Death-Investigations Books

I have to admit, the 5 stars for this one is a sentimental choice. In fact, I've read this book so many times that I'm not even sure I really know what I think about it anymore. Granted, that's true of the preceding 5 books, too, but Vengeance is the most intensely emotional, and I'm all about intensely emotional books these days (as long as they don't have depressing endings, that is!), so I can't look at it objectively.

Or rather, I can, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I can, for example, question how Eve can so calmly accept Roarke's past that's so vividly shoved in her face here. Or I can question how the killer latched on to those particular victims. And I can certainly read the part where Roarke gets all pissy about Eve locking a door on him and remember a later book in the series where he does the same thing and want to smack him upside the head. And yes, I can see the headhopping--Nora does it all the time.

But in the end, it doesn't matter. It's a 5-star read.

The book was used, but in very good shape. I bought it for my ex-mother inlaw, I didn't tell her it was a used book and she never knew otherwise. :)

In this book, a brilliant and sadistic serial killer is targeting Irish immigrants in New York. His methods are sickeningly brutal, and each death is different. With the very first death the killer draws Eve into the mix, calling her to boast about the murder and to give her a riddle to lead her to it.

Evidence points straight to Summerset, Roarke's devoted 'servant' and friend and the bane of Eve's domestic existence. While it quickly becomes obvious he's being set up, proving that in an official capacity is another matter.

While there's a familiar theme here of Eve's cases bringing her into conflict with and causing her to investigate the very people she cares about, it's carried off far better in this volume than in some of the others. Summerset's reasons for distrusting police are extremely well-founded and far too deep-set for him to shake off. The reasons why Eve can figure out that he's innocent but can't easily keep him out of jail are clever and believable.

A new and highly entertaining series character puts in an appearance (McNab, a flamboyant electronics expert with the police force). Eve and Summerset are forced to stretch (and break) their veneer of civility. And Eve and Roarke have to face, and embrace, more of his past than she's even been aware of up until now. There are no easy answers, and their only chance lies in being able to manipulate and outwit a killer who believes he's the instrument of God's vengeance.

The character development is beautiful, the pacing and tension are gripping, and the mystery is fascinating. I highly recommend this volume of Robb/Roberts's in death series.

The J D Robb series has me hooked. I was very happy that Amazon has back copies on had at a reasonable price.

I love this series... you must read it to understand. It's all about a homicide detective named Lt. Eve Dallas and how she goes about solving a case which always seems imposibble to solve at first.

This book is one book that everyone in the field of Forensics should have in their library. It covers every possible aspect of death investigation. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in Medicolegal Death Investigation.

I have to add my 5 stars for this informative resource. It was my textbook for two courses. However, even after my classes ended I found myself referring back to the loads of information provided within the pages of this book. It is extremely comprehensive and well worth the investment.

*If you are not a student required to purchase a newer edition, I recommend looking at an earlier edition - I know that you'll get the same great information, just at a much discounted price.

Book was exactly as described. Brand new and in shrink wrap. Very happy with purchase!

This is a great book, it's easy to read, it has excellent, detalied and graphic photographs. I highly recomend this book as a text or reference book.

This a must read & a book to hold on to for reference.

This is a great book that proves the value of a determined citizen. Had Mrs. Ives just backed off and believed what she was told much of this information may have remained buried. Although this book speaks about "long ago" events it is still relevent today. Pick it up and read through, I bet you find more than one recongnizable political figure within the story.

This is an investigative report that reads like a thriller, though it is frustrating in that the corruption it exposes is never cleaned up. Any parent's worst nightmare is the loss of a child; in this case, the child was murdered and the killers were never asked to take responsibility for the crime. The courageous mother who pursues justice is continually stonewalled and dismissed. It is infuriating to read about what she went through.

Arkansas, where all this took place, was then under the leadership of a governor who has been shown to be as crooked as a country road--his involvement, and the involvement of his familial/political clique--is sickening.

I have yet to find anything that convincingly refutes the facts gathered by Leveritt. This is not a crackpot-conspiracy-theory book; it isn't a propogandist smear. I tend to think that, in the not-so-distant future, a LOT of interesting information regarding some of these high-ranking individuals will come to light. At this point, nothing will surprise me.

The death of the boys serves as a focal point. We need a focal point, for this story eventually leads us to what is undoubtedly the greatest challenge to our democratic system of government most of us will know in this century. The essence of Ms. Leveritt's story is the solvency of our system of justice, rule by the people vs. rule by a central government. In a democracy where justice is withheld by abusive political elities and the perversion of our national organizations of justice and law ... we have to suspect democracy has withered on the vine. This should be a call to action for our national media who have behaved scandalously in shunning and obstructing the details of this sordid tale of the decline of American Justice.

My hat is off to Linda Ives and Jean Duffey who have thus far proven that brave women are more effective crusaders than men.

Jim

This report of a mother's quest to solve the mystery of her son's death takes us into a sewage pit of corruption in 1980s Arkansas -- corruption not really resulting from any sort of organized conspiracy, but corruption resulting from dishonesty, incompetence and/or both at various levels of state government operations. Thanks to drug money, the police were corrupt. Thanks to politics, state agents (such as medical examiners and prosecutors) were incompetent, and the elected leadership was both incompetent and highly corrupt. Thank goodness this pustule of government/administrative cancer was confined to Arkansas -- it would have been complete disaster for these shabby people ever to have obtained the reins of national-level power, either in the White House or the Senate.

A mother's determination to learn the truth about the deaths of her teenage son and his friend, who were hit by a train late at night in Arkansas after being laid side-by-side on the tracks. Local authorities offer absurd explanations and try to brush it off as an accident, but in time it becomes clear that a cover-up is in the works, and that the deaths were possibly related to a large-scale, international drug-smuggling operation of the 1980's, which was condoned and covered up by authorities because of its links to Iran-Contra. Don't let this sound too confusing or far-fetched. Mara Leveritt is a respected reporter with the Arkansas Times, and the entire story is carefully explained and well-documented. This is a must read for anyone interested in American government policies in relation to the drug war, Iran-Contra, and covert activities, or Arkansas state politics in the Clinton era.

Death is an uncomfortable and frightening topic to most people. Levine's book "Who Dies ?" will put an end to this fear and will help you confront death and make peace with it. Life and death are one. Fear of dying is only a reflection of the fear of living. Death is not some external Ogre that we must conquer and defeat. We must embrace death to enjoy and appreciate life. This book will guide you toward this gentle and final embrace.
"Who dies?" is poetic, eloquent, soothing, and reassuring.
This book is a must read for anyone that struggles with matters of life and death!! It is worth every penny...

Not a subject everyone is comfortable, in fact, a subject few are able to face but this book is the best on the topic. It has helped me through 3 terrible losses in my life.

One of the best books I've encountered on the way the mind works and common dynamics that are the foundation of suffering (as well as the common way out of the suffering). The references to spiritual traditions show how various traditions have realized the same, fundamental problem and its common solution. I found this book to be one of the best and insightful explanations of the mind's dynamics - an understanding, when combined with the activities of awareness and investigation - yield to direct experiences that resolve suffering. On another level, I found that the author's hints of the experience of the fundamental nature of being to be very motivational.

Stephen Levine is a master when it comes to simply describing mindfulness and conscious living. This book should be read by everyone who expects to die and who truly desires to live. The truth permeates the pages of this masterpiece. Highly recommended.

Steven Levine, formerly director of the Hanuman Foundation's Dying Project, and his wife, Ondrea Levine, have been counseling the dying for over 30 years. In this book they explore the question: "What is the difference when the dying person and those around him have their hearts wide open?"

An excellent book! It is so rare to find a book on a controversy in history and not have it be biased towards the conclusion the author wants you to believe. The people behind this book spend as much time trying to debunk their own evidence as they do the evidence of others! What a breath of fresh air.
The authors belong to an organizarion (TIGHAR) which research topics related to antique aircraft (and their pilots.) Their biggest project for years has been the Earhart project. Members from around the globe have spent years examining archives and conducting archaeological surveys trying to find out what really happened. This book presents their evidence and was more engaging to me than any fictional mystery book.

Those persistent TIGHARs are back with more suggestive but inconclusive research about what happened to Amelia Earhart, who disappeared in 1937 -- somewhere.
Every so often, somebody shows up in Hawaii with a kooky theory about Earhart, ranging from shot by the Japanese as a spy to still alive and keeping house in New Jersey.
The International Group for Historical Aircraft Recovery is far from kooky.
For one thing, they appear to have managed the trick of being zealous without becoming zealots. As lead author Thomas King puts it, "Most people have more pressing things to do" than hunt for a lost airplane that, given the odds, would more likely than not be under three miles of water.
The TIGHARs work, for free, in their spare time, on the assumption that, despite the geographical odds, Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan didn't just run out of gas and sink under the ocean. They think Earhart missed her target but may have crash landed on an intermittently inhabited (but in 1937 empty) island named Nikumaroro, where Earhart and Noonan might have either survived for a while or been eaten by crabs.
It's "a mystery that can't be put down," King says.
But hard to pin down.
Since the publication of "Amelia Earhart's Shoes" in 2001, the TIGHARs have run down more physical evidence, including things that look a lot like panels from a Lockheed Electra, but nothing definitive yet. The revised, 2005 edition is preferred over the first edition.
The story of the hunt also reveals a great deal of fascinating information about the South Pacific, which is big, mostly empty and weird.

Who says historical research and science have to be boring? In Amelia Earhart's Shoes, Dr. Tom King and others take us on a winding (sometimes loopy, even!) journey that tries to answer the question: What happened to famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart and renowned navigator Fred Noonan in 1937 after they vanished during her around-the-world flight attempt?

Amelia Earhart's Shoes does not pretend to solve the mystery - it does show that by applying the scientific method to a popular event, you can strip away all the myths and fables and assumptions and come up with relatively simple explanations that can be tested to see if they are true or false. That the scientific method may upset a few of those legendary apple carts along the way is proof that it works - something is either true or not true, provable or not provable. In Earhart's case, the truth may turn out to be much more mundane than some of the more colorful "solutions" to her disappearance would have us believe.

There is a lot of information in Shoes, but it is presented in an easy to read, almost chatty style (think ghost stories around the campfire while making s'mores) that keeps you turning the pages to see what the heck is going to happen next. The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR) has now been to the South Pacific eight times to try and prove or disprove their hypothesis that Earhart and Noonan missed their destination, tiny Howland Island, and landed on another deserted island, only to die (or perhaps be completely missed) before the frantic searchers could get to them.

Amelia Earhart's Shoes is a great read that should be on the bookshelf of everyone interested in what really did happen out there in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean almost 70 years ago.

I saw one of the people involved in this project speak at EAA's big national air show in Oshkosh, WI last summer. It was the most popular lecture session I attended while I was there. Interested, I picked up this book expecting a thorough but dry, academic read.

Was I ever wrong! This book is not only fascinating, it's funny! It's written with some dry humor that made me want to keep reading more. And the authors lay out a strong argument, to boot. It does make one wonder...

"Amelia Earhart's Shoes: Is the Mystery Solved?", Udated 2004 Ed., Thomas F. King, et al., AltaMira Press, NY 2001, ISBN: 0-7591-0131-0, PB 374 pgs., plus 23 pg. Notes, 9 pg. Biblio., 20 pg. Index, & 104 B & W photos, illus. or maps., 6" x 9".

This is an academic work by a contingent of skilled scientific experts whose writings & basic investigative work was coordinated, in part & on behalf of TIGHAR (Int. Group of Historical Aircraft Recovery) & updated 2004. The 27 chapters describe a forensic approach to solve the mystery of aviatrix AE's disappearance enroute 2,223 miles to Howland Isle from Lae, New Guinea, July 2, 1937.

The book's format & length makes for difficult reading: -- it is based on best available scientific evidences & hypotheses of multiple disciplines of archeology, geophysics, aeronautics, anthropology, and review of both private & governmental archival information in addition to tabulating their search findings on tiny remote South Pacific Phoenix Isle "Gardner", but renamed Nikumaroro, or "Niku". Author was a principle TIGHAR investigator taking part in expeditions to Niku, & he writes with authority, -- having "been there, done that!"

Inclusion of more than 100 photos, illustrations, maps, etc., makes the reading more easily understood & tolerable: -- for it is not a book one picks up and being enchanted 'reads from cover to cover' without pause. For readers who want an up-to-date analysis of AE's disappearance this book is best read after the reader is thoroughly familiar with AE's character, avocations, skills, life experiences's and accolades by the press, politicians & the powerful, -- for Amelia was a complex person living in exciting, changing times on the cutting edge of new technologies.

Many of the chapters begin with stanzas of word parodies to be sung to certain melodies, attributable to TIGHAR but not author King. The parodies I found to be highly irregular, unsettling & not in best taste, so downgraded book from 5* to 4*.

I am not a huge history buff, but I do enjoy learning about the past and the effects on the people of the time. After reading this book, I felt like I was the one who tracked down the facts and met the people in this book. The author did an amazing job describing not only his path to locate facts and data, but the individuals that were affected by this piece of history. It was a great read and I'd recommend anyone who is interested in either WWII, the people of the time or trying to locate a past individual involved in the military to read this book.

On a B-17, Flying Fortress, the hottest hot seat aboard was usually filled by the smallest member of the crew. That would be the ball turret Gunner. On this particular B-17, on his last mission, on February 25, 1944, was a ball turret gunner, Anthony "Tony" Korkuc, who at 27, was the oldest man in the crew of ten. His was the squadron's only plane shot down that day.

He is reported missing in action. It wasn't until 1995 he was reported to be interred in Arlington National Cemetery.

This is the story of Tony Korkuc, as seen through the eyes of his curious nephew, Bob Korkuc who went on a seven year quest to find what happened to Uncle Tony.

The book is a fine blend of World War ll combat in the air, leading up to Tony's death and the education and growth of his nephew, who learned compassion and understanding while interviewing the various survivors of the flight. Both Tony and Bob grew in stature. In a manner Bob finished Tony's last mission.

This search opens a lot of doors to anyone who has lost a service man. There are fewer veterans to interview, but the trail is still inviting, and Bob Korkuc points the way.

Richard N. Larsen
Reviewer

Few books are done this well.

This is an example of superb reporting, the painstaking attention to meticulous detail to create a great story that soars above any slips in writing or inattention in editing.

I've flown in a B-17, roaming from the nose to the waist gun positions. I didn't have the nerve to get into the ball turret or the tail gun position. On the ground, a B-17 looks huge; inside, it's as cramped as a coffin. Unlike a coffin, a B-17 has no smooth edges or soft surfaces; it's as raw an airplane as was ever made.

Crew members must have felt they were on a ducking chair at a county fair, being blasted by unseen shotgunners. There's nowhere to duck, nowhere to hide, nowhere to run for shelter or safety. Korkuc does a great job explaining the nature and nerve of those who did mission after mission.

Thus he describes the raw guts of war. But the gem of his book is his seven-year search through official records and sometimes still shaken memories of airmen and civilians in Germany and the U.S. about the fate of the specific B-17 on which his uncle served and died. This is Ken Burns style of reporting at its very best.

It's a superb story, something almost never seen in today's news reports. It's great history; we already know who won the war, this explains what it took to win. It provides a very human touch to otherwise often impersonal records.

If I were teaching journalism (or history), this book would be mandatory reading. Students would need an "A" to graduate as a reporter or history major. This is as good as it gets, for history or news reporting.

One minor point: If I were editing, I'd want to know how anyone would know a person's final thoughts just moments before death. It's a minor glitch, one I've seen even seasoned journalists make. Nonetheless, Korkuc makes it sound believable because of the detail he gathered.

To sum up, seldom has a better tribute ever been written about the victims of war.

There's a good reason it's received unanimous (as of July 4) reviews -- they are well earned and deserved.

Korkuc tells a beautiful story.

You might read the last chapter of Bob Korkuc's book, Finding a Fallen Hero, and think 'but how does he know? What gives him the right?' The right, that is, to re-create the last day and last minutes of the crew of his uncle's B-17 Flying Fortress, as it goes down in flames over Germany in 1944. But aside from his disclaimer, that this is his own "dramatic portrayal," he has done the work and he has earned the right. Years of exhaustive research, correspondence with surviving crewmembers and their relatives, government records studied, and personal interviews, have brought him as close as anyone could be to the last moments of that plane and that bomber crew. He has taken all the research, all the facts, and masterfully tempered them with poetry . . . his take-off point is a poem written after the war by one of the surviving crew members who was haunted by the deaths of his crewmates. But Korkuc generates his own poetry in his re-creation of the last day. He does it with such sensitivity, such a light touch in the chaos of the plane's final minutes, that if I were a family member of one who died, I believe my overwhelming reaction would be "thank you. . . . thank you for that gift." The research detailed in the twelve chapters that precede that last poetic chapter must have been daunting to do . . . and can sometimes be daunting to read. But Korkuc ties it all together in such a moving way that you can't help but feel the poignancy of those lost lives, and the relevancy to what's happening in the world today.

'Captivating'...'hard to put down'...'thoroughly enjoyable' - all apt descriptors of Bob Korkuc's "Finding a Fallen Hero: The Death of a Ball Turret Gunner". Clocking in a 242 pp. (inclusive of Notes), "Finding a Fallen Hero" is a real page-turner, one easily gotten through even by a slow reader like this reviewer in one sitting. Not only is the story told engagingly (we'll come back to this shortly), but Korkuc is also a talented writer who conveys his prose with an economy of words. Too many historical authors - even some of the better ones - get distracted with side stories and irrelevant facts, not so with Korkuc. It's refreshing to read a book centered on happenings of the Second World War that stays on track and is contained but still grows the reader in having read it.

The basic story told in "Finding a Fallen Hero" is that of Staff Sgt. Anthony (Tony) Joseph Korkuc's (the author's uncle) final flight as a ball turret gunner in a B-17 Flying Fortress (42-37786; unnamed) in the 532nd Bomb Squadron/381st Bomb Group. Tony Korkuc was KIA near Willmandingen, Germany on 25 Feb 1944 while returning from a bombing run to Augsburg, Germany. Although initially buried in Willmandingen, his remains were later relocated to the U.S. Military Cemetery in Saint-Avold, France, and finally interned in a group plot with three other men in Arlington National Cemetery (Virginia). While the story itself is relative straightforward, the path taken by Bob Korkuc to bring his uncle's story to life was far from effortless and took several years of diligent research and some personal discomfort to accomplish. The author's trek to discover the why's and how's surrounding his uncles death and multiple internments began simple enough on a trip to Arlington National Cemetery with his father in 1995 when the latter asked: "I wonder how Tony's remains got from Germany to Arlington?" With this simple question Bob Korkuc embarked on an adventure of investigation and discovery that was to finally bring peace and closure to a long mystery, both for the Korkuc family and possibly the families of the other five men of Staff Sgt. Korkuc's flight who perished that winter day over enemy territory. Thankfully for the reader Bob Korkuc has documented this journey for us to enjoy.

"Finding a Fallen Hero" is much more than a piece of Second World War non-fiction: it's a detective story that reads like an Arthur Conan Doyle novel; a tale of strong brothers-in-arms camaraderie; a story of self- and familial discovery; and a touching account of rememberance and healing of a handful of men who gave much of their youth in defense of their country. Few books this reviewer has read in the WWII genre ever come close to touching so many facets of life then and now. "Finding a Fallen Hero" should appeal to a broad swath of readers, not just those interested in history. Moreover, Korkuc shares with the reader how he went through his process of discovery and exposition in such a way that others can take similar treks if mysteries in need of solving exist in their family histories. Thanks Bob for your insights and thoughtfulness!

In his researching and writing of "Finding a Fallen Hero" Korkuc appears to have found what he was looking for and in doing so has given us insight into his life, his family and glimpses of war in the air over Germany during the Second World War. This reviewer cannot recommend this book highly enough - 5 HUGE stars, two thumbs up.

Geberth has insight and depth in his expansive study on sex-related homicide gleaned from his many years of working within the depths of depravity of driven murderers. His ability to objectively explain the motivations of sex-oriented killings aids those of us who need to understand and investigate crimes of passion and sexual addiction. In plain and forthright language, Geberth brings an understanding of the progession of a murderer's life cycle. A sexually-oriented killer is fearfully portrayed in their first stages of development and eventual growth into an evolving pattern of fulfilling desires to complete fantasies and realities of domination and power. Geberth's thoroughness on this subject is exemplified in his meticulous categorizing of types of sexual addictions and their potential outcomes. This book is a masterpiece of practical study and application in both preemptive prevention of sexually driven crimes and the investigation after their commission.

Vernon Geberths Sex-Related Homicide and Death Investigation is by far the most detailed and informative resource a homicide and sex crimes investigator could wish for. The quality of this work reflects the high professional standards set by Geberth with his Practical Homicide Investigation series. There are other textbooks available, but only Geberth has earned the level of respect and admiration of homicide investigators around the world that his works are referred to as the bible of homicide investigations.

Sex-Related Homicide and Death Investigation clearly demonstrates Geberths talent for translating the most horrific crimes imaginable into an accurately documented and easily understood resource for those involved in the investigation of violent crimes.

If I can't have Geberth himself standing next to me at a crime scene, at least I know that his works will never be more than an arms reach away.

"Vernon J. Geberth's new investigative text, Sex-Related Homicide and Death Investigation, will be a tremendous asset to investigators and prosecutors of sexual predators. His methodical approach to case analysis, augmented with vivid crime scene photographs, documents the step by step investigative procedure used in solving numerous sexually motivated murders. Detective Commander Geberth also provides the reader with his unique in-depth insight into the psychological motivation of the sexual deviant, explaining why the killer has a need to dominate, manipulate, degrade and torture victims."
"This book should be a mandatory reference work, not only for prosecutors and homicide detectives, but also for juvenile and general sex crimes investigators. The information provided describing the motivation and abnormal evolution of these sadistic killers will greatly assist in identifying and questioning homicide suspects and sexual offenders of all ages and stages of development."
Raymond M. Pierce
Detective 1st Grade (Ret.)
NYCPD Criminal Profiler

Vernon Geberth did not just write a book entitled SEX RELATED HOMICIDE AND DEATH INVESTIGATION: PRACTICAL AND CLINICAL PERSPECTIVES. He has created a portable, hand held training simulator for the response to and investigation of the sex-related homicide.
As the reader makes his way through each chapter,you are hit with the same initial shock and revulsion of a sex-related homicide scene. By providing the reader with dozens of photos, analysis, techniques and checklists, Geberth brings you as close to a real time crime scene as possible.In creating this atmosphere Vernon prepares the reader, whether cop or prosecutor, when called upon to investigate the sex related homicide, to professionally deal with the depravity and inhumanity of this evil act and to maintain your professional objective and in so doing focus your efforts toward the only goal that matters "...to see that justice is done not only for the deceased but for the surviving family as well."

Vernon Geberth has provided law enforcement with another major contribution with his book "Sex-Related Homicide and Death Investigation-Practical and Clinical Perspectives." The text is specific to death investigation, up to date, state of the art, accurate and easy to read. Although the material is oriented towards the serious homicide investigator it is valuable to all police personnel (uniformed and non-uniformed), because of its valuable insight into crime scene investigation and preservation by the initial responding officers as well as its contribution to in enhancing any officer who wishes to advance thru the ranks.

In addition to providing valuable insight to the initial responding officers in the preservation of the crime scene it provides knowledge to ancillary police personnel as they may be called upon to assist the chief crime scene investigator.

The case material is reflective of Geberth's remarkable insight into aberrant human behavior and the significance of such concepts as linkage and "linkage blindness" in investigative protocol. The concepts of "signature" and profiling are expanded and built on sound psychological principals. The assessment of psychopathy and sociopathic personality represents the latest understanding of both psychological and law enforcement perspectives.

The section on child related homicide is especially timely and one of the most comprehensive presentations I have seen anywhere. In each section the author has integrated behavioral aspects with a contemporary analysis of state of the art criminal forensic techniques. He has consulted the major contributors to each subject allowing the reader a comprehensive view of the work of leaders in the fields of both law enforcement and psychology.

There are so many seemingly subtle and direct admonitions and directives that one has to read this book thoroughly to realize how thoroughly researched the material is. Properly studied, this volume will not only keep the homicide investigator out of trouble but will enhance his investigative ability enormously contributing to outcomes.

The specific suggestions for interrogation have proven their value over time in countless cases. For example, setting personal feelings aside and allowing the suspect to develop his subterfuge and perception of being "smarter" than the police has proven enormously effective in case after case.

The chapter on crime scene investigation is the best I have seen in the forensic literature, being clearly written, concise, contemporary and comprehensive. This chapter alone is worth the purchase of the book.

As a former biochemist I found the chapter on DNA well researched and very practical. The newest techniques for utilizing DNA are expanded and discussed along with the historical development of this remarkable forensic technique. The author demonstrates how DNA is the most important advance in law enforcement since fingerprinting and the text comes alive with his enthusiasm and practical sense of application. The reader is transported to the crime scene where the complex mysteries become commonplace.

The "hard science," techniques of preserving and analyzing evidence and administrative procedures are interwoven with the behavioral aspects of a large assortment of crimes. This allows the reader to gain an understanding for a solid foundation to prosecute especially with regard to crime scene linkage and signature.

The thought processes of a serial rapist or killer are just one example of how the author
integrates material from various sources including the updated concepts of criminal behavioral profiling and its associated psychodynamics, signature and "MO," with the issues of control, dominance and sadism.

Throughout the book there are references to recent Supreme Court decisions regarding issues associated with search warrants and the involuntary confinement of sexually violent predators, as well as legal defense tactics in use, all of which compliment the investigating officer's repertoire of knowledge.

This book took courage to write and the author does not mince words or principles! This volume is a must for every homicide detective and should be studied daily. "Sex-Related Homicide and Death Investigation" is the most comprehensive and up to date text regarding sexual death investigation that I have come across in the forensic and psychiatric literature. This book is a gift to the law enforcement community and a contribution of historical importance.

Ronald Turco, M.D.
Past President-The American Academy of Psychoanalysis (New York, NY)
Past president-The Society of Psychoanalytic Physicians (Washington D.C.)
Reserve Police Officer-Beaverton, Oregon Police Department (25 years)

If you love traditional English murder mysteries, you'll fall in love with G.M. Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer. It's a modern spin on an old favorite. The writing is clean and crisp with pitch perfect English humor and upper crust snobbery. Malliet is today's heir to Agatha Christie.

Death of a Cozy Writer by G.M. Malliet is a superlative English mystery. It's witty, the use of language is superb, and when one gets to the last 100 pages, it cannot be put down. I think this work belongs in the same category as Dorothy Sayers and Dame Agatha Christie. I can't wait for Malliet's next book, "Death and the Lit Chic." If it is anything like this first novel, I will be overjoyed.

Have to admit, I bought DEATH OF A COZY WRITER (in large part because it was reminiscent of the M.C. Beaton titles) and jumped the gun by skipping to the excerpt from DEATH AND THE CHICK LIT. This novel has a very cute opening, obviously parodying chick lit. Hope Kimberlee is the victim!! Anyway, the first pages promise a good, tongue-in-cheek excursion into the commercial publishing world. For a traditional British mystery a' la Agatha Christie with a contemporary twist and light romance, try Christmas is Murder: A Rex Graves Mystery by C.S. Challinor, by the same publisher.

G.M. Malliet's Death of a Cozy Writer is a good old-fashioned British drawing room mystery. The ill-fated writer of the book's title is Sir Adrian Beauclerk-Fisk, whose best-selling series of Miss Rampling mysteries has left him rolling in pounds. Sir Adrian's favorite sport is altering his will, disinheriting one or another of his four children in response to real or perceived slights, or for exhibiting questionable taste, among innumerable other possible offenses--torturing them by playing a sort of Russian roulette with their inheritances. Eager to see them all squirm simultaneously and in close quarters, he invites his brood to Waverly Court, Adrian's 18th-century estate in Cambridgeshire, to celebrate his impending nuptials to a woman all four assume will be a British version of Anna Nicole Smith. The invitations prompt the expected amount of shock and complaint. The get-together itself proves to be murderous.

Death of a Cozy Writer is the first in a new series featuring Detective Chief Inspector St. Just of the Cambridgeshire Constabulary and Sergeant Fear. The crime-fighting pair are not introduced, however, until we are some one hundred pages into the book, after a crime has been committed. And when St. Just and Fear do appear we are not told that much about them. Some details emerge: Fear has a daughter; St. Just has a cat aptly named Deerstalker. But while the other characters in the book are described in great detail--the malevolent Sir Adrian and his scheming brood, the help at Waverly Court--the detectives themselves are not fleshed out. This seems odd, as it is St. Just and his right-hand man who will have to anchor the series as its recurring characters, long after the Beauclerk-Fisks have been left on their own to run through their inheritances. It is interesting that the author has elected to breathe life into characters who will (presumably) be replaced in subsequent outings rather than beefing up her portrayal of St. Just.

Malliet's writing is lovely:

"Natasha admired the woman's self-possession. It was an excellent impersonation of aristocracy putting the revolting masses back in their place. Natasha, who had done her own research, found the act nearly pitch-perfect--for an act it was, she was certain. She wouldn't have put it past Lillian to have arrived at breakfast dressed in jodhpurs, cracking a whip against her highly polished boots, despite the absence of a stables for forty miles or more. Instead, Lillian had opted for the simple wool sheath bedecked with a king's ransom in pearls at neck and wrist: the uniform of the bored society matron. But not, Natasha recognized, quite the done thing for breakfast in a country manor house."

And the mystery certainly kept me guessing until all was revealed in the requisite drawing room scene at the book's end. (I am left confused about one issue I should have liked tied up, though, having to do with the identity of Sir Adrian's secretary.) All in all a delightful read. I look forward to more in the St. Just series.

-- Debra Hamel

Let us begin this review with a blunt declaration: G.M. Malliet can WRITE. And, more vitally, she can tell a story.

The plot of Death of a Cozy Writer revolves around a wealthy, aging aristocrat's will, a storyline harkening back to Kyd's Spanish Tragedy and Shakespeare's King Lear. Ms. Malliet's novel's central conceit is a British detective procedural that gently skewers the Cozy mystery sub-genre within an English country house setting. Familiar ground, brilliantly re-traversed. Moreover, Malliet manages to honor the sacred concord between mystery writer and reader by faithfully observing the requisite genre conventions, but in her own quirky, tongue-in-chic style.

The author uses the early chapters to depict the various characters with wit and unusual insight. She then deposits them at the nimbly executed meal en famille, a model of nuanced familial interaction and serial revelation. Once the estimable DCI St. Just and obligatory sidekick are introduced into the mix, the pace quickens and the reader is catapulted into a dizzying vortex of misdirection, surprise, and, echoing Greek tragedies, recognition and reversal. So sure, so authoritative is Malliet's grasp of character, plot, and convention as she propels the intricate plot to conclusion, I felt I had witnessed a display of narrative virtuosity equal to that of any first rate mystery writer's very best work.

Appetite whetted, I avidly await the gifted G.M. Malliet's next literary outing. Perhaps she will even include a "Death of an Amazon Reviewer" book in this promising series. Hmmm, I better hide the cutlery......

Jerry Sykes makes an auspicious, character-drive debut with LOSE THIS SKIN, introducing us to Frank Roscoe, a detective with a lot of things in his past, and a lot on his mind. Just as strong as Sykes' characters are his London locales (particularly Camdentown), which shimmer grittily at the turn of every page. Highly recommended.

According to the book jacket, Jerry Sykes is a two-time winner of the British Crime Writers' Association's Short Story Dagger award. The only other author to have achieved this feat is Ian Rankin. And while this debut novel may not quite be up there with Rankin, Sykes more than hits the ground running and shows that he has lost none of his storytelling skills in the move from the mile to the marathon.

Detective Frank Roscoe is not dealing well with the aftermath of a drive-by shooting that left him with a shattered foot. So when an old friend asks him to look into the death of her son he reluctantly agrees. The boy had been killed under the wheels of a police car and the official line is that it was an accident but his mother thinks differently.

Meanwhile another mother is questioning her role in the death of her son from a drugs overdose as she tries to keep her other son on the straight and narrow. She had been a recreational user as her son was growing up and she is convinced that this contributed to his death somehow.

The two strands eventually intertwine in a finale that is as heartbreaking as it is unexpected.

Readers of a certain age may also take great delight in the many references to The Clash in the book. The story is set in their old stomping ground in North London and reminders of their ongoing influence are littered throughout.

In Camdentown, England Detective Inspector Frank Roscoe still seeks the drive by gunman who shattered his left heel seven months ago. Several days a week, Roscoe returns to the Echo Barn bar, the scene of the crime hoping to find a witness, but so far nothing. Physically he is nearly back to what he was, but mentally the wounds remain festering.

Family friend Rhiannon Burns pleads with Roscoe to investigate the death of her ten years old son Karl in a domestic violence incident in which a police car hit the child. She thinks the cops were trying to hit someone else, but a push sent her son into the path of the vehicle. Roscoe assumes this is a grieving mother looking for a purpose to her child's tragic death, but to mollify her he agrees to investigate the incident. He quickly reassesses his first opinion of a tragic accident as it begins to appear the driver, a cop, purposely targeted someone in the crowd. Motivated for the first time since his incident, Frank digs deeper into what happened.

LOSE THIS SKIN is a fascinating private investigative tale starring a cop on medical leave haunted by a personal incident that he cannot let go of until the grieving mother hooks him into making inquiries into her son's wrongful death accident. Readers will initially agree with Frank and the police department that Karl's death was a tragedy and his mom cannot let go, but will begin to change their minds (like Frank does) as the injured detective begins to uncover disparities. Tragic accident or murder of the wrong person, fans will want to know as Jerry Sykes writes a wonderful mystery.

A great crime novel, if you like British author Ian Rankin you'll love this...

Two women who have lost sons in tragic circumstances are at the center of this impressive debut mystery. And the book is as much about their ongoing stories as it is about Detective Frank Roscoe, the nominal main character, as he helps out one of the women, an old family friend, when much to her sorrow and disbelief the death of her son under the wheels of a police cruiser responding to a domestic incident is dubbed a tragic accident.

While the pace and the pull of the plot are strong, it is the veracity of the characters, with all their shortcomings and their small human surprises, that makes this book so good. Roscoe, on medical leave following a drive-by shooting by a gunman still out there in the night, is a particular delight, full of his own foibles and flaws, especially in his burgeoning relationship with a new female colleague.

Like all the best mystery writers, Sykes understands that if you make it real, the readers will come.

I was first introduced to this book way back in junior high. It soon became a favorite and I borrowed it from our school library numerous times. Eventually it was so worn out it was discarded and given to me. My copy got worn out and taped together after many reads. I finally was given the chance to replace my copy with this new release. I love the style of the printing. It seems to glow off the page. A great re-release for a great novel!

Facing the threat of possible separation after the deaths of their parents, 15-year-old Matt McKendrick flees his tiny Idaho ranching community with his deaf younger sister Katie. Once they hit Los Angeles, however, Matt quickly learns that he never anticipated how hard life in a major city might be.

Leaving Katie in an abandoned theatre as he searches for work, Matt returns to discover Katie's been murdered...and *he* is the primary suspect! In a place where no one knows him, Matt struggles to clear his name -- a daunting task, with most of the LAPD believing he is guilty, and the media creating a public frenzy.

With the encouragement of his partner Tony Prado -- and his own family -- Lt. Les Ryder slowly learns to look past Matt's tough, angry exterior and become acquainted with the teenager inside. He begins to think that maybe, just maybe, Matt is telling the truth...

The Truth Trap is about a sad family. Two kids are on thier own. This book shows how Matt, the teenager in the book, is really dedicated to his family. His younger sister, Katie is deaf. Matt took care of Katie after their parents dies in a car accident. People tried to separate them so they run away to stay together. I wish that Katie had lived. Matt went to a lot of struggles to get the family that he is with now to trust him. All in all this is a good book.

"The Truth Trap" is one of the best young adult novels of the last decade. A hard-hitting look at the pain and suffering of Matt McKendrick, the novel shows his attempt to survive the murder of his sister. Adding to that difficulty is the fact that he is the police's primary suspect! Having taught this book for a number of years, I can tell you that the scene in jail is enough to convince any male teenager not to commit a crime; it's unforgettable. Matt is a survivor, however, and he fights back against the loss of his sister and his reputation. An excellent page-turner, "The Truth Trap" will keep you up at night until you finish. My sole warning to the reader: there are three sequels, and the murder mystery is not solved at the end of the first novel (which sometimes angers my students, until I tell them that the sequels are in our school library!).

I first read this book about five or six years ago and loved it. My friends bought me the sequels, and they're great, too. ("Aren't You the One Who...?", "Losers and Winners", and "Cutting Loose"). I've reread "The Truth Trap" a few times, always looking in the library for it, and I'm finally going to buy it now. Amazingly, each time I read it I find something new: another nuance, another aspect of emotion. Miller is a great author, giving the reader deep looks into the characters' personalities and emotions. Her plots are unbeatable for excitement and interest. Having read each of the four books about Matt McKendrick a few times, I still find myself getting teary-eyed. Sometimes I just skim the book, looking for all the good parts (many per book). I strongly recommend these books!