Before there was CSI, there was one man who saw beyond the crime and into the future of forensic science. His name was Bernard Spilsbury—and, through his use of cutting-edge science, he single-handedly brought criminal investigations into the modern age. Starting out as a young, charismatic physician in early twentieth-century Britain, Spilsbury hit the English justice system—and the front pages—like a cannonball, garnering a reputation as a real-life Sherlock Holmes. He uncovered evidence others missed, stood above his peers in the field of crime reconstruction, relentlessly exposed discrepancies between witness testimony and factual evidence, and most importantly, convicted dozens of murderers with hard-nosed, scientific proof. This is the fascinating story of the life and work of Bernard Spilsbury, history’s greatest medical detective, and of the cases that not only made him a celebrity, but also inspired the astonishing science of criminal investigation in our own time.

Charlie Appel founded the FBI Laboratory, and was its only examiner its first three years. A Georgetown University Law School graduate, he was a concert violinist, electrical engineer and World War I biplane pilot. He became a world-renowned expert in crime-scene evidence and questioned documents as a Special Agent of the FBI from 1924 to 1949, then in private practice. His cases included the Lindbergh kidnapping, gangster-era thugs, World War II spies, Howard Hughes, Aristotle Onassis, Clay Shaw, John Kennedy, Richard Nixon and other famous people. His life, 1895-1981, spanned horse and buggy days to the space age. His private life with three wives, seven children and many friends were a mix of love stories tragedy, and nonstop drama.The Author, Edward J. Appel, Sr. is Charlie's son, who served as an FBI Special Agent for 28 years. Now retired, he provides unique insight into the birth of the FBI Laboratory, forensic science's role in criminal and civil cases, Charlie's story and the history of which he was a part.

“Brilliant and persistent scientific work that brought murderers like John List, Ted Bundy, and Jeffrey MacDonald to justice.”—Publishers Weekly “Landmarks of forensic science [that] are representative of the evolution of the discipline and its increasingly prominent role in crime solving.”—Library Journal Modern ballistics and the infamous Sacco and Vanzetti case. DNA analysis and the 20th century’s most wanted criminal—the hunt for Josef Mengele. “The Iceman”—a contract killer and one-man murder machine. Scientific analysis and history’s greatest publishing fraud—the Hitler Diaries. How the “perfect crime” can land you in prison. In a world so lawless that crimes must be prioritized, some cases still stand out—not only for their depravity but as landmarks of criminal detection. Updated with new material, this collection of 100 groundbreaking cases vividly depicts the horrendous crimes, colorful detectives, and grueling investigations that shaped the science of forensics. In concise, fascinating detail, Colin Evans shows how far we’ve come from Sherlock Holmes’s magnifying glass. Although no crime in this book is ordinary, many of the perpetrators are notorious: Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, John List, Bruno Hauptmann, Jeffrey Macdonald, Wayne Williams. Along with the cases solved, fifteen forensic techniques are covered—including fingerprinting, ballistics, toxicology, DNA analysis, and psychological profiling. Many of these are crime fighting “firsts” that have increased the odds that today’s techno sleuths will get the bad guys, clear the innocent—and bring justice to the victims and their families.

Death. It’s not only inevitable and frightening, it’s intriguing and fascinating–especially today, when science continues to make ever more stunning advances in the investigation of the oldest and darkest of mysteries. To discover the how and why of death, unearth its roots, and expose the mechanics of its grim handiwork is, at least in some sense, to master it. And in the process, if a criminal can be caught or closure found, so much the better. Enter Robert Mann, forensic anthropologist, deputy scientific director of the U.S. government’s Central Identification Laboratory, and, some might say, the Sherlock Holmes of death detectives. When the dead reveal some of their most sensational, macabre, and poignant tales, more often than not it’s Mann who’s been listening. Now, in this remarkable casebook, he offers an in-depth behind-the-scenes portrait of his sometimes gruesome, frequently dangerous, and always compelling profession. In cases around the world, Mann has been called upon to unmask killers with nothing but the bones of their victims to guide him, draw out clues that restore identities to the nameless dead, recover remains thought to be hopelessly lost, and piece together the events that can unlock the truth behind the most baffling deaths. The infamous 9/11 terror attacks, which killed thousands; the unplanned killing that inaugurated serial murderer Jeffrey Dahmer’s grisly spree; mysterious military fatalities from World War II to the Cold War to Vietnam, including the amazing case of the Vietnam War’s Unknown Soldier–all the fascinating stories are here, along with photos from the author’s personal files. Mystery hangings, mass graves, errant body parts, actual skeletons in closets, and a host of homicides steeped in bizarre clues and buried secrets–they’re all in a day’s work for one dedicated detective whose job begins when a life ends.

On the payroll as an assistant to her coroner father, seventeen-year-old Cameryn Mahoney uses her knowledge of forensic medicine to catch the killer of a friend while putting herself in terrible danger.

Sir Bernard Spilsbury, considered the father of modern forensic pathology, provided crucial and lurid testimony, not always entirely factual, in many classic murder cases in Great Britain.

' Kate Winkler Dawson is an unbelievable crime historian and such a talented storyteller. ' Karen Kilgariff, cohost of the My Favorite Murder podcast 'Heinrich changed criminal investigations forever, and anyone fascinated by the myriad detective series and TV shows about forensics will want to read [this].' The Washington Post 'An entertaining, absorbing combination of biography and true crime.' Kirkus ' Kate Winkler Dawson has researched both her subject and his cases so meticulously that her reconstructions and descriptions made me feel part of the action rather than just a reader and bystander. She has brought to life Edward Oscar Heinrich's character, determination, and skill so vividly that one is left bemused that this man is so little known to most of us. ' Patricia Wiltshire, author of Traces and The Nature of Life and Death Berkeley, California, 1933. In a lab filled with curiosities – beakers, microscopes, Bunsen burners and hundreds of books – sat an investigator who would go on to crack at least 2,000 cases in his 40-year career. Known as the 'American Sherlock Holmes', Edward Oscar Heinrich was one of the greatest – and first – forensic scientists, with an uncanny knack for finding clues, establishing evidence and deducing answers with a skill that seemed almost supernatural. Based on years of research and thousands of never-before-published primary source materials, American Sherlock is a true-crime account capturing the life of the man who spearheaded the invention of a myriad of new forensic tools, including blood-spatter analysis, ballistics, lie-detector tests and the use of fingerprints as courtroom evidence.