The book’s title is your red flag: is it a blood-covered piece of work or, a cursed work? If it is the first, who spilled the blood and why? If it is the latter, is the killer cursed by their crimes or were they predestined to commit these crimes? And the project itself, who started it […]
Book Reviews
The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist
As I mentioned in Sum it Up! #57, I am reading up on forensic odontology. I came across this book “The Cadaver King and the Country Dentist.” A quick glance told me it was about the wrongful convictions of both Kennedy Brewer and Levon Brooks. They were wrongfully convicted when two girls (both three years […]
Unmasking the East Area Rapist / Golden State Killer
Some crimes are committed by unknown persons. In other cases we know their names. Sometimes we discover their DNA and learn details about them without yet having a name. And some carry more than one name. I knew the name “Night Stalker.” This name usually refers to Richard Ramirez who was on death row until […]
Jason Lucky Morrow’s Famous Crimes
The book “Famous crimes the world forgot” by Jason Lucky Morrow is a perfect fit here at DCC. I too like to know more about old cold cases. This book review concerns Volume II. It came out in 2017. Volume I came out in 2014. I have not read Volume I. Jason Lucky Morrow’s website is […]
The Long Term Missing by Silvia Pettem
This book is critical for all who wishes to research missing people cases. When a person is missing for more than three months, that case is usually considered long-term. But when exactly is someone missing? Read this: “There are a variety of different circumstances which fit that description. A missing person may be a victim […]
The Brain Defense: neuroscience in court
Neuroscience plays a role in the courtroom just like partial fingerprinting and DNA. It is a field with which many struggle. Is it true when someone says: “my brain made me do it?” Is that person hearing voices or simply making excuses? It is tempting to think that indeed, they make up excuses to avoid […]
Who killed Bob Crane?
John Hook, an American reporter, will release his book “Who Killed Bob Crane?” on February 21, 2017. As a treat for my readers, John gave me photography to use on my blog and an excerpt of the first chapter. The Case The book explores the unsolved murder of American icon and Hogan’s Heroes TV star […]
A Cruel Necessity by L.C. Tyler
I love historical mysteries and books where we deal with forensic sciences in their early stages. So when I heard that “A Cruel Necessity” by L.C. Tyler would bring me a dead body with an expertly slashed throat underneath a dung heap I had to read the book in one sitting. Naturally. The author takes […]
Moscow Bound by Adrian Churchward
If you look at the cover of this political thriller you will see in the background some lines of a document. We can vaguely make out what it says. It is a snapshot of a page. That one page undoubtedly belongs inside a huge file. The words “Top Secret” are crossed out. Who did that […]
The Grenadillo Box by Janet Gleeson
How I missed Janet Gleeson‘s book in 2002 I do not know. It will forever be a mystery. The book has everything I love: a historical setting with enough twists so that the plot I envisioned could come true. We are in the eighteenth century, in the United Kingdom. The year is 1755. It is […]