The forensic casebook : the science of crime scene investigation / N.E. Genge.

An intrepid investigator crawls through miles of air conditioning ducts to capture the implicating fibers of a suspect's wool jacket ... A forensic entomologist discovers insects in the grill of a car and nails down a drug dealer's precise geographical path ... A gluttonous criminal's fingerprints are lifted from a chocolate truffle. ... Filled with these and many other intriguing true stories, and packed with black and white illustrations and photographs, The Forensic Casebook draws on interviews with police personnel and forensic scientists-including animal examiners, botanists, zoologists, firearms specialists, and autoposists-to uncover the vast and detailed underworkings of criminal investigation. Encyclopedic in scope, this riveting, authoritative book leaves no aspect of forensic science untouched, covering such fascinating topics as: - Securing a crime scene - Identifying blood splatter patterns - Collecting fingerprints-and feet, lip, and ear prints - Interpreting the stages of a body's decay - Examining hair and fiber evidence - Trace evidence from firearms and explosives - "Lifting" DNA prints - Computer crime and forensic photography - Career paths in criminal science.