have occurred. Phrenology & other bad sciences of that sort had their day in the courtroom, convicting people on their looks. On the flip side, the vein patterns in an arm were unique, but there wasn't enough evidence for that yet, so the guilty walked free.
  
  Toxicology was mostly about poison, a favorite in the past & sometimes still hard to detect. She went over several arsenic cases & the difficulties they had in early days as they found out that time, soil, & other factors could change the amounts. This set some of the rules that are used on other poisons. After all, anything can be a poison in the right amount.
  
  Fingerprinting surprised me. I thought it was far more of a science than it really is, an impression left by so many TV shows & books. In reality, partials & distortions make it more of an art in which the expert's prejudices can tip the scales.
  
  Blood spatter and DNA is really 3 different subjects.
  - The patterns & shapes of the blood droplets themselves: In 1895, Eduard Piotrowski from the University of Krakow published a study that involved covering one corner of room with white sheets and studying the blood patterns that appeared as he beat rabbits to death. (I warned you above!)
  
  http://www.forensicscolleges.com/blog...
  - DNA is well known now & has come a long way since it was discovered about 1983. While Sir Alec Jefferies came up with it, Kary Mullis made it really useful with the PCR technique that can replicate portions from infinitesimal bits to usable portions for testing. The biggest issues with it are cross contamination. Innocent people can & have been accused when this was relied on too heavily since such a tiny amount is needed - less than 1/1,000,000th the size of a grain of salt. I had no idea they could generate a DNA profile so quickly now.
  - Tiny quantities tie these two together. Tests for blood & DNA have gotten so sensitive that now spatter can be found that used to be completely invisible. That's so sensitive that it can only be a guide since even casual, inadvertent contact can leave traces.
  
  Anthropology was an OK section, but I've read several other books that went into far more detail & were far more interesting.
  Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist &
  Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales are two examples.
  
  Facial reconstruction was interesting & it seems as if Angela on the TV show "Bones" does it right. There was an interesting discussion on the history of this, where it's at now with digital help, but most especially for what they can't know & how they get around it. For instance, there may be no hair or the person could be of mixed race, so length & color of hair as well as skin tones might not be known.
  
  Digital forensics was not her best section. She hit some of the high points, but I noticed a couple of things that I thought were misleading. (Win95 opening up the WWW?) Well, it's a complicated subject & at least she didn't bog down.
  
  Forensic psychology is about serial killers & insanity. Interesting. She also mentions the genetics of criminality which was a great way to point out the fine lines between the cop & the criminal as well as nature versus nurture.
  
  The courtroom was mentioned throughout the book since it is the test for every branch of forensic science, but here she summed a lot of it up & brought up some great comparisons between various 'justice' systems. For instance, the UK now allows a person to be retried for the same crime if a lot of new evidence comes to light while the US doesn't. More important is the economics. Not just OJ Simpson beating the system with a charismatic lawyer & millions spent on 'experts', although she goes into that fairly well, but also when & how some tests can be done which can change the entire narrative. Budgets are often limited & a preponderance of evidence or the prejudices of the investigators all can change which tests are done. This is why 4% of the people on Death Row in the US have been found to be not guilty on appeal.
  
  Other points made throughout the book:
  - Time: While she makes a lot of comparisons to the US CSI TV show, she doesn't point out how they focus on a case & solve them so quickly. Most of the examples she gives take months or even decades before a person is charged.
  - The Narrative or Entirety of Evidence: Relying too much on any one test, no matter how accurate, is a mistake. All evidence has to be interpreted within the framework of the crime & against other evidence. A palm print on a window frame looks damning until other evidence shows it was coincidental.
  - Priorities She mentions that murder & rape are priority cases in the UK. The latter is not in the US, unfortunately. Not long ago, I read several news reports about Kentucky dealing with their backlog of untested rape kits:
  
  http://www.endthebacklog.org/kentucky
  That's a travesty, but we're not alone in that & it varies by crime.
  - Charisma, prejudices, & common sense: Showmanship has won over many juries. Ugly people have been convicted on their looks. Again, evidence must be evaluated as part of the entire tapestry of the crime.
  
  Overall, this was a great overview of the field & the processes, surprisingly so given the complexity & size of the subject. It is a good place to start & there is a lot to think about between the lines, too. I highly recommend it to all.
• 
  David Rubenstein

  I greatly enjoyed this book much more than I expected! I learned so much about the clues that forensic scientists use to unravel crimes. It covers so many subjects; fingerprinting, blood traces, DNA sampling, poisons, face reconstruction, digital forensics, and insects. Insects?? Yes, this is a very useful area for investigating conditions and time of death, although it is very controversial.
  
  The most interesting aspect of this book is that there are no black-and-white, hard-and-fast rules. Every forensic conclusion can be stained with doubt. Science progresses, and the conclusions based on evidence can evolve over time, along with science. And, no single test is ever conclusive evidence of guilt. But it is wonderful to see how the scientific method can be objectively applied to prove the guilt or innocence of a defendant.
  
  The book is extremely readable, and well organized. Even subject areas that I did not anticipate enjoying, turned out to be fascinating.
  
  But I didn't read this book; I listened to the audiobook. Sarah Barron has a strong Scottish accent, a first among all the audiobooks I have tried. Her voice is a little on the soft side, but her understated tone is quite pleasant.
• 
  Carol

  My sincere appreciation to Grove Press and Edelweiss for providing the e-galley of Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime due to be published June 8, 2015.
  
  Scottish author, Val McDermid, may be best known for her gritty crime fiction. Her latest work, Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime seems a perfect match. As a fan of fiction thrillers, crime fiction and true crime, I was hooked from the get-go. If you think there's too much information here the set up with chapters that cover each field of forensic science would allow you to dip in an out of your favored area of interest.
  
  Beginning with Frenchman Edmond Locard known as the Sherlock Holmes of France who opened the world's first crime investigation laboratory in 1910, McDermid is off and running. There's a lot of ground to cover before and after this. Even the general public is more aware of what forensics can bring to the plate in an investigation. McDermid does caution us:
  
  "We've seen enough crime scenes processed on TV. We all think we know how it's done; the white-coated professionals painstakingly photographing, bagging and preserving vital evidence. But what is the reality? What do CSI's really do?"
  
  She goes on to tell us even citing cases where criminal and victims have used tricks they've seen on TV to skew an investigation.
  
  Perhaps its McDermott’s career in the crime-writing field that prompts her to cite several books featuring the topics discussed. I have many new titles to add to my list. She highlights the careers of many known and some unknown forensic scientists and takes us to both the shores of the UK and the US in the cases mentioned.
  
  McDermid gives me hope that the DNA testing backlog in our country will soon be a thing of the past.
  
  "At the moment analyzing the minute quantities of DNA usually found at a crime scenes takes quite a bit longer than an hour and a half, but 'the time will definitely come, and it won’t be the far away, when you’ll be able to identify a suspect, and not only identify them but potentially go around to their address before they have fenced off all the gear that they've just stolen. It could then be returned to people, things of sentimental value and so on. The potential to do this really, really quickly is not that far away. It's not going to be long' Let the burglar beware."
  
  
  There is much to be discovered here, some new ground for me such as A Virtual Autopsy . She leaves us with this thought:
  
  "The methods of science and justice have much in common. Both attempt to shine a clarifying light on obscurity and uncertainty. At best, their core aims match, too, as they try to go beyond assumption and arrive at the truth though demonstrable facts. Yet because forensic science is made up of so many human layers - criminals, eyewitnesses, police officers, CSIs, scientists, lawyers, judges, juries - it cannot avoid either missing or misrepresenting the truth at times. The stakes are always high; life and liberty depend on it."
  
  Fire Scene Investigation, Entomology, Pathology, Toxicology, Fingerprinting, Blood Spatter and DNA, Anthropology, Facial Reconstruction, Digital Forensics, Forensic Psychology, The Crime Scene and Courtroom, it is all considered. Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime is a must read for true crime lovers as well as those interested in the science which supports it. It is a fascinating blend of case study, history and the varying subdivision of the methodology.
  
• 
  Raven

  I confess to not being a huge fan of true crime accounts per se, but with the dual temptations of Val McDermid- one of the UK’s premier crime novelists- and a real behind the scenes look at the craft of forensic science, I couldn’t resist a look at this one. What unfolds is a fascinating and wonderfully readable look at a wide range of forensic practices and case histories that sheds light on the skill and intuition of crime scene investigators, underscored by the fluid and entertaining style of McDermid’s writing.
  
  The books charts over 200 years of developments in forensic techniques, using a combination of familiar crimes like the Ripper case, but whirling backwards and forwards through time, to provide a view into more recent crimes and atrocities like the Madrid train bombings. Equally, a familiar institution like The Body Farm in America is set against the ground-breaking techniques that are occurring day in and day out by less well known forensic laboratories, so adding heightened points of interest and discovery for the reader. Broken down into specific areas of interest in each chapter, this format allows the reader to skip back and forth easily, and I found this very useful, reading this alongside fiction. The chapters cover a wide breadth of subjects; fire scene investigation, entomology, pathology, toxicology, fingerprinting, blood spatter, DNA, anthropology, facial reconstruction, digital forensics, forensic psychology and finally how these techniques are drawn on during the final legal process to gain a conviction. The language is uncomplicated, but never patronising, and I would say that this book would hold a wide appeal, not only for those employed in, or studying the field of forensic science, but also eminently suitable for writers and readers such as myself with an interest in the subject, but no advanced knowledge of this field. Bolstering McDermid’s presentation of the subject matter, there are also some insights into her own personal experiences of gathering the material for the book, and some nice personal touches to the overall narrative. If like me you are rather jaded by the celluloid representations of the CSI field, with their showy camera tricks and lip glossed forensic investigators, there is much to be gleaned from this well-researched and highly readable account of this crucial area of crime detection. Although McDermid does incorporate some cultural references to crime on screen, for the most part, the book centres on the real day to day job of forensic investigators and the difficult, and at times, laborious reality of their investigations.
  
  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this, and having read many, many fictional crime books presenting assorted medical examiners and forensic officers, it was a rewarding and refreshing insight into those who do this for real. I learnt some things that I didn’t know before, but equally enjoyed McDermid’s representation of the more familiar cases and developments through the years. An entertaining and enlightening read for professionals and laymen alike.
  
• 
  Emma

  I'm going to have to stop this Audible version as the narrator is driving me crazy: I love that they chose a speaker with a Scottish accent to connect with the author, but why does she have to do awful impressions of other accents when reading speech within the book. There are quite a few experts quoted from northern parts of England and she puts on these weird approximations of that person's accent and speaks in this funny stilted tone, always deep for a man and high for a woman. I can't take it any more.
  
  This is no reflection on the quality of the book, just avoid the audio.
• 
  Becky

  This was fantastic and informative and interesting, and I really enjoyed it. I've only read one of Val McDermid's books,
  The Mermaids Singing, which I thought was borderline incredible, and it's easy to see why she is as capable as she is of writing that kind of profiling police procedural story. She takes this subject very seriously.
  
  This book covers a lot of the different types of science and technology and just pure experience that aids forensic investigators in their work, as well as the history of forensics as a whole. Some very high-profile cases are referenced in this book, everything from Jack the Ripper to O.J. Simpson, and the forensics that played a role in the investigation is highlighted. I found it all fascinating.
  
  I think I would actually want to purchase this book in print and re-read it though, because I found the audiobook narration distracting. The reader, Sarah Barron, is Scottish (as Val McDermid is) and that's fine, after about an hour, I had no issues with her accent or style, and in fact I found her to have a lovely voice. Where I DID have an issue was when it came to how she voiced other people she was quoting, specifically Americans.
  
  UGH. It was like the only American accents she'd ever heard were from the movies "Clueless" or "Gone with the Wind". The American accents she did were AWFUL. Flat and nasally, but also drawn out, and just in all, over-exaggerated to the point of being a caricature. I do not recommend the audiobook for this reason. If she had just read the quotes in her own voice and style, it would have been perfectly fine, but trying to imitate the speaker ruined it.
  
  Still, the info being provided was really well researched and super interesting, and it's something that, maybe in another life, I'd have wanted to do. Now I'm old and have no interest in starting over, so I'll just live vicariously through books and TV.
  
  Coincidentally, I was watching Youtube the other day and stumbled across this video, which has a real-life forensic investigator commenting on how TV shows portray their field, and often get it very wrong. It's interesting, and kinda funny, so if you're curious but don't want to invest in a whole book on the topic, you could start here:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHTz6...
  
  I really can't recommend this book highly enough. It is fascinating and really gives the reader a much better understanding of the science and PROCESS behind forensics. Don't get me wrong, I love me some Criminal Minds, but even before reading this book I knew that show (and others like it) wasn't realistic. Still, it's some good watchin', especially if you want to develop a nice case of I AIN'T NEVER LEAVING MY HOUSE AGAIN.
  
  :D
• 
  Barbara K.

  When commenting in the past on the different types of true crime books, I neglected to mention the increasing number of books on the methodology of crime detection. Last year I read the excellent
  The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, a detailed exploration of the work of two NYC scientists who in the 1920's developed reliable techniques for the detection of a broad variety poisons.
  
  In
  Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime, Val McDermid credits these two, Norris and Gettler, for a giant move forward in the field of forensic toxicology. Her book is much broader in scope but no less fascinating, and equally respectful of the scientists who work in the fields of fire scene analysis, entomology, toxicology, fingerprinting, blood splatter analysis, DNA, anthropology, facial reconstruction, digital forensics, forensic psychology, as well as the courtroom issues confronted by all forensic expert witnesses.
  
  Her approach is balanced, presenting not only the successes of various techniques, but the ways in which they have failed, whether because the science is faulty or the results are misinterpreted or misused. Like many people, I've become familiar with these specialties from watching television or reading crime novels (including those of McDermid), and it was interesting to learn the extent to which the interpretations I've seen are realistic. It seems that the work of TV entomologists really does parallel the real thing, but that working from partial fingerprints is a far less reliable tool.
  
  McDermid avoids the trap that is so often faced by both fictional and real forensic scientists - becoming so caught up in technical detail that the reader (or the jury!) tunes out. The technical details are there in the book, but there are enough examples, centuries old or cutting edge, that it is never boring.
  
  An entertaining read, setting me up nicely for the newest Karen Pirie novel by McDermid.
  
• 
  Left Coast Justin

  Val McDermid is a highly-regarded crime fiction sriter whose novels I have never read. Here, she pays homage to the folks who worked out the various technologies used to catch bad guys. It's a nice gesture -- a lot of what she's learned here has made it into her novels, in one form or another.
  
  She may be a great novelist, but as a writer of nonfiction, I found this rather uninspired. If you want a solid understanding of the basics of forensic evidence gathering, interpretation, admissability and pitfalls, this is a great place to start. If you want to be on the edge of your chair, or laughing yourself silly, or moved to tears, look elsewhere. This is a more-or-less straightforward recitation of facts. Lots of them. This is reflected in my rating, which means: It was pretty much what I expected, and I enjoyed reading it and learned a lot.
  
  I've been spoiled by reading some great science writers like James Shreeve, John McPhee and Sara Everts. It's apparently quite a difficult thing to do well.
• 
  Sandy

  3.5 stars
  
  A really interesting in-depth look at how fields of forensic investigation have progressed. The author uses many examples of real life cases that were cracked because of information developed by crime scene techs. Although she does a good job of explaining the science in layman's terms, I'd recommend this only for those with a very keen interest as it can be quite dry at times.
  My favourite sections were historical cases from the 19th century when the science was in its infancy & radical discoveries were just beginning to be accepted by cops & courts alike. Some really fascinating characters in those stories including some well known & infamous killers. It's a relatively short read & chapters are used to separate the different fields (DNA, fingerprints, blood spatter, fire investigation, etc.) so you can pick & choose those of particular interest.
• 
  Julie

  I am working on reading books that have been on my to-read list the longest. I placed this one on my list on November 3, 2015. I am so glad I have finally read it, as it was truly fascinating.
  
  I am very familiar with Val McDermid's fiction, as she is one of my favorite authors. I would describe them as being on the dark side with an authentic realism. This non-fiction book on forensics is not for the faint-of-heart. Some of the details of what one human will do to another truly made me feel ill and the stories of murdered family members are truly heart-rending.
  
  However, I found hope in the amazing dedication of the scientists and investigators who work relentlessly in some of the most inhospitable environments, or spend hours on developing techniques and experiments. They share the same goal, to uncover the truth and catch the actual perpetrator(s).
• 
  Bettie

  
  Bettie's Books
• 
  Maxine (Booklover Catlady)

  This is THE book on Forensics. Honestly - if this interests you for any reason whatsoever, grab this book! This book has been gold for me as an author and if you write crime or anything involving the need for forensic science this book will give you so many facts that are not only accurate but fascinating!
  
  I never knew that reading about maggots and the life cycle of a fly, types of flies and how that can tell you how long a corpse has been dead for could be so bloody exciting! (Don't eat whilst reading this book!). No boring bits in this factual book!
  
  It's written in a very easy format, it's not boring textbook style, Val has applied her brilliant creative writing skills to make this non-fiction book as exciting as her novels. I have not read anything else as substantial, thorough or interesting as this book. It's a must-have for any crime fan, police procedural follower, forensics follower or passionate writer. A book I will refer back to over and over again for my book research and desire to get my details spot on accurate in my writing.
  
  5 whopping big stars, I just can't rave enough about this book. You will love it! A firm favourite on my bookshelf.
  
  I would love to connect with other book lovers on social media. You can find me online as a Reviewer/Publicist and as my alter-ego Author, Maxine Grey.
  
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• 
  Paul

  Modern criminal convictions are now reliant on the work of the forensic scientist. Carefully analysis of a scene can reveal secrets of what happened, sometimes from beyond the grave. A single hair, or a speck of blood on a coat can reveal so much information about the last moments of someone’s life and allow close and justice. McDermid is best know for her gritty crime fiction, but in this book she is talking with the experts and recalling the origins of all types of forensic science. There are interesting chapters on DNA and blood splatter, extracting details from the scene of a fire, the history of fingerprints and how they are still used in modern crime investigations and how anthropology and facial reconstruction can bring the people alive once again.
  
  McDermid has blended fairly well the history of forensics and early developments along with the more exacting modern day techniques. It is a reasonably accessible book, not too challenging scientifically, with a good narrative all the way through. It is a bit gory at times, not exactly the best thing to read when eating your lunch, and there are a reasonable number of photographs and illustrations to enhance the text. The final chapter on the actual trial is quite an eye opener, as she gets the experts to describe the way that they are treated in the adversarial battleground that is the modern court room. Overall worth reading I thought.
• 
  Max

  In 1910 Edmond Locard opened the world’s first crime investigation laboratory in France. Before the advent of forensics serial killers blithely practiced their trade as McDermid eerily recounts. I was reminded of Erik Larson’s account in The Devil in the White City of an 1890’s serial killer in Chicago. At that time not only were forensics lacking but typically any interest by the police in missing persons. Even if the police were interested, without cell phone towers, security cameras, databases, etc., the average person left few records of their movements. Given lifestyles back then, a missing person might not be missed for some time or perhaps not at all and a perpetrator’s movements similarly could not be easily traced.
  
  Forensics employing modern technology changed everything. McDermid reviews pathology, fingerprinting, DNA analysis, psychological analysis and profiling, digital devices and media analysis, identification of bones and facial reconstruction, body decomposition analysis and even analysis of insect infestation of corpses. (Experts can estimate the time of death based on which insects are present.) McDermid traces the history of the development of each area of forensics, filling in generously with examples of notable crimes that helped establish each discipline. She illustrates how each element of forensics has been used and misused to find and identify criminals. Along the way we meet a litany of murderers and rapists, many of which inspired true crime books and fictional thrillers.
  
  McDermid shows us that the quality of forensic experts, their evidence and their analysis varies greatly. Perfectly useful evidence such as DNA can be contaminated leading to identification of the wrong person. We learn about the reliability of forensic evidence and the difference between a highly probable identification and a likely one. I always thought of fingerprint identification as absolute, but it rests on analysis and comparison by humans. Different experts can hold different opinions about whether fingerprints match. Any forensic analysis is done by people who may see what they are predisposed to find, just as juries look at complicated facts through the lens of their own knowledge, emotions and experience.
  
  Some forensic scientists connect well with juries, others not at all. McDermid points to British pathologist Bernard Spilsbury who from 1910 to the 1940’s mesmerized juries and established the importance of his discipline in solving crime. But his confident erudite manner and sterling reputation caused jurors to ignore opposing points of view. Subsequent to his suicide (he gassed himself in his own lab) in 1947 other experts questioned some of his opinions and the verdicts based on them. McDermid also depicts how lawyers use courtroom tactics to manipulate expert witness testimony and the interpretation of their findings.
  
  McDermid serves up an engaging read for those who would like to understand how forensic science came to be, its application and limitations. She gives us case after case of real world examples that make the book interesting and relevant. Those who worry about the fairness of the US and British adversarial court system will find much to be concerned about. While most of the science is quite solid; its practice, use and presentation are far more questionable. The author, a notable crime writer, has used many of the techniques and cases she discusses in her novels. For fans of the crime genre McDermid’s book should prove very worthwhile.
  
• 
  Caro the Helmet Lady

  This was very interesting, like one of those series Discovery channel makes about criminology and forensics, which are always too short for my tastes. This one was not. Chapters on different subjects (like criminal psychology, toxicology, crime scene reconstruction, entomology, dactyloscopy, skull reconstruction etc etc) were based on real life cases, some of them quite famous (Yorkshire Ripper), some of them less, but still very interesting. How easy and effective it all looks on CSI episodes and what a hard, dirty, stinky, time consuming and ungrateful job it is in real life we can easily forget. And how sometimes it takes years and decades to get to the truth before the new technique is discovered (DNA tracing, for example).
  
  It was sad to learn that roots of criminology started with thousands of poisoned dogs, when Mathieu Orfila was building the base for a modern toxicology in XIX century, together with dozens and dozens of rabbits whose skulls were crushed with hammer, when Edward Piotrowski studied the recognition of blood traces a couple of decades later. Human kind must survive, so we sacrifice other species. Sort of bloody ritual that never stops.
  
  Don't want to put it into gloomy philosophical tone, so here's a funny fact - while McDermid in general dropped a lot of names through the book and she actually mentioned the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit for quite a couple of times (there was a whole chapter about profiling), she never - not even once - mentioned John E. Douglas, the original "mindhunter". I'm not sure if it was on purpose or not, especially that his book was all "me, me, me" and that put off many readers.
  
  Loved the chapter on insects.
  
  Great book, I only wish the chapter about the courtroom stuff was a bit shorter. Some photos seemed a bit irrelevant, while I missed the photos on other cases.
• 
  Laura

  From BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week
  The dead talk. To the right listener, they tell us all about themselves: where they came from, who they are, how they lived, how they died - and who killed them. Through forensic medicine, a corpse, the scene of a crime or a single hair can reveal the secrets that hold the truth and allow justice to be done. But how much do we really understand about forensics? What is it like to be a SCO (Scene of Crime Operative)? Attend an autopsy? Where did it come from? How reliable are its proofs?
• 
  Namera [The Literary Invertebrate]

  ⤅ Nonfiction Book of the Month: February 2023
  
  I've never been a big fan of TV shows, so I have zero experience of those true-crime shows that are apparently the bane of forensic scientists the world over - shows like CSI, which apparently hugely exaggerate both the accuracy and speed of forensics. So it's good that McDermid, a crime fiction author, is here to set the record straight.
  
  In the book's 12 chapters, McDermid takes us through a variety of investigative sciences, from the usual ones like forensic pathology and entomology to digital forensics, toxicology, and fire scene investigation. Each chapter is informed by interviews with people in that field, and she interweaves true crime cases to demonstrate how the science works to solve them.
  
  All in all, the book's a compelling read. I wish there had been some more detail in a few of the chapters, such as the one on blood splatter analysis, but this is definitely a must-read for any true crime enthusiast.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Viola

  Patiešām saistoša lasāmviela tiem,kuri interesējas par konkrēto tēmu. Papildus teorētiskajam materiālam pievienoti arī reālo notikumu apraksti.
• 
  Wanda Pedersen

  I cancelled my cable TV years ago because I was making myself paranoid, watching way too many true crime stories. Plus, I had an unhealthy addiction to the show “Criminal Minds.” I’m pleased to report that I’m a much calmer person now that I’m not being inundated with this sort of entertainment. However, that former obsession with crime shows means that most of what McDermid writes in this non-fiction volume was not new to me, hence only a three star rating. If you are new to the world of forensic investigation, I think this would an excellent introduction.
  
  McDermid has obviously had to research this field to make her mystery novels ring true. And what better way to make that research pay off again but to write a non-fiction book about the subject! It was good to get a British POV on these matters. Here in Canada, we tend to be bombarded with American material, both in books and television, so many of the case studies were new to me.
  
  The author goes into just enough detail to make things comprehensible, without overloading the reader. The explanations are clear and easy to understand. I think it would make a good reference for jurors who are responsible for making decisions based on these methods.
  
• 
  Mystereity Reviews

  Forensics Only got about halfway through this one.  I've read a lot of the information elsewhere, and this book was poorly organized and rushed through the information and cases. 
   
  There are plenty of other books on forensics that are a lot better, many of which are named in the book as sources. I would recommend reading those instead of this book.
• 
  Елена Суббота

  Увлекательное чтение без воды и банальностей. Очень хорошо.
• 
  Rachel

  *3.5 stars*
  This book was really interesting, but I wasn't blown away. The writing itself was very average and each chapter was really formulaic, but the information was intriguing enough to keep me reading regardless. I wish it could have went into a little more depth into the subject of each chapter itself, and had a little less case examples. I'm glad we got real world examples, but the general information to case ratio was a bit more skewed than I would have hoped.
  
  Overall though an enjoyable read about one of my favorite topics, and something I hope to put my future in (forensic psychology specifically). So if you're interested in forensics I think this book would be a good place to start as the information isn't very in depth, and serves as a nice overview of the craft.
• 
  Kirsten

  As an addict of true crime in books AND tv, this book was wonderful. A primer as well as a history of the different techniques and technology of forensics, it was very well done. I knew many of the techniques found in this book but the real-life examples were fascinating. I also enjoyed looking at the UK slant on forensics, policing, and courts.
  
  I hope this will not be the last foray into non-fiction by McDermid.
• 
  Robyn

  For me and mine, this is the bible of forensics, but for some, it might not be as interesting or could seem dry. Val McDermid outlines the development of modern forensics, advancements of protocols, and how the court system has used and abused the idea of forensics.
  
  Interesting reading and clearly explained, the book leaves little to the imagination.
  
  5 stars
  
  Happy Reading!
• 
  Carly

  ~4.5
  

  “Murder is not a replicable experiment. Every one is unique.” --Val Tomlinson

  When I saw a book on forensics written by Val McDermid on Netgalley, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Given the talent for viscerally creepy psychological thrillers that McDermid has displayed in her Tony Hill novels, I was excited to see what she would make of nonfiction.
  
  Forensics is as riveting as I had anticipated. McDermid isn’t just a talented writer; she also does her research. In this book, she proves it. Each chapter discusses a different discipline of forensics: crime scene analysis, fire investigation, forensic entomology, pathology, toxicology, fingerprinting, blood spatter, DNA, anthropology, facial reconstruction, digital forensics, forensic psychology, and, last, the courtroom. Enlivened by interviews with experts and stories of individual cases, each chapter melds together the history of the discipline with modern-day practices, challenges, and triumphs.
  
  Even though I’m an inveterate reader of detective novels with a tendency to read nonfiction forensics books, I learned a ton from this book. For example, I didn’t know that the first book on forensic entomology, The Washing Away of Wrongs, was published in 1247 in China. I had no idea that the diatom composition in the remains of a match found at a fire scene can be used to identify the brand, or that 97% of fires in Scotland are investigated by people with less than a week of training in fire scene investigation, or that serial killers generally live within the triangle formed by their first three victims. Although I’d heard of Bernard Spilsbury, the charismatic and dogmatic pathologist who acted as an expert witness in over 200 trials, I had no idea that his evidence on Crippen (of the Brides-in-the-Bath fame) was conclusively proved to be false.
  
  While the facts are fascinating in their own right, the stories were even better. McDermid weaves individual cases into each chapter that serve to illuminate various themes. Even those I’d heard before, such as the history of fingerprints or the sordid tale of “inheritance powder” (a.k.a arsenic), McDermid’s style was sharp and vivid enough to hold my attention throughout. One of my favourite stories was the first case in which a bullet was forensically traced back to a specific gun: a lady summoned the Bow Street Runners to her house, where a robbery occurred and her butler was apparently wounded in the struggle with the burglar. Long story short, the butler actually did do it, and the gun told the tale. Or there’s the “Phantom of Heilbronn,” a mysterious, apparently supernaturally speedy serial killer whose DNA was found in a massive series of unconnected cases across Europe. (The DNA turned out to be from a woman at a cotton swab factory-- a lesson in using materials that weren’t certified for forensic use.)
  
  Throughout, McDermid emphasizes that forensics is more an art than a science, and that treating such evidence as infallible is terribly dangerous. McDermid goes into detail about the miscarriages of justice made by overconfident courtroom personalities like Spilsbury, and the self-fulfilling prophecy and stage-magic of early forensic psychology, and the potential political and racial pitfalls of familial DNA searches. Although she details the problems with the adversarial justice system, and the ways that attacks on the personalities of expert witnesses strain and even pervert the system, she sees it as crucial to the overall system. It’s not a perfect system--as one of McDermid’s interviewees, Fiona Raitt, said:

  "There is deep reluctance for governments to explore what juries do. It is probably too terrifying."

  It may be the best we have. Although each forensic discipline is imperfect, together they can be melded into a case that can withstand the pressure of the court to give us the closest thing to truth that we can obtain.
  
  If you’re looking for casual nonfiction, then I'd definitely recommend this as one of the most entertaining and informative books on forensics that I've ever read.
  
  ~~I received an advanced reader copy of this book through Netgalley from the publisher, Grove Atlantic, in exchange for my honest review.~~
  
  Cross-posted
  on BookLikes.
  
• 
  Shelleyrae at Book'd Out

  
  "The story of forensic science, of that road from crime scene to courtroom, is the stuff of thousands of crime novels."
  
  Val McDermid is the bestselling crime fiction author of more than thirty novels, including her popular series featuring criminal profiler Tony Hill and Detective Inspector Carol Jordan. In Forensics, Val McDermid pays homage to the science that informs her work.
  
  Drawing on interviews with leading forensic scientists about the history, practice and future of their varied disciplines, the latest research, and her own experiences, McDermid delves into the grimly fascinating anatomy of crime.
  
  In exploring a wide range of forensic disciplines; fire scene investigation, entomology, pathology, toxicology, fingerprinting, blood spatter, DNA, anthropology, facial reconstruction, digital forensics, and forensic psychology, McDermid illustrates the science with both historical and modern day landmark cases, from the fire that razed London in 1666, to the dozens of serial murders committed by Doctor Harold Shipman.
  
  The factual and scientific detail presented is easily accessible, clear, concise and not overly complex. I was fascinated to learn about the advances in DNA profiling for example, and the development of the science of entomology, first documented more than 750 years ago in a Chinese handbook for coroners called The Washing Away of Wrongs.
  
  McDermid also takes the time to dispel some popular myths given life by television shows such as CSI and Law and Order. Despite her admiration for the usefulness of forensic sciences, she is careful to explain that no forensic discipline is infallible, DNA can be contaminated, fingerprints can be misinterpreted, crime scenes can be manipulated. Solving crimes, and perhaps more importantly ensuring convictions, relies on thorough investigation along with a combination of forensic disciplines.
  
  Informative and entertaining, Forensics is an utterly engrossing read that should interest crime fiction readers, writers and anyone with interest in the field of forensics or law.
• 
  Barbara (The Bibliophage)

  Val McDermid covers exactly what’s in the subtitle for this book, and much more. The full title is Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime. Expect plenty about each sub-topic.
  
  In Forensics, she explains many (if not all) of the common ways forensic investigators focus their work. Some examine bugs, while others look at the way fires burn. Still others rebuild faces onto skulls, examine DNA found at the crime scene, or analyze contents of organs and bodily fluids.
  
  Sounds grisly or gruesome? Well, Forensics is exactly that. But it’s also fascinating. And, as I typically experience when reading true crime nonfiction, I questioned whether humans have any redeeming qualities. McDermid starts with the history of each method she discusses. Then she pulls in an expert. And the whole topic is tied together with real-life examples. She’s extremely thorough without ever being boring.
  
  My conclusions
  This book reminded me of the great crime novels I’ve read over the years. For example, like fictional
  Eve Duncan, McDermid introduced me to a facial reconstruction professional. Like
  Temperance Brennan, this book examines bones. Also like fictional
  Dexter, there’s a chapter on blood spatter. And as CSI's Gil Grissom did (okay, he’s from TV), I learned more about maggots and other bugs. Lately I’ve been wishing for more mystery and thriller action, and this gave me plenty on that score!
  
  I’ll admit, the various chapters could easily have been dead boring. (Sure, I meant to use that pun.) Instead, they were well-crafted and pedal-to-the-metal paced.
  
  What I didn’t know when I purchased this audiobook is that McDermid is a renowned mystery writer. She’s clearly done her research, and I’m now quite anxious to check out her books. I’ve already put one on hold at the library.
  
  This is a top-notch nonfiction pick if you like forensic and crime procedurals. Be prepared for a lot of “ewwww” moments. It’s not for the weak-stomached or sensitive reader.
  
  For more reviews about
  science and
  medicine, visit my book blog,
  TheBibliophage.com.
• 
  Dana Stabenow

  Val McDermid is of course that well known crime fiction author of the same name, and this book is a brisk, crisp narrative interspersed with harrowing, you-are-there crime scenes, fascinating details, heartrending stories and a bunch of on-point commentary from present-day forensic scientists at the top of their game. "The story of forensic science," she writes in her preface
  
  of that road from crime scene to courtroom, is the stuff of thousands of crime novels. The application of science to the solving of crime is the reason I am gainfully employed.
  
  There is nothing like personal interest to juice up a narrative and this book is fully juiced. McDermid marches us through the history of crime solving, beginning with a handbook for coroners written in China in 1247, which "contained the first recorded example of forensic entomology--the use of insect biology in the solution of a crime." Yes, seven hundred fifty years ago, a Chinese coroner conducting an investigation into a murder deduced the murderer by watching to see which sickle the flies landed on. It had been washed, but the flies knew, and the murderer confessed on the spot. Forensics, it seems, have been around for a while. Try 44BC, when Julius Caesar's doctor reported on which of JC's 23 stab wounds was the fatal one. (Only one was.)
  
  Contrast that to the present day, or at least 1982, when
  
  ...Kary Mullis, a Californian surfer and LSD enthusiast who went on to win the Novel Prize in Chemistry. In 1982 Mullis was driving along Highway 128 when he had a revelation. If he added an enzyme called polymerase to DNA it would, in his words, 'reproduce the hell out of itself'. Using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Mullis could take a very small amount of DNA and make it significant enough to interpret. Before long, scientists were using PCR to understand criminal cases that had been cold for up to seventy years, as well as the genealogy of fossilised dinosaurs and buried royalty, and the diagnosis of hereditary diseases...Whether it was a speck of dead skin, the sweat from a fingerprint or the dried saliva from a postage stamp, the required amount of bodily substance had spiralled down from the size of a ten pence piece to one millionth of a grain of salt.
  
  CSI, Law and Order and their numerous clones have habituated us all to associate the word forensics with individual murders or at least individual murderers. McDermid's chapter on forensic anthropology and the identification of the desaparecidos of Argentina show how much wider the scope is in real life.
  
  Between 1976 and 1983 Argentina was ruled by a miitary junta which took violent and repressive action aginst those it considered left wing or subversive...As many as 30,000 civilians were victis of the 'Dirty War', and around 10,000 were among the 'disappeared'...In 1986 Clyde Snow, an experience forensic anthropologist who had worked on the Kennedy assassination and the victims of serial killer John Wayne Gacy, came from the US to train the founding members of the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team. 'For the first time in the history of human rights investigations,' explains Snow, 'we began to use a scientific method to investigate violations...The idea of using science in the human rights area began here, in Argentina, and it is now used throughout the world.
  
  In Kosovo in 1997, a grenade blew up the family of a farmer fleeing the fighting. He collected as many of the bones as he could find and buried them together in a sack. Eighteen months later British forensic anthropologist Sue Black arrived in Kosovo to collect evidence for the UN International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague.
  
  The farmer asked her to dig up their remains and bring him back eleven body bags, so he could bury each one separately...After eighteen months, decomposition had done its work and most of the material she had to deal with was bone. The adults were relatively easy to distinguish from one another because they were bigger and there were fewer of them. The eight children were much harder. Sue painstakingly separated the fragments. After several hours she had identified the six youngest children. All that remained were two sets of upper limbs, which had belonged to 14-year-old twin boys. 'There was nothing else of them. Just humeri and clavicles. But one of the sets of upper limbs was attached to a Mickey Mouse vest. I said to a police officer, "Go and ask the dad which of his children liked Mickey Mouse." An hour later Sue brought the twelve body bags to him. 'That's what he wanted more than anything. Giving him his family back was the absolutely and utter least we could do, considering what he'd been through.'
  
  Any man's death diminishes me. John Donne wrote it, but the forensic scientists McDermid writes about are living it. Recommended.