American Sherlock: Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI

Product Information

Oscar Heinrich, his professional accomplishments are admirable. The first to use scientific investigations for solving a crime. The first to use blood spatter analysis and to use UV light to determine blood. He testified in many criminal cases. In some he was successful but not all, which irked him beyond belief. The master sleuth hunts his archenemy, Professor Moriarty, who is planning the crime of the century. John Gielgud played Holmes for BBC radio in the 1950s, with Ralph Richardson as Watson. Gielgud's brother, Val Gielgud, appeared in " The Bruce-Partington Plans", perhaps inevitably as Mycroft Holmes. As this series was co-produced by the American Broadcasting Company, known American actors also appeared, such as Orson Welles as Professor Moriarty in " The Adventure of the Final Problem". Heinrich had many failings during his own time as well. The author regularly notes that he was criticized for being too scientific in his testimony which confused jurors. I found this surprising as he was a teacher, but it’s also a skill to be able to explain the things you know well to different kinds of people who have various levels of understanding. When the author, Kate Winkler Dawson, became interested in writing a book about Heinrich, she discovered that all his case files had been bequeathed to the University of California at Berkeley, where he taught forensic Science for thirty years, but had been left catalogued for over fifty years due to budget constraints. Winkler was able to persuade the University archivist to undertake the mammoth job of cataloguing the thousands of pieces of information in the collection and to open the collection to research. Heinrich kept everything from all his cases and his personal life – notes, letters, photographs, newspaper articles, even bullets and other evidence providing a rich treasure trove for a researcher.

American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson | Waterstones

Dawson balances the two sides of her book deftly, moving nimbly between dramatic renditions of the mysteries Heinrich helped solve, or sometimes didn’t, and reflections on his scientific analyses and personal struggles…As thought-provoking as it is thrilling.” — Columbus Dispatch A fascinating book worthy of being associated with the title's literary sleuth. Readers will want a follow-up so they can discover more of Heinrich's cases as told through Dawson's great storytelling." - Library Journal The Hound of the Baskervilles: 1: The Baskerville Curse". BBC Genome: Radio Times. BBC . Retrieved 30 July 2020. Allene Lamson's gruesome death would soon attract more attention than her quiet, ordinary life. Her friendships and her marriage would offer morbid fodder for a scandal-hungry press and a politically savvy prosecutor. Most of Allene's friends didn't realize that her gracious smile had hidden some troubling secrets, but soon everyone would know. She was married to a killer-even he had admitted it. And soon newspapers across America would accuse David Lamson of murdering Allene, too. But that narrative would unfurl later. For another few minutes Allene Thorpe Lamson would lie alone, dying in warm bathwater.

The book focuses on eight of Heinrich’s more famous cases, not all of them successful, demonstrating his use of deduction and development of forensic science methods. Although, I felt the book could have been less choppy and more cohesively written, it’s a fascinating look at the evolving use of forensic science and criminology in some interesting cases, as well as the American justice system at the time and the difficulty of getting juries to accept and trust new types of evidence. Allene was still feeling poorly, but David had anticipated that. The water from the tub in the next room rumbled through the pipes-a hot bath was waiting for her. David had also prepared a breakfast tray in the kitchen with a bowl filled with Shredded Wheat cereal, a container of cream, and hot water for her morning cup of Postum, a popular coffee substitute made of whole grains and molasses for those who didn't care for caffeine. The author writes in a narrative style, drawing the reader in. Her storytelling flow keeps the book easy to read, especially as a non-fiction book. There are interesting passages in this book - when the author focuses on how painstakingly meticulous and systematic Heinrich was both in his professional and personal life, how he was developing his methods, and how ingeniously he was able to apply them to cases that confounded others. But these parts are few and far between, separated by inexpertly written, mind-numbing paragraphs devoted solely to the minutiae of life in the US in 1920s and 1930s, and author's lengthy suppositions on the emotional and mental states of the various historical figures appearing in the book. Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.

Elementary (TV Series 2012–2019) - IMDb

Former English teacher Jessica Fletcher travels to New York to celebrate the success of her debut novel. But when an unwanted guest is murdered by gunfire at a costume party, she wishes she'd stayed home. This book begins and ends with one of Heinrich’s most famous cases about a man accused of killing his wife. The author takes the reader through the case and his methods. In the end, she leaves it to the reader to determine if the outcome was what it should have been. A biography of a little-known but influential forensic scientist told through the crimes that he helped solve.

With so much material still in Heinrich’s archives, I suspect this book has only skimmed the surface and there may be more than enough for further books on this important pioneer of forensic science in criminal investigation. So, when I found this book at another Little Free Library, I was instantly intrigued. I couldn’t help but wonder…