Customer Reviews

Scene of the Crime: A Writer's Guide to Crime Scene Investigation (Howdunit Series)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm working on a series of mystery novels and have read most of the books in the "Howdunit" series. They're all more or less helpful, but this is far and away the best. The other authors seemed to think in terms of "I'm going to tell you everything I know in 100 pages," so their books often read like criminology Cliff Notes. Ms. Wingate, on the other hand, is a practicing mystery author and has an excellent sense of what an author needs to know, so the book is not only full of useful information but well-organized and fun to read (if you're not squeamish). She's clear about her areas of expertise and non-expertise: she has years of experience in fingerprinting, so she's very explicit and thorough about that, whereas in other areas (e.g., guns) she just gives a quick overview and refers the reader to the "real" experts for the technical details.
I found the sample forms and reports very helpful as a guide to what investigators are looking for, and how information is communicated from (say) the fiber experts to the police. I've always especially enjoyed Ms. Wingate's novels because of how they depict the personal dynamics WITHIN a police department, which she well knows as an ex-officer. Her anecdotes in this book are not only memorable, and often very funny, but also contribute a great deal to the reader's "feel" for how a police department operates in real life.
In general, I feel this is the most readable and helpful volume of the series. I hope Ms. Wingate revises it periodically -- the technology is constantly changing -- but as a guide to the "feel" of how an investigation is conducted, the book is ageless.

I'd been interested in the Howdunit series for some time before I finally got my hands on some of them (Scene of the Crime, Deadly Doses, Police Procedural, Malicious Intent, Private Eyes, and Missing Persons). Scene of the Crime was the first that I read, and I was pleased to find it not only informative, but also entertaining. Anne Wingate has the cockeyed sort of sense of humor that I appreciate, and her easy, conversational tone kept the book from becoming too dry--the failing of some of the other books (Deadly Doses and Police Procedural).

With regards to the person who opined that, given the errors with regards to firearms, the book could not have been very accurate, I must disagree. Ms. Wingate states upfront that she is not a firearms expert and that a writer wanting to know about firearms should read the book devoted to them, and she does not spend a lot of time in the book discussing firearms. A few errors on a topic in which the author admits to being no expert hardly constitutes a "plague of errors."

An excellent writer's resource. Densely packed with information but not densely written, this books covers more than its title suggests. Everything you ever wanted to know about forensics is here, of course, but the author takes you well beyond the crime scene. What distinguishes this book is the consistent awareness of writers' needs. Procedure and technique are considered in terms of their fictional possibilities and the real-life people who do the work. The author also includes resources valuable to any writer -- not just those who work the mystery genre.

Not being a full fledge crime writer, I am always tempted to gloss over scenes that require me to do research in an unfamiluar area. That is what I depend on this series of books to do... fill me in. At three a.m...I just want to know one or two little facts that add realism to a small scene. This book was a very helpful reference guide...who comes first to the scene of a crime. Who ask the questions? Who gathers the clues? You only get so much from watching Murder She Wrote.

Scene of the Crime has lots of facts about fingerprints and examining possible pieces of evidence at a crime scene. I found the sections about identifying remains and what changes the body goes through after death very interesting. I learned a lot of information that will help me in my writing.

On the down side, I did have a hard time focusing on this book. It is very similar to the other books in the Howdunit series, and this is the only reason for a lower rating. However, I do believe that the entire Howdunit Series (I now call it "The Writer's Bible series") could not be complete without this book.

Scene of the Crime may be similar to other books in the series, but it DOES have a lot of knowledge that the other books missed!

The book was well organized and thoroughly addressed each section. For someone who writes murder mysteries, this is a good factual tool to help someone develop an interesting story. The references are actual law enforcement sources, such as the F.B.I, actual police departments, and other sources that would know.

However, my only complaint is in the description of using chemicals, like ninhydrin, to develop fingerprints. I felt a safety warning was missing. If someone wants to use ninhydrin in their story to make developing fingerprints interesting, then there's no problem. But, I personally worry about the curious trying to experiment. The chemicals that make ninhydrin and other chemicals used by crime scene personnel can be extremely dangerous. Training and proper use is mandatory. All law enforcement people know this. Ninhydrin must be used in a well ventillated area. Plus, getting it on your skin over time, is dangerous.

So, please....all you authors who wish to help and give people information to do something to entertain....always provide your readers with caution messages. Ninhydrin is more than smelling like ripe bananas and giving you a mere headache. There are long term affects that must be considered.

A very intersting, detailed account of crime scene investigations and how they are conducted. The author (A former forensics officer and a murder mystery writer) walks the reader through investigations, step by step. Not only does she describe the variety of crime scenes, and evidence, she talks about it from both the British and American perspectives. As well, the text contains interesting discussions of real life cases. All in all, a great resource for people writing their own mysteries, but also a fascinating read for anyone interested in the work of a forensics investigator.

I found this book to be both interesting and informative and also very useful in writing a crime story. It will definitely give you an idea of how the cops in your story should act at a crime scene and what they should and shouldn't do. The book is also helpful even if your main character isn't a cop at all. I do have a couple of complaints about the book though. For one thing, the author gives way too much detail on some things. Like the fingerprints. The chapters on fingerprints seemed to be aimed more at someone who wants to become a fingerprint expert instead of just writing fiction about them. I found parts of the fingerprint chapters to be extremely boring and I even skipped through a small portion of it. Although some amount of detail can add realism to a story, I really cannot understand why anyone would want to put THAT much detail on fingerprints into a work of fiction. Secondly, the author slips into stories of personal experience several times in the novel. Most of the stories are interesting and could help a writer, but a couple of them just seem to be rambling by the author and really have nothing to add that would help anyone in writing a novel. But despite these complaints, I still found the book to be very useful and, for the most part, very interesting. I would definitely recommend it.

This book is both extremely interesting and amazingly helpful. Complete with illustrations, examples, and explanations, this book is a perfect book for writers--or anyone looking for a good read, for that matter. I recommend it to anyone with a strong stomach (Seriously. Think 'lots and lots of maggots').

This book was printed in 1992. It's definitely a great book for its time, as it's pretty detailed with crime scene investigation techniques. I just wish it had been updated since then.