The Dollhouse Murders: A Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little Crimes [Hardcover]

Thomas Mauriello (Author), Ann Darby (Author), Photographs by John Consoli (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 20, 2003

The Dollhouse MurdersA Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little CrimesThomas P. Mauriello With Ann Darby/Photographs by John Consoli Ever wonder what it's like to walk into a real crime scene? Inside The DollhouseMurders lies a strange world of razor-sharp stories that show exactly how serious crimesare investigated. Walk through these miniature rooms with the Detective, who thinks instinctsjust get you into trouble, and his younger partner, who seems to have them all the time, towitness the state of the art in modern forensic techniques and the simple genius of aneffective investigation. Eleven years ago, preeminent expert on crime scene forensics Thomas Mauriello built sixdioramas to help him teach his crime lab students how to "peel" a crime scene. He inventedscenarios and then meticulously fabricated the clues and their setting. Over the years thesebizarre dioramas have been featured in men's magazines, a medical institute bulletin, aminiature-collector magazine, and an array of popular science media.But now, in collaborationwith the brilliant novelist and science writer Ann Darby, Thomas Mauriello has produced thestories that go with his dioramas and thus made his science more accessible than ever before. Together with over 40 of John Consoli's ingenious full-color photographs, this is a uniquewindow into the gritty, imperfect world of solving crimes. As these hard-boiled compelling narratives demonstrate, a strategic investigation harnessesthe talents of a variety of teams, from the uniformed officers and detectives to the evidencetechnicians and medical examiners. When they begin their work, the lab results are not in, andno one can be certain exactly what crime has been committed or even if one has been committedat all. Nevertheless, the "manager"-the ranking detective first on the scene-is the personwho determines whether the key evidence is noticed or not. The questions he asks set the wholearmy of criminal investigators on the right track or the wrong one. Time to get out the crime scene tape. It's another day on the job for the Detective of TheDollhouse Murders-a book that takes criminal investigation to a new level of exquisite detail."In these simple stories, the fundamental questions of all crime scenes are set out. Andtheir dollhouse resolution is often-like human justice-only the best we can do." -from the Preface Praise for THE DOLLHOUSE MURDERS "In The Dollhouse Murders, Thomas Mauriello, an outstanding authority in thefield, has produced an excellent way to understand how crime scene investigation reallyworks. I recommend it to professionals as well as armchair sleuths. These stories and photographsaren't just instructive-they 're exquisite." -Dr. Gerald W. Lynch President of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice "I've seen a lot of creepily fascinating stuff in my years as a forensic writer, butnothing quite as mesmerizing as Tom Mauriello's graphically detailed miniature crime scenes. Ifwe can't all attend Tom's renowned laboratory exercises, at least we can delve into TheDollhouse Murders." -Jessica Snyder Sachs Author of Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to PinpointTime of Death

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

While a University of Maryland criminology professor, Mauriello created six dioramas to help teach his students what it takes to investigate and solve crimes. In this volume, aided by novelist Darby (The Orphan Game), he has turned those classroom lessons into a fictionalized how-to manual of the whats, wheres, whys, whens and hows of detective, forensic and medical crime scene investigation. With the six crime scenes-a living room, garage, store, kitchen, dorm and hotel-already laid out in meticulous detail (and photographed by Consoli), Mauriello's writing mirrors the police examination as he works backward from the ending to the beginning. Complete with characters, dialogue and backstories, each diorama comes to life as clues are examined, leads tracked down and witnesses questioned. Given this book's educational foundation, the writing is decidedly no-nonsense and the story lines lean toward the everyday (i.e., these cases aren't quite the Lindbergh baby or O.J. Simpson investigations). Instead of taking away from the effectiveness of the book's message, its simplicity helps to outline the necessary steps of the investigation process that are routinely overlooked in the chaos usually associated with high-profile and intricate cases. For anyone who has been sucked into an episode of C.S.I. or The New Detectives, this book gives a glimpse at the unglamorous factors that go into solving crimes that TV shows often omit.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Back Cover

The Dollhouse Murders

A Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little Crimes

Thomas P. Mauriello

With Ann Darby/Photographs by John Consoli

Ever wonder what it's like to walk into a real crime scene? Inside The DollhouseMurders lies a strange world of razor-sharp stories that show exactly how serious crimesare investigated. Walk through these miniature rooms with the Detective, who thinks instinctsjust get you into trouble, and his younger partner, who seems to have them all the time, towitness the state of the art in modern forensic techniques and the simple genius of aneffective investigation.

Eleven years ago, preeminent expert on crime scene forensics Thomas Mauriello built sixdioramas to help him teach his crime lab students how to "peel" a crime scene. He inventedscenarios and then meticulously fabricated the clues and their setting. Over the years thesebizarre dioramas have been featured in men's magazines, a medical institute bulletin, aminiature-collector magazine, and an array of popular science media. But now, in collaborationwith the brilliant novelist and science writer Ann Darby, Thomas Mauriello has produced thestories that go with his dioramas and thus made his science more accessible than ever before.Together with over 40 of John Consoli's ingenious full-color photographs, this is a uniquewindow into the gritty, imperfect world of solving crimes.

As these hard-boiled compelling narratives demonstrate, a strategic investigation harnessesthe talents of a variety of teams, from the uniformed officers and detectives to the evidencetechnicians and medical examiners. When they begin their work, the lab results are not in, andno one can be certain exactly what crime has been committed or even if one has been committedat all. Nevertheless, the "manager"—the ranking detective first on the scene—is the personwho determines whether the key evidence is noticed or not. The questions he asks set the wholearmy of criminal investigators on the right track or the wrong one.

Time to get out the crime scene tape. It's another day on the job for the Detective of TheDollhouse Murders—a book that takes criminal investigation to a new level of exquisite detail.

"In these simple stories, the fundamental questions of all crime scenes are set out. Andtheir dollhouse resolution is often—like human justice—only the best we can do."

—from the Preface

Praise for THE DOLLHOUSE MURDERS

"In The Dollhouse Murders, Thomas Mauriello, an outstanding authority in thefield, has produced an excellent way to understand how crime scene investigation reallyworks. I recommend it to professionals as well as armchair sleuths. These stories and photographsaren't just instructive—they 're exquisite."

—Dr. Gerald W. Lynch

President of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice

"I've seen a lot of creepily fascinating stuff in my years as a forensic writer, butnothing quite as mesmerizing as Tom Mauriello's graphically detailed miniature crime scenes. Ifwe can't all attend Tom's renowned laboratory exercises, at least we can delve into TheDollhouse Murders."

—Jessica Snyder Sachs

Author of Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to PinpointTime of Death

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Pi Press; 1st edition (October 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0131451650
• ISBN-13: 978-0131451650
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #711,748 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it!, November 7, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Dollhouse Murders: A Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little Crimes (Hardcover)

In light of the recent trend on televison and in movies to whet our appetite for crime scene investigation methods, I found "The Dollhouse Murders" to be just what the M.E. ordered. I discovered there's still much to be learned, and the dollhouse scenarios, so cleverly contrived, are full of details which the other mediums of delivery simply don't have time to explore. Mr. Mauriello and Miss Darby have wedded their talents admirably and with seamless success.

A great read!

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Incisive Examination, July 9, 2004

By 

Author Bill Peschel "Writers Gone Wild" (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dollhouse Murders: A Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little Crimes (Hardcover)

The epidemic of doll-on-doll crime is a fading memory, as real in America's collective memory as the crack epidemic and the O.J. Simpson trials, and all that's left is for the books to come out, letting us look back at those terrible tragedies that riveted the nation. Books like Ann Rule's "The Vinyl-Coated Killer" and Joe McGinnis' "How, Now, Mistress Doll" were excellent contributions to the genre. Now, "The Dollhouse Murders" adds a different perspective by telling the story of six deaths through the eyes of the investigators.

Author Thomas P. Mauriello has taken pains to disguise the names and locations of these crimes, to the point of changing the detective's name to "the Detective." But no matter, these stories retain their dark edge of madness and tragedy, and the plethora of crime-scene photos adds a visceral kick in the gut to even the most jaded true-crime aficionado.

Doll-on-doll crime may occur on a smaller scale, but that doesn't make them any less horrific. There's the attempted robbery at the family store. Amid the cash register and grocery shelves, two men lay dead. We follow the detective as he works the scene, attempting to deduce the chain of events that led to the tragedy: a cracked pane in the pastry case; the pattern of money thrown from the till; the splatter of blood-like paint by the corpses. These are the red threads that must be knitted together to create a satisfying narrative.

Readers interested in learning step-by-step how a scene is "processed" will see that there is no one right method of working, and explains why some crimes don't get solved, how guilt cannot be proven. Clues are gathered using observation, intuition and an intimate knowledge of forensics, such as the way blood gathers where the body meets the floor, or what the size of the entry wound implies. Miss a clue, and the narrative will still be created, but it won't be accurate. Fail to look around at the right time, or fail to keep an open mind as to suspects, and you have another JonBenet Ramsey case on your hand.

Murder freezes a moment in time and the detective is its archivist. "The Dollhouse Murders" opens a window into the lives of dolls, seeing them at work and at home, in places we never see. By placing their deaths in the context of their lives, Mauriello is also issuing a plea for empathy and tolerance, in effect, putting a human face on the vinyl victims. But even more, these are taut, grim tales of violence and death, told with an eye for observation and an ear for detail that recall the best of Joseph Waumbaugh, Ed McBain and Elmore Leonard. These stories pack a punch. And Judy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved It, December 20, 2006

By 

Judith L. Edwards "mini mama" (Grand Rapids, Mi USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Dollhouse Murders: A Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little Crimes (Hardcover)

The photos in this book are wonderful sharp. Each murder scene has a full photo of the room in which the murder took place with plenty of photos of clues. The format for each model contains a "story line" and goes into detail re the clues & evidence with accompanying details. I enjoy the story lines as they make the scenes more real - kind of like CSI but without finding out who-dun-it. The dioramas were made by the author as a teaching device for crime lab students. Because the aim of these dioramas is help his students "peel" a crime scene, the stories do not contain the answers to the mysteries.