Search MnSTA

Forensic Books for High School Students

Patti Nolan Bertino 1.14.15

There are many great non-fiction forensics books that are of high interest to students. This is just a very small list. As part of my forensics class, I often read excerpts from the following books. After hearing sections of these books, many students become motivated to read the rest of the book.

 

A suggestion for teachers: As you read books, articles, and blogs record the topic and page number in the back of the book or article so that when you want to find that passage again next year, you can easily locate the reference in the back of the book ex. Pg 56 Bones: male vs. Female. Add a stick-em note to that page with the topic on the note. 

  

High School Forensic Textbook

Bertino, Anthony, and Bertino, Patrician N., Forensic Science: Fundamentals and Investigations, Mason, Ohio:Cengage/National Geographic Learning, 2016.

General

Cohle, Stephen, M.D., and Tobin T. Buhk, Cause of Death.Amherst, New York: Prometheus, 2007.

 

Blood 

MacDonell, Herbert Leon, Bloodstain Patterns, Elmira Heights, New York: Golos Printing, 2005, Second revised edition  

Wonder, Anita Y., Bloodstain Pattern Evidence, Boston, MA: Elsevier Academic Press, 2007     (more advanced many physics applications)

 

Bones (Forensic Anthropology)

Hansen, Joyce and McGowan, Gary, Breaking Ground Breaking Silence, New York, New York: Henry Holt, 1998    (Story of New York City African Burial Ground)

Jackson, Donna M., The Bone Detectives, Hong Kong, Little, Brown & Company, 1996

Massie, Robert K., The Romanovs: The Final Chapter, New York, New York: Random House, 199   (Romanov investigation) 

Maples, William, Dead Men Do Tell Tales, New York, New York: Doubleday, 1994 (case studies) 

Thomas, Peggy, Forensic Anthropology The Growing Science of Talking Bones, New York, New York: Facts on File, 2003

 Walker, Sally, Written in Bone in Bone, Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, 2009

(forensic anthropology, story of lives of colonial Jamestown and Maryland, easy reading)

 Walker, Sally and Owsley, Douglas W.,  Their Skeletons Speak Kennewick Man and  the Paleoamerican World, Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, 2012

(easy reading level)

Ubelaker, Dr. Douglas and Scamell, Henry,  Bones; A Forensic Detective’s Casebook, New York , New York: M. Evans and Company, 1992

 

Forensic Botany

Hall David W., and Byrd,Jason,  Forensic Botany: A Practical Guide, Chichester, Sussex, U.K.: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2012 

Walker, Maryalice.  Entomology and Palynology: Evidence for the Natural World, Philadelphia, PA: Mason Crest, 2006

 

Case Studies

Baden, Michael, Unnatural Death Confessions of a Medical Examiner, Toronto, Canada: Ivy Books, 1989

Baden, Michael and Roach, Marion, Dead Reckoning, New York, NY: Touchstone, 2001

Craig, Emily PhD, Teasing Secrets From the Dead: My investigations at America's  Most Infamous Crime Scenes, New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2004

Erzinclioglu, Zakaria Dr., The Illustrated Guide to Forensics True Crime Scene  Investigations, New York, NY: Barnes & Noble, 2004

Evans, Colin, The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World’s Most Baffling Crimes, New York, NY: John Wiley & Company, 1996

 Mann, Robert, Forensic Detective: How I Cracked the World's Toughest Cases, New York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2007

 

Crime Scene Investigations

 Hallcox, Jarrett and Welch, Amy, Bodies We've Buried , New York, NY: Berkley Publishing Group, 2006   (describes CSI academy training)

Kollmann, Dana. Never Suck a Dead Man’s Hand: Curious Adventures of CSI, New York, NY: Citadel Press Books, 2007    (not appropriate for younger students)

Fletcher, Connie. What Cops Know, New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1990

Gardner, Ross M., and Bevel, Tom. Practical Crime Scene Analysis and      Reconstruction, Boca Raton, Florida, CRC Press, 2012 

Platt, Richard, Crime Scene: The Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science, U.K.: DK Publishing, 2003

Time of Death

Cohle, Stephen, M.D., and Tobin T. Buhk, Cause of Death. Amherst, NewYork: Prometheus, 2007.

Sachs, Jessica. Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint the Time of   Death. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2001.

Wecht, Cyril, MD, JD., and Curriden, Mark, Tales From the Morgue, Amherst, NY:   Prometheus Books, NY 2005

Bass, Dr. Bill and Jefferson, Jon, Death's Acre, New York, NY: Berkeley Publishing Group, 2003  (Body Farm)

Roach, Mary, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, New York, NY: Norton, 2003

 

DNA 

Butler, John M. Fundamentals of Forensic DNA Typing, Burlington, MA: Elsevier, 2005  (AP level text)

Massie, Robert K. The Romanovs The Final Chapter, New York, NY: Random House, 1995

Cotton, Ronald and Thompson-Cannino, Jennifer, Picking Cotton, New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2009 (wrongful conviction later exonerated by DNA)

Wambaugh, Joseph The Blooding, New York, NY: Bantam Book, 1989

(First case solved through DNA not for younger readers)

 

Drugs and Toxicology

Cobb, Cathy; Feteroff, Monty L.; Goldsmith, Jack G., Crime Scene Chemistry for the Armchair Sleuth, Amherst NY: Prometheus Books, 2007

Blum, Deborah, The Poisoner's Handbook, New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2010

 

Entomology (Insects)

Byrd, Jason H. and Castner, James L. editors, Florida, CRC Press, ForensicEntomology: The Utility of Arthropods in Legal Investigations, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2011

Erzinclioglu, Dr. Zakaria,Maggots Murder and Men, New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 2000

Goff, M. Lee,  A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes: First Harvard Press, 2001

 

Evidence

Lee, Henry, Lee, Henry. Physical Evidence in Forensic Science, Tucson, AZ: Lawyers  & Judges Publishing, 2000.

 

Facial Reconstruction           

George, Robert M., Facial Geometry: Graphic Analysis for Forensic Artists, Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas, 2007

Taylor, Karen T., Forensic Art and Illustration, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2001

 

Fibers

Schiller, Lawrence. S,  Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, New York, NY: Harper Books, 1998   (Jon Benet Ramsey Case) 

 

Forensic Environment

MacMaster, Greg. Environmental Forensics, Kewadin, MI: Greg MacMaster, 2010

 

Forensic Psychology

Van Zandt, Clint,Facing Down Evil: Life on the Edge as an FBI Hostage   Negotiator, New York, NY: G. P. Putnam Son's, 2006

 

Fraud and Counterfeiting

Abagnale. Frank W., Catch Me if You Can,New York,NY, Random House, 1980 

Abagnale, Frank W. The Art of the Steal , New York, NY: Random House, 2001           

Perenyi, Ken, Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger, New York, NY,  Pegasus Books, 2012

Wittman, Robert K. Priceless, New York, NY, Random House, 2010

 

Glass

Fisher, David. Hard Evidence, New York, NY: Dell, 1995.

 

Handwriting

Rainis, Kenneth, Forgery, Crime-Solving Experiments, Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2006

 

Impressions

Evans, Colin. The Casebook of Forensic Detection. New York, NY: John Wiley  & Sons, 1998.

McDonald, Peter. Tire Imprint Evidence (Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic Investigations). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1992.

 

Observational Skills

Ekman, Paul, Emotions Revealed, New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2007

 

Sand and Soil

McPhee, John. Irons in the Fire, New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997

Murray, Raymond C. Evidence from the Earth: Forensic Geology and Criminal     Investigation, Missoula, MT, Mountain Press Publishing, 2004

 

Tool Marks

Baldwin, David; Birkett, John; Facey, Owen; Robey, Gilleon. The Forensic Examination and Interpretation of Tool Marks, London. John Wiley and Sons, 2013

 

Visit our website at www.BertinoForensics.com for: 

• Additional teacher resources
• Four  Forensic webinars
• Forensic apps for iPhone or iPads
•  Summer Forensic Institute for Teachers
•  Additional Information about our forensic high school textbook

Forensic Science: Fundamentals and Investigations new 2nd edition  (Bertino & Bertino)

www.BertinoForensics.com