Forensic Research in Crime Fiction Writing

A discerning reader of crime fiction knows and appreciates when an author has gone the extra mile to ensure the accuracy of information in a novel. Forensic research is thus essential to a crime fiction writer.

Where to begin? There are numerous reference sources on guns, blood spatter, DNA and fingerprint analysis, pathology, and forensic psychology. Publications recommended by law enforcement agencies or which form part of forensic courses at colleges and universities are examples of credible sources. For an online list of forensic resources, see http://www.tncrimlaw.com/forensic/. The Scientific Testimony Online Journal at http://www.scientific.org/index.html has various tutorials and case law.

To ensure transparency, many law enforcement agencies post procedural information online. As an example, visit the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives site at http://www.atf.gov/ and you'll find the relevant laws and regulations that govern these commodities, related reference tools, and even information on how an arson investigation is conducted. The FBI site at http://www.fbi.gov/ has similar information on their fields of investigations.

Other Internet resources include the Real Police site at http://www.realpolice.net/ that has an Ask-a-Cop feature allowing you to pose questions to police officers. The Gallery of Guns site at http://www.galleryofguns.com/ has a detailed description of firearms and their features.

There are also a number of websites geared to forensics for writers. See, for example, Tom Adair's site at http://forensics4fiction.com/.

As well, there are various articles and tutorials on forensic research. These include Hilary Conner's tutorial at http://www.writing-world.com/mystery/..., which outlines various steps and resources in forensic research.

The idea of course is not to overwhelm a reader with forensic detail, but to describe forensic procedures in layman's terms to make your story credible.