Every Contact Leaves a Trace

by Connie Fletcher

Real crime scene investigation is vastly more complicated, arduous, bizarre, and fascinating than TV's streamlined versions. Most people who work actual investigations will tell you that the science never lies -- but people can. They may also contaminate evidence, or not know what to look for in crime scenes that typically are far more chaotic and confusing, whether inside or outside, than on TV.
Forensic experts will tell you that the most important person entering a scene is the very first responding officer - the chain of evidence starts with this officer and holds or breaks according to what gets stepped on, or over, collected or contaminated, looked past, or looked over, from every person who enters or interprets the scene, all the way through the crime lab and trial. And forensic experts will tell you the success of a case can depend on any one expert's knowledge of quirky things, such
"The Rule of the First Victim": (the first victim of a criminal usually lives near the criminal's home) Criminals' snacking habits at the scene"Nature's Evidence Technicians," the birds and rodents that hide bits of bone, jewelry, and fabric in their nestsThe botanical evidence found in criminals' pants cuffs Baseball caps as prime DNA repositoriesThe tales told by the application of physics to falling blood drops. Forensic experts talk about their expertise and their cases here. They also talk about themselves, their reactions to the horrors they witness, and their love of the work. For example, a DNA analyst talks about how she drives her family crazy by buccal-swabbing them all at Thanksgiving dinner. A latent print examiner talks about how he examines cubes of Jell-O at any buffet he goes to for tell-tale prints. A crime scene investigator gives his tips on clearing a scene of he slaps "Bio-hazard" and "Cancer Causing Agent" stickers on his equipment. And an evidence technician talks about how hard it is to go to sleep after processing a scene, re-living what you've just witnessed, your mind going a hundred miles an hour.
This is a world that TV crime shows can't touch. Here are eighty experts - including beat cops, evidence technicians, detectives, forensic anthropologists, blood spatter experts, DNA analysts, latent print examiners, firearms experts, trace analysts, crime lab directors, and prosecution and defense attorneys - speaking in their own words about what they've seen and what they've learned to journalist Connie Fletcher, who has gotten cops to talk freely in her bestsellers What Cops Know, Pure Cop, and Breaking and Entering. Every Contact Leaves A Trace presents the science, the human drama, and even the black comedy of crime scene investigation.
Let the experts take you into their world. This is their book - their words, their knowledge, their stories. Through it all, one Sherlock Holmesian premise unites what they do and what it does to Every contact leaves a trace.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, Mystery, Science, History

400 pages, Hardcover

First published July 25, 2006

Reviews

[Kirsti · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oral history featuring forensic psychologists, homicide detectives, cold-case experts, latent print specialists, forensic anthropologists, evidence technicians, scene photographers, and forensic botanists. (I didn't even know there were forensic botanists, and boy are they interesting.) Debunks a lot of myths without glamorizing the criminals or disrespecting the victims or families. Like any good nonfiction, it made me see things in a slightly different way . . . earlier this week I told my husband, "Don't commit any crimes wearing that acrylic sweater--it'll transfer like crazy."

[Masha Andrievskaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and well-written description of how crime investigation and crime scene processing actually work. Would not recommend reading it before bed or in the bad mood though- it will not do you good. There are a lot examples of pretty horrible murders, rapes, kidnappings described in much detail.

[Jan]

Allemaal korte fragmenten soms redelijk technisch en heel Amerikaans :-)

[Katherine Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book, but I don't have much to say about it. It's an oral history of forensics, and I especially loved the feel it gives you for the voices of the people who do this work and the language they use (which varies widely, as one would expect) in talking about what they do.

[Thomas Radigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is basically a series of anecdotes which the author has put together. Still it does a good job of describing how DNA and forensic studies have evolved over the past thirty years, how law enforcement has to be careful is using it, how scientists have to be careful as well, how there is so much evidence and so little time to examine it, how TV shows like CSI put out plenty of false information. It not only shows how people are found after years of being on the lam, it shows how people wrongly convicted are exonerated. Absolutely recommended reading.

[Evan Þ. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fletcher, after interviewing eighty different crime lab scientists, wisely decided to let them tell the story in their own words. She's chopped up the interviews into different anecdotes or points and catalogued them by subject, with none of her own words save as brief introductions. The sheer weight of different anecdotes and generalizations lets me walk away with a much better sense of how the forensic sciences are used, and how they've changed police work.

[Dev · Rating 4 out of 5]

started the book like oh neat this really feels like reading several episodes of forensic files and then finished it having recognized like two or three cases that were in fact also on forensic files lmao. the judicial system is bad and broken but dammit i do still love to learn about how crime processing is approached from a scientific perspective. very easy read with the short interview chunk format.

[BookLover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting! Highly recommend if you’re a forensics or true crime junkie. It was a very well rounded book because it had input from so many different people in so many different roles. Almost everyone mentioned the “CSI effect” (tv show), which has had both positive and negative effects (jury members) since the show came out. Multiple contributors explained what they got wrong on the show “CSI”, which I found especially interesting.

[Tineke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uitgelezen en ook ik vond het erg interessant. Lekker toegankelijk geschreven.

[Melissa Hallinan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved reading all the different anecdotes from the different professions; very informative but still fun& interesting.

[Mandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was great and gave insight to how things really woek compared to all the crime shows. It should be required reading for anything thinking about any of these careers.

[alana ardan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Criminally underrated book. A fantastic read for anyone interested in Biology, Forensics, DNA, Psychology, or anything related; this book is for you.
This book is a collection of excerpts from people in the respective fields. Fletcher includes opinions from all sides and professions. From bug scientists and fiber specialists to prosecutors and jury members.
Did you know that rope manufacturers put a teeny tiny thin plastic wire in their ropes that have serial numbers on them that will identify the rope as theirs. This is in case the rope breaks, the manufactures can prove (or not) that the rope that broke was not from those manufactures.
Simple things like that, it's so fascinating.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a quick read. It contains little excerpts from interviews with police officers, homicide investigators, criminal forensic technicians and scientists. It is not a unified story, but the excerpts are grouped by overall theme. If you like CSI, this book will debunk some of the myths the show creates.

[Jeff Bilman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used this as research for a book I am writing. In parts enjoyable (though police humour can be quite dark), interesting/informative, and sometimes very disturbing. Not recommended for bed-time reading.

[Gena · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only complaint: I wish there had been longer case studies, rather than so many small snippets compiled from hundreds of different interviews.

[Mills College Library]

363.25952 F6124 2006

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read about the forensic science and hear the experts experiences.

[Brendan]

Just skimmed through

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting and entertaining.

I'm a violent crime detective and I found this book to be entertaining and very informative from the analysts perspectives.

[Mesa Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is sooooo Goooooddd, its like real life crime shows. Makes me want to be forensic scientist