Every Contact Leaves A Trace

'If you were to ask me to tell you about my wife, I would have to warn you at the outset that I don't know a great deal about her. Or at least, not as much as I thought I did...' Alex is a solitary London lawyer who is deeply in love with his beautiful wife, Rachel. When Rachel is brutally murdered one Midsummer Night in Oxford, all of his happiness vanishes. Shrouded in shock and grief, he returns to Oxford that winter and begins to try to piece together the mystery surrounding Rachel’s death, discovering in her wake a tangled web of sex and jealousy, of would-be lovers and spiteful friends, of blackmail, and of revenge.

Real crime scene investigation is vastly more complicated, arduous, bizarre, and fascinating than TV's streamlined versions. Most people who work actual investigations will tell you that the science never lies -- but people can. They may also contaminate evidence, or not know what to look for in crime scenes that typically are far more chaotic and confusing, whether inside or outside, than on TV. Forensic experts will tell you that the most important person entering a scene is the very first responding officer – the chain of evidence starts with this officer and holds or breaks according to what gets stepped on, or over, collected or contaminated, looked past, or looked over, from every person who enters or interprets the scene, all the way through the crime lab and trial. And forensic experts will tell you the success of a case can depend on any one expert's knowledge of quirky things, such as: "The Rule of the First Victim": (the first victim of a criminal usually lives near the criminal's home) Criminals' snacking habits at the scene"Nature's Evidence Technicians," the birds and rodents that hide bits of bone, jewelry, and fabric in their nestsThe botanical evidence found in criminals' pants cuffs Baseball caps as prime DNA repositoriesThe tales told by the application of physics to falling blood drops. Forensic experts talk about their expertise and their cases here. They also talk about themselves, their reactions to the horrors they witness, and their love of the work. For example, a DNA analyst talks about how she drives her family crazy by buccal-swabbing them all at Thanksgiving dinner. A latent print examiner talks about how he examines cubes of Jell-O at any buffet he goes to for tell-tale prints. A crime scene investigator gives his tips on clearing a scene of cops: he slaps "Bio-hazard" and "Cancer Causing Agent" stickers on his equipment. And an evidence technician talks about how hard it is to go to sleep after processing a scene, re-living what you've just witnessed, your mind going a hundred miles an hour. This is a world that TV crime shows can't touch. Here are eighty experts – including beat cops, evidence technicians, detectives, forensic anthropologists, blood spatter experts, DNA analysts, latent print examiners, firearms experts, trace analysts, crime lab directors, and prosecution and defense attorneys – speaking in their own words about what they've seen and what they've learned to journalist Connie Fletcher, who has gotten cops to talk freely in her bestsellers What Cops Know, Pure Cop, and Breaking and Entering. Every Contact Leaves A Trace presents the science, the human drama, and even the black comedy of crime scene investigation. Let the experts take you into their world. This is their book – their words, their knowledge, their stories. Through it all, one Sherlock Holmesian premise unites what they do and what it does to them: Every contact leaves a trace.

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Crime Reconstruction, Second Edition is an updated guide to the interpretation of physical evidence, written for the advanced student of forensic science, the practicing forensic generalist and those with multiple forensic specialists. It is designed to assist reconstructionists with understanding their role in the justice system; the development and refinement of case theory’ and the limits of physical evidence interpretation. Chisum and Turvey begin with chapters on the history and ethics of crime reconstruction and then shift to the more applied subjects of reconstruction methodology and practice standards. The volume concludes with chapters on courtroom conduct and evidence admissibility to prepare forensic reconstructionists for what awaits them when they take the witness stand. Crime Reconstruction, Second Edition, remains an unparalleled watershed collaborative effort by internationally known, qualified, and respected forensic science practitioner holding generations of case experience among them. Forensic pioneer such as W. Jerry Chisum, John D. DeHaan, John I. Thorton, and Brent E. Turvey contribute chapters on crime scene investigation, arson reconstruction, trace evidence interpretation, advanced bloodstain interpretation, and ethics. Other chapters cover the subjects of shooting incident reconstruction, interpreting digital evidence, staged crime scenes, and examiner bias. Rarely have so many forensic giants collaborated, and never before have the natural limits of physical evidence been made so clear. Updates to the majority of chapters, to comply with the NAS Report New chapters on forensic science, crime scene investigation, wound pattern analysis, sexual assault reconstruction, and report writing Updated with key terms, chapter summaries, discussion questions, and a comprehensive glossary; ideal for those teaching forensic science and crime reconstruction subjects at the college level Provides clear practice standards and ethical guidelines for the practicing forensic scientist

Crime novelist and former police officer Nigel McCrery provides an account of all the major areas of forensic science from around the world over the past two centuries. The book weaves dramatic narrative and scientific principles together in a way that allows readers to figure out crimes along with the experts. Readers are introduced to such fascinating figures as Dr. Edmond Locard, the "French Sherlock Holmes"; Edward Heinrich, "Wizard of Berkeley," who is credited with having solved more than 2,000 crimes; and Alphonse Bertillon, the French scientist whose guiding principle, "no two individuals share the same characteristics," became the core of criminal identification. Landmark crime investigations examined in depth include a notorious murder involving blood evidence and defended by F. Lee Bailey, the seminal 1936 murder that demonstrated the usefulness of the microscope in examining trace evidence, the 1849 murder of a wealthy Boston businessman that demonstrated how difficult it is to successfully dispose of a corpse, and many others.

Identifies specific scientists and their contributions to advances in various fields of forensics.

Enter the fascinating world of crime scene investigation. As seen on BBC 2's Forensics: the Real CSI. I WORK WITH THE MURDERED DEAD. My job isn’t like other people’s. I make my way to the scene of a crime, usually an ordinary home or an unexceptional street. I pull on my protective gloves, mask and gather everything I need. I meet the corpse. Maybe she’s on the living room floor, a knife-slash to her neck. Or he might be face down in the gutter, bullet holes piercing the back of his jacket. Perhaps the body is so small, tucked into the corner of a blood-stained crib that I don’t see it at first. However they died, my first encounter with the dead is always the same. As I snap on my latex gloves, I look at their face. ‘I’m going to gather evidence from you,’ I tell them. ‘I’m sorry, I’ll be as gentle as I can.’ And then? Well, then I get to work. Every contact with crime leaves a trace. Every crime has an impact on me, too. This is my life in crime scene investigation.

Starting from the fundamental principles of forensics that 'every contact leaves a trace', the author presents a study of the techniques that we have all heard about in trials and on TV, but until now have remained mysteries to the outsider.