The forensic casebook: the science of crime scene investigation

Lucidly written and spiked with real crime stories, this ultimate readers' guide to the art of forensics is a book that will fascinate the fans of the hit TV series "CSI" and Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta Series. 40 illustrations & photos. THE ULTIMATE READERS' GUIDE TO THE ART OF FORENSICS! An intrepid investigator crawls through miles of air conditioning ducts to capture the implicating fibers of a suspect's wool jacket . . . A forensic entomologist discovers insects in the grill of a car and nails down a drug dealer's precise geographical path . . . A gluttonous criminal's fingerprints are lifted from a chocolate truffle. . . . Filled with these and many other intriguing true stories, and packed with black and white illustrations and photographs, The Forensic Casebook draws on interviews with police personnel and forensic scientists-including animal examiners, botanists, zoologists, firearms specialists, and autoposists-to uncover the vast and detailed underworkings of criminal investigation. Encyclopedic in scope, this riveting, authoritative book leaves no aspect of forensic science untouched, covering such fascinating topics as: - Securing a crime scene - Identifying blood splatter patterns - Collecting fingerprints-and feet, lip, and ear prints - Interpreting the stages of a body's decay - Examining hair and fiber evidence - Trace evidence from firearms and explosives - "Lifting" DNA prints - Computer crime and forensic photography - Career paths in criminal science Lucidly written and spiked with real crime stories, The Forensic Casebook exposes the nitty gritty that other books only touch upon. Here is a reference book as addictive as a page-turning novel of suspense.