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Crime Scene Investigations Booklist
Page Modified: June 1, 2007
Includes books about Forsensic Science, Forensic Psychology, Forensic Anthropolgy, Medical Examiners, Crime Scene Investigations, etc. The list includes fiction and nonfiction.
A list of books, many of which received at least one starred review (indicating a work of unusual merit) from the following review sources: Booklist (BL), Publisher's Weekly (PW), Kirkus, and Library Journal (LJ). Additional titles of interest may be included on this list. Titles are alphabetically by author.
Annotations are from Advance, the Ingram Book Magazine, unless noted.Fiction/Mystery & Suspense
- Denial
Author: Ablow, Keith
Publisher: Pantheon List Price: $24 ISBN: 0679442111 Date: 1997
Kirkus
A stunning psychological thriller by an electrifying new author. Emotionally tormented forensic psychologist Frank Clevenger has all his understanding and expertise put to the test when he is asked to rubber-stamp the competence of a homeless schizophrenic who has confessed to a particularly grisly murder.
- Compulsion
Author: Ablow, Keith
Publisher: St Martins $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312266413 Date: 2002
Booklist
Forensic psychiatrist Frank Clevenger investigates the murder of the infant daughter of a prominent billionaire. Clevenger soon finds himself drawn into the maze of a psychosexual family history--and he must play the ultimate game to catch a killer.
Updated 8.13.04 - Skeleton Crew
Author: Connor, Beverly
Publisher: Cumberland House $ 20.95 ISBN: 1-58182-042-9 Date: 1999
Booklist
In an adventure fraught with modern-day pirates, a hurricane, and a dead body, Lindsay Chamberlain dives for sunken treasure and attempts to solve a 440-year-old murder mystery.
- Vector
Author: Cook, Robin
Publisher: Putnam Price: $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399144714 Date: 1999
Kirkus
When Dr. Jack Stapleton and Dr. Laurie Montgomery (both last seen in Cook's Chromosome 6) witness some unusual cases in their capacities as New York City forensic pathologists, the question soon becomes whether the pair will solve the puzzle before a terrorist unleashes ultimate terror in the form of a modern bioweapon.
- Postmortem
Author: Cornwell, Patricia
Publisher: Scribner $ 21 ISBN: 0684191415 Date: 1989
PW
The novel that launched the career of the #1 "New York Times" bestselling author and introduced gutsy medical examiner Kay Scarpetta.
Updated 8.13.04 - All That Remains
Author: Cornwell, Patricia
Publisher: Scribner $ 26 ISBN: 0684193957 Date: 1992
PW
Best Books for Young Adults
A masterly Dr. Kay Scarpetta novel by the author of Body of Evidence and Postmortem. A killer stalks young lovers, taking their lives and leaving behind just a single clue--one playing card. Four couples have been murdered, their remains turning up months after their abandoned automobiles are discovered. It is a ferocious case only the Chief Medical Examiner for the state of Virginia can solve.
Updated 8.13.04 - Cruel & Unusual
Author: Cornwell, Patricia
Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 0684195305 Date: 1993
Kirkus PW
Best Books for Young Adults
When a convicted murderer is executed but the killings do not stop, medical examiner Kay Scarpetta discovers a trail to state government.
Updated 8.13.04 - From Potter's Field
Author: Cornwell, Patricia
Publisher: Scribner $ 26 ISBN: 0684195984 Date: 1995
Booklist Kirkus
The sixth suspenseful thriller starring forensic pathologist Dr. Kay Scapetta, by the award-winning author of The Body Farm. While Scarpetta searches for clues to the identity of a young woman murdered by serial killer Temple Brooks Gault, the fiend claims his next victim--and manages to infiltrate the FBI's top secret artificial intelligence system.
Updated 8.13.04 - Point of Origin
Author: Cornwell, Patricia
Publisher: Putnam $ 25.95 ISBN: 0399143947 Date: 1998
Kirkus
America's leading crime writer combines her literary talent and style with a fierce commitment to justice in her thrilling and complex new novel - a gripping story that pits Kay Scarpetta, Virginia's Chief Medical Examiner, against and audacious and wily killer who uses fire to mask his crimes.
- Black Notice
Author: Cornwell, Patricia
Publisher: Putnam List Price: $ 25.95 ISBN: 0399145087 Date: 1999
Kirkus
PW
Library Journal
Kay Scarpetta is taken an ocean's length away from home in the newest high-stakes novel by bestselling author Patricia Cornwell. A cargo ship arriving from Belgium at Richmond's Deep Water Terminal is discovered to be transporting a locked, sealed container holding the decomposed remains of a stowaway.
Suggested Reading: All Stars
- The Bone Collector
Author: Deaver, Jeffrey
Publisher: Viking List Price: $22.95 ISBN: 067086871x Date: 1997
Kirkus
Paralyzed as a result of an accident on the job, ex-criminalist Lincoln Rhyme is hiding from a life he no longer cares to live. But after seeing a certain intriguing crime report, Lincoln abandons retirement to decipher the ingenious evidence left by a killer who is picking off new victims by the hour.
- The Coffin Dancer
Author: Deaver, Jeffrey
Publisher: Simon & Schuster List Price: $ 25 ISBN: 0684852853 Date: 1998
PW
Kirkus
Quadriplegic detective Lincoln Rhyme, the foremost criminologist in the NYPD, is reunited with his beautiful protege, Amelia Sachs, in this masterful thriller about a chameleon-like assassin loose on the streets of New York City.
- The Empty Chair
Author: Deaver, Jeffrey
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25 ISBN: 0684855631 Date: 2000
Booklist
From the bestselling author of The Bone Collector and The Devil's Teardrop comes a spine tingling new thriller that pits reknowned quadripelgic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme against the ultimate opponent - Amelia Sachs, his own brilliant protegee. - Publisher marketing.
Updated 3/16/00 - The Stone Monkey
Author: Deaver, Jeffrey
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25 ISBN: 0743221990 Date: 2002
LJ
With The Stone Monkey, New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver revives his most beloved characters, Lincoln Rhyme and Amelia Sachs, and takes them to another level. The book abounds with Deaver's famous trademarks: deadlines every few hours, wholly unexpected plot twists, his breakneck pacing, and characters who are heartbreakingly real.
Updated 3/5/02 - The Vanished Man
Author: Deaver, Jeffrey
Publisher: Simon & Schuster $ 25.95 ISBN: 0743222008 Date: 2003
PW
The bestselling author of The Stone Monkey is back with a brilliant thriller that pits forensic criminologist Lincoln Rhyme and his partner Amelia Sachs against an unstoppable killer with one final, horrific trick up his sleeve.
Updated 1.20.03 - Twenty Blue Devils
Author: Elkins, Aaron
Publisher: Mysterious Press List Price: $ 22 ISBN: 0892964677 Date: 1997
PW
Kirkus
Anthropologist/sleuth Gideon Oliver travels to Tahiti with FBI agent John Lau to exhume the body buried on a coffee plantation - only to be told when they arrive that their services are no longer needed. Sensing a secret too tantalizing to ignore, Gideon and John dig up the bones anyway.
- Skeleton Dance
Author: Elkins, Aaron
Publisher: Morrow $ 23 ISBN: 0688159281 Date: 2000
PW
After a dog drags home a few bones, the village's chief inspector finds reason to suspect foul play and places a call to his old friend Gideon Oliver, the famed "Skeleton Detective." Once Gideon arrives, murder piles on murder, puzzle on puzzle, and electrifying surprise on surprise.
Updated 4/13/00. - Amnesia
Author: Ephron, G.H.
Publisher: Minotaur $ 23.95 ISBN: 031226867x Date: 2000
Kirkus
Sylvia Jackson was shot in the head and left for dead, her boyfriend murdered. Waking from a coma after six weeks, she remembers nothing, until three months later, when she begins to recall details of the crime and the killer. It's up to forensic psychologist Dr. Peter Zak to determine how reliable Syl's memory really is and use those memories to uncover the truth.
Updated 7/21/00 - A Place of Hiding
Author: George, Elizabeth
Publisher: Bantam $ 26.95 ISBN: 0553801309 Date: 2003
PW
The "New York Times" bestselling author explores new territory in the darker landscapes of human relationships in this gripping story of betrayal and devotion, war and remembrance, and love and loss on an isolated island in the English Channel.
Updated 6.2.03 - The Sinner
Author: Gerritsen, Tess
Publisher: Ballantine $ 24.95 ISBN: 0345458915 Date: 2003
Kirkus
After two women are killed, medical examiner Maura Isles and homicide detective Jane Rizzoli uncover an ancient horror in a cloistered convent that leads them toward a dawning revelation about the killer's identity--one that's too shattering to consider.
Updated 6.19.03 - A Fall in Denver: An Em Hansen Mystery
Author: Andrews, Sarah
Publisher: Scribner $ 20 ISBN: 0684815230 Date: 1995
PW
Em Hansen mixes forensics and geology as she investigates murder with ecological overtones at a Denver oil company.
Updated 8.30.04 - Haunted Ground: A Crime
Novel
Author: Hart, Erin
Publisher: Scribner $ 24 ISBN: 0743235053 Date: 2003
Library Journal Booklist
This dazzling crime novel debut--already an international sensation--is from a gifted author who combines rich atmosphere with archeology, history, and extraordinary forensic detail.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 5.14.03 - Outside the Rules
Author: Jones, Dylan
Publisher: St Martins $ 21 ISBN: 0312118732 Date: 1995
Booklist
Natalie Vine, one of Britain's top forensic psychiatrists, spends every day trying to get inside the heads of some of the most violent criminals imaginable. Locked in Thomas Meredith's mind are terrible visions of how a serial killer tortured and murdered his girlfriend in front of his very eyes. Natalie is the one person with the ability to make Meredith bring to the surface the horror that he has buried so deeply--and she must succeed, for Meredith is the only living witness to this murderer's actions, and he has started killing again... - Publisher Marketing.
Updated 8.13.04 - Darkly Dreaming Dexter
Author: Lindsey, Jeff
Publisher: Doubleday $ 22.95 ISBN: 038551123x Date: 2004
PW Booklist LJ
Darkly Dreaming Dexter is a new kind of mystery novel starring a lovable serial killer, one Dexter Morgan, who only kills bad people and who cringes at the sight of blood.
Suggested Reading: Debuts | Serial Killers | All Stars
Updated 6.17.04 - A Desperate Silence
Author: Lovett, Sarah
Publisher: Villard List Price: $ 24 ISBN: 0679435611 Date: 1998
Booklist
The author of Dangerous Attachments and Acquired Motives delivers another spellbinding novel featuring Santa Fe forensic psychiatrist Dr. Sylvia Strange. In A Desperate Silence, Dr. Strange becomes the counselor for a mute child who is the target of a drug lord's hit man. Why the child is prey - and why she is too terrified to speak - is the brilliantly hard-edged plot of this thriller.
- Feast of the Carrion
Author: McCarthy, Keith
Publisher: Carroll & Graf $ 25 ISBN: 0786712228 Date: 2003
Kirkus
Introducing crack forensic pathologist John Eisenmenger and solicitor Helena Flemming in this compelling crime series.
Suggested Reading: Fiction & Mystery Debuts
Updated 6.30.03 - The Last Temptation
Author: McDermid, Val
Publisher: Minotaur $ 24.95 ISBN: 0312290896 Date: 2002
PW
The bestselling, award-winning master of crime writing delivers a white-knuckle ride through corruption, cruelty, and violence that merges the dark world of forensic psychology and the crime-soaked countries of post-Cold War Europe.
Updated 8.13.02 - Anil's Ghost
Author: Ondaatje, Michael
Publisher: Knopf $ 25 ISBN: 0375410538 Date: 2000
Booklist PW
ALA Notable Book
Anil's Ghost transports readers to Sri Lanka, a country steeped in centuries of tradition, now forced into the late 20th century by the ravages of civil war. Into this maelstrom steps Anil Tissera, a young woman who returns to her homeland as a forensic anthropologist sent by an international human rights group to discover the source of the organized campaigns of murder engulfing the island.
Updated 8.13.04 - Chain of Evidence
Author: Pearson, Ridley
Publisher: Hyperion $ 22.95 ISBN: 078686172x Date: 1995
PW
Police sergeant Joe "Dart" Dartelli can't even tell at first that the bodies have been murdered. They all look like suicides or accidents--except for a rare chemical in the blood of each. Even more terrifying to Dart is that the victims seem to be related to the long-ago murder of Lucky Zeller, the only man believed to be more brilliant at understanding the art of forensics than Dart himself. Could Zeller be behind the murders?
Updated 8.30.04 - Deja Dead
Author: Reichs, Kathy
Publisher: Scribner List Price: $ 24 ISBN: 0684841177 Date: 1997
PW
LJ
Kirkus
A dazzling debut, this forensic thriller was the toast of the Frankfurt Book Fair, leading Variety to hail Reichs as " the next Patricia Cornwell". Tempe Brennan had planned a quiet weekend, but duty calls. The chopped-up body parts she is faced with remind Tempe of the unsolved case of the torture and murder of a 16-year-old girl. Tempe suspects a connection between the two and must use all her forensic and investigative skills to convince police.
Suggested Reading: All Stars - Death Du Jour
Author: Reichs, Kathy
Publisher: Scribner Price: $ 25 ISBN: 0684841185 Date: 1999
PW
Booklist
Using her forensic skills - from the crime scene to the morgue to the lab - Tempe Brennan probes a mystery that begins with horrifying deaths in a fire in Quebec and culminates in Montreal with a terrifying showdown.
- Deadly Decisions
Author: Reichs, Kathy
Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 0684859718 Date: 2000
Library Journal
Emily Anne Toussant, nine years old, is shot dead on a Montreal street. A North Carolina teen disappears and parts of her skeleton are found hundreds of miles away. For forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan, the deaths act as a catalyst, propelling her deep into the culture of outlaw motorcycle gangs where one misstep could bring disaster.
Updated 6/6/00 - Fatal Voyage
Author: Reichs, Kathy
Publisher: Scribner $ 25 ISBN: 0684859726 Date: 2001
LJ
World-class forensic anthropologist and bestselling author of Deja Dead and Deadly Decisions, Kathy Reichs goes behind the scenes of a devastating plane crash in an electrifying new thriller starring Dr. Temperance Brennan.
Updated 7/5/01 - Over the Line
Author: Sultan, Faye & Teresa Kennedy
Publisher: Doubleday Price: $ 22.95 ISBN: 0385485255 Date: 1998
Booklist
When a not-too-bright but harmless delivery "boy" for the local grocery store murders and sexually mutilates two elderly women in the small town of Dixon, South Carolina, the defense team calls in forensic psychologist Portia McTeague to evaluate his mental state.
- Higher Authority
Author: White, Stephen
Publisher: Viking List Price: $ 22.95 ISBN: 0670850403 Date: 1994
PW
Dr. Alan Gregory's fiance, attorney Lauren Crowder, is thrown into a maelstrom of violence as a case of sexual harassment strikes a devastating chord among the nation's most powerful leaders. But this legal time bomb soon explodes when crucial evidence disappears--and a killer strikes.
- Harm's Way
Author: White, Stephen
Publisher: Viking List Price: $ 22.95 ISBN: 0670858617 Date: 1996
PW
Winning the praise of critics and fans everywhere, bestselling author Stephen White is poised to take thriller fiction by storm with this new breakout novel. In this gripping tale of psychological suspense, Dr. Alan Gregory returns to solve the murder of a close friend by a suspected serial killer. But his search for answers leads only to more deadly questions.
- Remote Control
Author: White, Stephen
Publisher: Dutton List Price: $ 23.95 ISBN: 0525942696 Date: 1997
Kirkus
After her father, the Surgeon General of the United States, is assassinated, Emma Spire moves to Colorado to look for a quieter life. But the publicity surrounding the assassination has made Emma the target of someone whose obsession with her goes far beyond tabloid headlines.
- Noreen Ayres
- D.J. Donaldson
- Leonard Goldberg
- Christine Green
- Michelle Jaffe
- Iris Johansen
- Shirley Kennett
- Nigel Mcrery
- Bill Pomidor
- Claire Rayner
- Ann Salter
- Karin Slaughter
- Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab, The Body Farm, Where the Dead Do Tell Tales
Author: Bass, William M. & Jon Jefferson
Publisher: Putnam $ 24.95 ISBN: 0399151346 Date: 2003
As one of the world's leading forensic anthropologists, Dr. Bass, a master scientist and engaging storyteller, shares his most intriguing cases: his revisit of the Lindbergh murder; the mystery of a headless corpse, and many others.
Updated 8.13.04 - Teasing Secrets from the Dead: My Investigations at America's Most Infamous Crime Scenes
Author: Craig, Emily A.
Publisher: Crown $ 24.95 ISBN: 1400049229 Date: 2004
Kirkus
A forensic anthropologist recounts her unlikely career, which has ranged from murder victims discovered in the backwoods of Appalachia to some of the highest-profile cases of our time.
Updated 6.30.04 - No Stone Unturned: The True Story of Necrosearch
International, the World's Premier Forensic Investigators
Author: Jackson, Steve
Publisher: Kensington $ 24 ISBN: 1575664569 Date: 2002
PW
New York Times bestselling author Steve Jackson offers a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at NecroSearch International, an organization of the nation's top scientists and other specialists who help solve "unsolvable" crimes.
Updated 11.27.01 - The Bone Woman: A Forensic Anthropologist's Search for Truth in the Mass Graves of Rwanda, Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo
Author: Koff, Clea
Publisher: Random $ 24.95 ISBN: 1400060648 Date: 2004
Published ten years after the genocide in Rwanda, The Bone Woman is a riveting account by a forensic anthropologist sent on missions by the UN War Crimes Tribunal. As she recounts the details of her work, the hellish working conditions, the bureaucracy, and the heartbreak of survivors, Koff imbues her story with a sense of hope, humanity, and justice.
Updated 8.13.04 - Forensics for Dummies (2004)
- Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers by Michael Baden (2001)
- No Bone Unturned: The Adventures of a Top Smithsonian Forensic Scientist and the Legal Battle for America's Oldest Skeletons by Jeff Benedict (2003)
- Murder Two: The Second Casebook of Forensic Detection by Colin Evans (2004)
- Witnesses From the Grave: The Stories Bones Tell by Christopher Joyce (1991)
- Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist by William Maples (1994)
- Mortal Evidence: The Forensics Behind Nine Shocking Cases by Cyril H. Wecht (2003)
- The Bone Detectives: How Forensic Anthropologists Solve Crimes and Uncover Mysteries of the Dead
Author: Kallner, Donna Jackson
Publisher: Little Brown $ 17.95 ISBN: 0316829358 Date: 1996
PW SLJ
ALA Notable Childrens Books, SLJ Best Books, ALA Quick PicksIt's said that "dead men tell no tales" -- yet their bones have some interesting stories to reveal. That's what police depend on when the only clues to a crime are the bones of the victim. Then it's time to call in the "bone detectives".
Following forensic anthropologist Dr. Michael Charney step-by-step through an investigation, this book shows how a person's sex, race, age, height, and weight can be determined from studying his or her bones and teeth; how markings on bones can be "read" to establish cause of death; how a sculptor uses clay to reconstruct a face from a skull so it can be publicized in the media and possibly recognized; and how all of this information can be used to help crack a case. - Publisher Marketing.
Suggested for 5th grade +
Updated 8.13.04
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