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Forensics For Dummies, 2nd Edition

by Douglas P. Lyle

June 2019

Beginner to intermediate

400 pages

11h 15m

English

For Dummies

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About This BookFoolish AssumptionsIcons Used in This BookBeyond the BookWhere to Go from Here
Defining Forensics: The Science of Catching CriminalsGetting the Big Picture: Forensic Science in ActionInvestigating the Crime LabPeeking Inside the Criminalist’s ToolboxThe Cornerstone of Forensic Science: Locard’s Exchange Principle
Gathering the Evidence: The Criminalist at WorkFrom Analyzing Blood to Identifying Bugs: Forensic Science SpecialistsForensic Investigation’s Head Honcho: The Medical ExaminerDealing with the Dead: The Coroner’s TechnicianTestifying as an Expert
Assessing the Scene of the CrimeClassifying the EvidenceLocating the EvidenceCollecting and Preserving the EvidenceLocating a Missing Corpse
Defining the Role of the Forensic Psychiatric ProfessionalAssessing the BrainDealing with DeceptionAssessing Competence and SanityTracking Serial OffendersProfiling the PerpetratorLinking Criminals and Crime Scenes
Getting a Grip on FingerprintsMaking Matching Easier: Classifying PrintsLocating Those Sneaky Prints
Understanding Blood’s CharacterAnalyzing Bloodstain PatternsPutting It All Together: A Hypothetical Case

Stepping Out: Shoeprints as EvidenceTracking Down TiresPrying Clues from Tool MarksFinding Facts in Fabrics
Striking the Match: Looking into Fire-StartersDetermining Where and How the Fire StartedHeating Things Up: AccelerantsInvestigating Homicidal FiresEvaluating Explosive Situations
Defining Death and Declaring It as SuchShadowing the Forensic PathologistPerforming an AutopsyFiling the Official Autopsy Report
Identifying the BodyUsing DNA To Make the IDDem Bones, Dem Bones: Working with SkeletonsReconstructing FacesComparing Photographs
Defining Time of DeathExamining the Body to Estimate Time of DeathGathering Other Clues
Unleashing the Power of Guns and Gun EvidenceSlicing, Dicing, and StabbingTaking the Hit: Blunt-Force TraumaA Shocking Situation: ElectrocutionThe R Word: Dealing with Rape
Understanding AsphyxiaGasping for Oxygen: SuffocationGrasping StrangulationInhaling Deadly Air: Toxic GasesDrowning: Water, Water Everywhere
Blood: Life’s Most Precious FluidIdentifying a Bloodstain’s SourceTesting for PaternityLooking at Other Bodily Fluids
Opening an Instruction Manual for Your CellsFingering Criminals Using DNA FingerprintsUnderstanding the DNA Fingerprinting ProcessUsing DNA to Determine Lineage
Understanding PoisonsDefining ToxicologySeeking ToxinsExamining the Testing ProceduresLooking at Common DrugsChecking Out Familiar Poisons
Defining Trace EvidenceUnderstanding Analytical InstrumentsSplitting Hairs: Linking Crime to CoiffureFiddling with FibersCracking the Mysteries of GlassPuttering with PaintsGetting Down and Dirty: Soils and Plants
Figuring Out FirearmsExtracting Info from AmmoGetting Groovy: Comparing Rifling PatternsThe Proof’s in the Powder: Gunshot Residues
Analyzing HandwritingExposing AlterationsLooking for IndentionsExamining Papers and InksDissecting Typewriters and Photocopiers
Using a Homemade Ladder: The Lindbergh KidnappingSacco and Vanzetti and Sacco’s GunTed Bundy’s Bite MarksStella Nickell’s Trail of FingerprintsFinding Fibers on Jeffrey MacDonaldGeorgi Markov and the Lethal UmbrellaThe Hendricks Family’s Last MealPicturing John ListBeing Anastasia RomanovFaking Hitler’s Diaries
The Quick DeathThe Pretty DeathThe Bleeding CorpseThe Exact Time of DeathThe One-Punch KnockoutThe Disappearing Black EyeThe Fast-Acting PoisonThe Untraceable PoisonThe Instant AthleteThe High-Tech Lab
CriminalistCrime Scene InvestigatorForensic InvestigatorForensic PathologistForensic Pathology TechnicianForensic AnthropologistForensic ToxicologistFingerprint ExaminerForensic Document ExaminerForensic DNA Analyst

Content preview from Forensics For Dummies, 2nd Edition

About the Author

D. P. Lyle, MD, winner of the Macavity and Benjamin Franklin Silver awards and a nominee for Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Scribe, Silver Falchion, and USA Best Book awards, is the author of many nonfiction books (Murder & Mayhem, Forensics For Dummies, Forensics & Fiction, More Forensics & Fiction, Howdunnit: Forensics, and ABA Fundamentals: Understanding Forensic Science) as well as numerous works of fiction, including the Samantha Cody thriller series (Devil’s Playground, Double Blind, and Original Sin); the Dub Walker thriller series (Stress Fracture; Hot Lights, Cold Steel; and Run to Ground); the Royal Pains media tie-in novels (Royal Pains: First, Do No Harm and Royal Pains: Sick Rich); and the upcoming Jake Longly thriller (Deep Six). His essay on Jules Verne’s The Mysterious Island appears in Thrillers: 100 Must Reads; and his short story “Even Steven” appears in International Thriller Writers’s anthology Thriller 3: Love Is Murder.

He has served as guest of honor at Killer Nashville, SleuthFest, and other writers’ conferences. He teaches extensively; is International Thriller Writers’s (ITW’s) vice president for education; and runs CraftFest, Master CraftFest, and ITW’s online Thriller School.

Along with Jan Burke, he is the co-host of Crime and Science Radio. He has worked with many novelists and with the writers of popular television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Judging Amy, Peacemakers, Cold Case, House, Medium, Women’s ...