Threads of Evidence: Using Forensic Science to Solve Crimes

by Herma Silverstein

Examines ways in which science helps solve crimes using threads of evidence such as blood, teeth, teethmarks, fingerprints, eye prints, DNA, hairs, fibers, and corpses

128 pages, Library Binding

First published December 9, 1997

Reviews

[Maya Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good book for information on Forensic Science. It can be a bit dry in some places. It's actually rather well written. It's good for an introduction to the field. Would I read it again, most likely not.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Have you ever wondered how a crime is solved? Did you ever want to know all of the tactics used behind the scenes? If so, Threads of Evidence by Herma Silverstein is the book for you. This is an intriguing book about today’s forensic science. There are so many different ways to solve a crime. You can do anything from analyzing DNA to looking at the bite marks on a victim to even looking at the hairs or fibers left on the crime scene. After reading this book, there is no doubt knowing that there is no way to commit a “perfect crime”, you will always be hunted down and caught. This book was structured in a very unique way. First off, the book is divided into seven chapters. Within those seven chapters, there are subdivisions that focus on a more specific topic. Within those subdivisions, there are topics that explain the idea that the subdivisions are stating. Those topics usually give a type of forensic science used to solve cases, and then gives an example of how it was used to solve a specific case. There is a table of contents only for the chapters, not for the “subdivisions”. This layout is helpful to referring back to chapters, but it can also be confusing. This could be confusing because if you are picking up in the middle of the chapter, you may not remember every little detail from the part before. This book was written well, except that there are a lot of examples of how the forensic tactics are used. The only ones that really stick with you are the ones that have a big influence in the community. The book was interesting to read because it was an intriguing topic, not because the author was pulling you back to read more. The author seems informed on the topic because there was probably a lot of research done to prove that all of these tactics are used to solve a case. I give this book a 5.75 out of 10 because I am extremely interested in forensics, but it was not really pulling me back to read more.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in crime solving and what goes on in a forensics head when they first see the crime scene. It is also important to like reading nonfiction books or this will be a totally different type of book to read. It’s a great book if someone is looking for a quick read with some difficult subject matter. Expect to learn about numerous ways that cases are solved and how the criminal is caught. Be careful what you do, because anything can prove you guilty.