Crime Files: Books on Criminal Investigation and Forensic Science

Amazon is an incredible resource for anyone interested in the scientific aspects of solving crime. From DNA Evidence and Fingerprinting to Private Investigating and The History of Crime Investigation, we've listed a range of books on crime solving.
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	Crime Scene Investigation by Thomas Francis Adams, Jeffrey Lee Krutsinger Paperback: 180 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.36 x 9.24 x 7.11 Publisher: Prentice Hall; ISBN: 0135934273; 1st edition (January 15, 2000)	Click here to see the general range of books on Crime Scene Investigation.
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Book Info Serves as a useful handbook to guide the law enforcement professional through the important process of crime scene investigation. Attempts to help the crime scene investigator accomplish the goal of doing a better job and raise accepted standards. Softcover. DLC: Crime scene searches. From the Back Cover This is the only book currently available that is devoted exclusively to scientific crime scene investigation. The Crime Scene Kit. The Initial Response. The Search. Evidence Selection. Evidence by Type of Crime. Impression Evidence. Fingerprints. Documenting the Crime. The Crime Lab. Going to Court. For involved or interested in crime scene or criminal investigation.

Time of Death, Decomposition and Identification : An Atlas (Causes of Death Atlas Series)
by Jay Dix
Paperback: 120 pages
Publisher: CRC Press; ISBN: 0849323673; (January 2000)

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Book Description
A post-mortem X-ray of a male homicide victim reveals a bullet lodged next to his spine. That he was shot is clear. How recently? is what death investigators must determine. The answer: the absence of scar tissue surrounding the bullet proves the victim had been recently shot. And while the average person may find tattoos to be creative and aesthetic, to the trained death investigator, they can actually be the key to aiding in the eventual identification of a body. They say the dead can't speak. But in the fascinating field of forensic pathology, the deceased can tell an elaborate story, especially when death investigators know what clues to look for.

The first volume in the new Forensic Pathology Atlases: Causes of Death Series, this book takes an in-depth look at the determination of the time of death, post-mortem changes, and identification. In Time of Death, Decomposition and Identification, you'll learn through the extensive use of photographs and discussion how estimating the time of death can rarely be accomplished with scientific accuracy. You'll learn about the numerous changes the body undergoes after death, and how positive and probable identifications are made. For death investigators, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and anyone else involved in forensic death cases, Time of Death, Decomposition and Identification is a "must have" resource.

	High Technology Crime Investigator's Handbook by Gerald L. Kovacich, William C. Boni Paperback: 350 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.70 x 9.17 x 6.04 Publisher: Butterworth-Heinemann; ISBN: 075067086X; (September 15, 1999)
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Book Description This book is coming at a time when high technology crime is growing at a rapid pace, and private and public law enforcement are struggling to keep up. The book will inform readers about the potential of high tech crimes, in addition to the resources that are available to combat them. This book is unique in that it fully covers the management of a high tech investigation unit. Criminals today are often better equipped than the agencies responsible for stopping them. Federal, state, county, and local law enforcement agencies and civilian investigative organizations lag far behind in their procurement and use of high technology equipment, and methods of conducting technology-related investigations.

	Guide to Forensic Pathology by Robert, Md Calaluce, Jay, Md Dix, Mary Fran Ernst Paperback: 257 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.52 x 8.46 x 5.53 Publisher: CRC Press; ISBN: 0849302676; (June 1999)	Click here for other books on Forensic Pathology.
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Book Description This new edition of Case Studies in Forensic Pathology has been expanded and re-structured, but retains much of the original content. It includes photographs, case studies, advice on testifying, frequently asked questions, a glossary of medical terms, guidelines for the death scene investigator, as well as information on determining the time and manner of death, identifying the victim, and forensic DNA testing. Though intended for death investigators, the book may also be useful to medical students, pathology residents, pathologists, coroners, medical examiners, and homicide detectives.

	Handbook for Death Scene Investigators by Jay Dix, Mary Fran Ernst (Contributor) Paperback: 124 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.31 x 5.99 x 3.52 Publisher: Lewis Publishers, Inc.; ISBN: 0849302986; (March 1999)
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Book Description A handy pocket guide especially designed for a burgeoning new job arena--death scene investigators. This will correspond nicely with Geberth's Practical Homicide Investigation Checklist and Field Guide which has sold thousands of copies at the same price, and which focuses on homicide related deaths. This is broader, with information on sudden natural deaths by disease and accident. With the publication of Dix's products along with our own DiMaio we'll have every possible level of forensic pathology covered.

	Crime Science : Methods of Forensic Detection by Joe Nickell, John F. Fischer Hardcover: 300 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.03 x 9.37 x 6.34 Publisher: University Press of Kentucky; ISBN: 0813120918; (December 1998)
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Book Description The O.J. Simpson trial. The Lindbergh kidnapping. The death of Marilyn Monroe. The assassination of the Romanovs. The Atlanta child murders. All heinous crimes. All investigated (sometimes again and again) with the latest techniques in forensic science. Crime Science is the comprehensive guide to the highly visible field of forensic investigation. Without being overly technical or treating scientific techniques superficially, the guide introduces readers to the work of firearms experts, document examiners, fingerprint technicians, medical examiners, and forensic anthropologists. In a clear and understandable style, nationally respected authors Joe Nickell and John Fischer explain the science behind the criminal investigations that have captured the nation’s attention. The authors provide step-by-step descriptions of classifying a fingerprint or performing an autopsy. They explain how fibres have been used to link victims to their killers, and they describe the science underlying DNA profiling and toxicological analysis. From weapons analysis to handwriting samples to shoe and tire impressions, Crime Science outlines the indispensable tools and techniques that investigators use to make sense of a crime scene and to convict a perpetrator. Each chapter closes with a study of a well-known case, revealing how the principles of forensic science work in practice.

	The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World's Most Baffling Crimes by Colin Evans Paperback: 310 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.90 x 9.23 x 6.13 Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; ISBN: 047128369X; 1 edition (October 16, 1998)
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Amazon.com 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 labelled by name of criminal, forensic technique, date, location, and significant features, making this a useful reference as well as a fun book to read.

	Crime Lab: A Guide for Non-scientists by John Houde Hardcover: 206 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.67 x 11.05 x 8.59 Publisher: Calico Press; ISBN: 096582862X; 1 Ed edition (September 1, 1998)
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Book Description Documentaries centering around detective work and the science of criminal investigation are popular these days but how in-depth can they get in 30 to 60 minutes? Crime Lab: A Guide for Non-scientists takes you behind the scenes, describing each step of the analysis of evidence gathered at crime scenes, explaining in easy-to-understand concepts exactly what's happening along the way. Complex instruments such as the gas chromatograph and techniques such as DNA amplification are thoughtfully described with 130 illustrations including 100 in colour.

	Profiling Violent Crimes : An Investigative Tool by Ronald M. Holmes, Stephen T. Holmes Paperback: 224 pages Publisher: Sage Publications; ISBN: 0761925945; 3rd edition (March 12 2002)
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Book Description The third edition of this bestseller is a thorough revision, which is a very important feature in this fast-moving field. New chapters cover criminal behavior theories and psychological profiling; autoerotic deaths, and occult crimes, plus two new chapters detailing infamous unsolved crimes/criminals: Jack the Ripper and the Jon Benet Ramsay case. The authors continuing research and activities in the field result in a multitude of new case studies for this book, often included as boxed inserts. This is a textbook that is a vital resource for students in criminology and criminal justice, or as a tool for criminal justice professionals and researchers. Profiling Violent Crimes, Third Edition contributes significantly to the knowledge about violent personalities and behaviours.

	Criminal Investigation by Michael F. Brown Paperback: 368 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.72 x 9.98 x 7.00 Publisher: BH Security; ISBN: 0750673524; 2nd edition (April 15, 2001)	Criminal Investigation has a huge selection of books to browse - click here and check them out.
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Book Description - Comprehensive coverage of the criminal investigation, from arrival on the scene to trial procedures -Unique combination of legal, technical, and procedural aspects of criminal investigation -Many updated cases, many personally experienced by the author. This textbook provides students and law enforcement officers with the fundamentals of the criminal investigation process, from arrival on the scene to trial procedures. Written in a clear and simple style, Criminal Investigation: Law and Practice surpasses traditional texts by presenting a unique combination of legal, technical, and procedural aspects of the criminal investigation. The hands-on approach taken by the author helps to increase the learning experience.

	Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers by Michael M. Baden, Marion Roach Hardcover: 288 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.03 x 9.51 x 6.39 Publisher: Simon & Schuster; ISBN: 0684867583; (September 2001)
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Book Description Visit a class where students blow mouthfuls of their own blood onto one another in order to better understand blood-spatter patterns. Attend a workshop studying the effects of temperature and humidity on the life cycle of maggots populating a corpse. Learn how much of someone's history of drug use can be detected in a single strand of hair. Wander the aisles at the annual conference of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, where booths display the latest in body bags and where the giveaway of choice is an ergonomic squeeze toy in the shape of a human kidney. Forensic science used to be a specialized field virtually unknown to the general public. In recent years, news reports of crimes solved through the analysis of DNA evidence have given everyone a glimpse of this astonishing field. But behind the crime-scene tape and the doors of the morgue is a world never seen by the public. Now famed pathologist and medical examiner Dr. Michael Baden and award-winning writer Marion Roach take readers on a tour of sites otherwise closed to visitors. Click to Read More at Amazon.com

No Stone Unturned : The Story of Necrosearch International Investigators
by Steve Jackson
Hardcover: 374 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 1.38 x 9.32 x 6.37
Publisher: Kensington Pub Corp; ISBN: 1575664569; (January 2002)

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Book Description
In 1810, the world's first purely investigative agency, the French Surete, was created, and in 1856, in Dickens' Bleak House, the term detective was first used to describe a police specialty. NecroSearch, formed in 1991, boasts a wide range of specialists-- geologists, entomologists, geophysicists, and others--whose discreet skills are put to finding buried murder victims. The key individuals in it are the "Pig People," scientists who track varying rates of human decomposition under differing conditions by burying and periodically digging up the carcasses of mature pigs--pigs because their weights and metabolisms closely resemble those of humans.

Jackson traces the development of the firm's expertise and acceptance by law enforcement professionals and the media by presenting several cases in minute detail. Jackson's account of the development and crime-solving uses of forensic science may be grim, but it is also a fascinating, macabre journey sure to entrance true-crime buffs and police-procedural detective fiction fans.


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