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A review by mystereity
The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes by Colin Evans
4.0
The Casebook Of Forensic Detection As I said earlier, this was a fascinating book, it just felt like it took forever to read it. And it was only 350 pages or so.
I liked the style of the book, a short summation of each forensic technique (time of death, fingerprints, DNA, etc) that gave a little bit of an explanation and a little history before delving into specific cases. And a great selection of cases, from murder to forgeries to poisonings, all over the last few hundred years to show how each aspect of forensics moved the science forward. Each case was given just a few pages to lay out the facts of the case and then another page or 2 to cover the science used and the outcome. So each case was around 5 to 10 pages at the most. Which means there were a lot of cases, so much so that after a few, I was ready to move on to the next chapter, but unwilling to skip ahead and miss a good story.
So I think that's why it felt like it took forever to finish the book. It's not that it was dry and boring - far from it. Just too much of a good thing, and I'm sure the author found it frustrating not to add "just one more case..."
Overall, riveting and fascinating read, but became overwhelming after awhile. But if you love true crime stories and the science that goes along with solving them, then you will enjoy this book.
I liked the style of the book, a short summation of each forensic technique (time of death, fingerprints, DNA, etc) that gave a little bit of an explanation and a little history before delving into specific cases. And a great selection of cases, from murder to forgeries to poisonings, all over the last few hundred years to show how each aspect of forensics moved the science forward. Each case was given just a few pages to lay out the facts of the case and then another page or 2 to cover the science used and the outcome. So each case was around 5 to 10 pages at the most. Which means there were a lot of cases, so much so that after a few, I was ready to move on to the next chapter, but unwilling to skip ahead and miss a good story.
So I think that's why it felt like it took forever to finish the book. It's not that it was dry and boring - far from it. Just too much of a good thing, and I'm sure the author found it frustrating not to add "just one more case..."
Overall, riveting and fascinating read, but became overwhelming after awhile. But if you love true crime stories and the science that goes along with solving them, then you will enjoy this book.