forensics

For those who have been enjoying the Temperance Brennan Mysteries by Kathy Reichs, Bones Never Lie brings forensic anthropologist Dr. Temperance Brennan and Detective Andrew Ryan of Canada back together in the search for a serial murderer.

Temperance is called in to help solve a cold case that she and Detective Ryan worked on 10 years ago when the killer just slipped through their fingers and escaped. Using advances in DNA research and files and clues from the former murders in Canada, they have linked murders in Vermont and N. Carolina to the string of old murders in Canada. Now Temperance

One of my favorite things about working in a library is discovering new authors, or at least new to me authors.  J. T. Ellison is the author of the Taylor Jackson series which focuses on the cases of Nashville Homicide Detective Taylor Jackson.

In A Deeper Darkness, Ellison turns her attention to Taylor’s friend and medical examiner, Samantha Owens. Two years ago, Sam lost her husband and children in a flood and is struggling to move on. Sam has received a call from a former boyfriend’s mother. Eddie Donovan has died under suspicious circumstances and his mother would like Sam to perform a

The Poisoner’s Handbook, by Deborah Blum tells the tale of the birth of modern forensic medicine. Set against the backdrop of Prohibition, moonshine and corruption, this nonfiction offering reads like a crime thriller. The science of the book is accessible without being condescending. Each chapter deals with a specific poison and how it was employed in a specific murder. Manhattan’s newly appointed  Chief Medical Examiner, Charles Norris, teams up with a revolutionary toxicologist to tackle some of the most baffling cases and sinister poisons’ of their age. In a time when death certificates

Flash and Bones is number 14 in the Temperance Brennan mysteries, and every bit as fun to read as the first. I especially liked that some timeline was given in this story between the end of the last book (Spider Bones) and the beginning of this one. As always, the information provided in the story of the investigative process of forensic anthropology is very detailed and informative without being too dry or graphically gory. In this story, Dr. Brennan ( aka Tempe) is back in Charlotte during Race Week.  We learn a lot about NASCAR, from the origins of stock car racing coming out of Prohibition

The latest in the Kay Scarpetta series, a rewarding read for those who have followed the lives of Kay, Benton, Marino and Lucy.  The novel is set in hot, steamy Savannah, in the middle of summer, focusing on a cold case as well as a suspected serial murderer.  All the Cornwell story elements are there – suspense, forensics, family relationships - and all the characters progress on with their dramatic lives.  Be warned though – eating out may never be the same for you!

The king's mistress is dead. Who killed her? A jealous queen? A scheming noble hoping to foment civil war? Or was it an unfortunate accident? The stakes are high, and so the King sends his foremost medical investigator to unravel the mystery: an investigator who just happens to be not only a doctor and forensic scientist but also, most unusually for 12th-century England - a woman.

What sets The Serpent's Tale most vividly apart from other historical mysteries is the main character: the Italian-trained female doctor Vesuvia Adelia Rachel Ortese Aguilar who heals the sick and solves crimes

A serial killer is murdering young women across the country. He has been dubbed the "Christopher Killer" because he leaves a St. Christopher medal with each of his victims. Dr. Jewel, a famous psychic, predicted that the next "Christopher Killer" victim would be found "on a dirt road somewhere in the mountain where the road leads to water".

This all seems very distant to 17 year old Cameryn in Silverton, Colorado where there hasn't been a murder in years according to the county coroner, and her father Pat Mahoney. Cameryn has been interested in forensic science for years and wants to go to