Detailed accounts of over 30 contemporary cases, or older cases reopened as a result of advances in forensic science. Crime scene investigations draw on a wide range of cutting-edge technology including genetic fingerprinting, blood splatter analysis, laser ablation, toxicology and ballistics analysis. Cases covered here include: the abduction of Madeleine McCann; the vindication of Colin Stagg, convicted of having murdered Rachel Nickell; Hadden Clark who killed and ate a six-year-old child in Maryland; Robert Pickton, the Vancouver farmer who fed his female victims to his pigs; the murder of Meredith Kercher in Perugia (was Amanda Knox guilty?); Lindsay Hawker's gruesome death in Japan; Josef Fritzl and the cellar in which he imprisoned and raped his daughter.

Using the latest modern technology available to forensic science, crime scene investigators answer questions others never even thought to ask. This book contains more than thirty fascinating modern cases of forensic detective work. Genetic fingerprinting, blood splatter analysis, laser ablation, toxicology, ballistics analysis - the whole range of forensic techniques is featured. The investigators trust only the evidence to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves: the victims. The cases featured include: - Tommie Lee Andrews, the first person to be convicted as a result of DNA evidence, for raping a woman during a burglary; - Jeffrey Gafoor, convicted of murder in 2003 when crime scene evidence collected twelve years previously resulted in a match with his nephew; - Richard W. Rogers, convicted of the murder of two of his numerous gay male victims, through vacuum metal deposition, technology which saves fingerprints from plastic bags; - Dr. Sam Sheppard, the murder trial based on blood evidence that inspired the TV series The Fugitive; - Edwin Bush, the first murderer in Britain to be brought to book thanks to an identikit picture; - Derrick Todd Lee, the Baton Rouge Serial Killer, only nailed by DNA evidence after a flawed FBI profile led big-shot investigators astray. These cases - usually successful, but also sometimes dangerously flawed - offer a remarkable insight into real-life scene-of-crime investigation.

42 fantastic stories from Britain's best crime writers. A superb collection of the year's most outstanding short crime fiction published in the UK. Jakubowski has succeeded, as ever, in showcasing the impressive breadth of crime writing, from cosy tales of detection to noir mayhem and psychological suspense and terror. There are puzzles to solve, nagging questions about the nature of the society in which we live, but, above all, there is an abundance of first-class entertainment. Last year saw a sixth Crime Writers Association Dagger award for the series - shared between Margaret Murphy and Cath Staincliffe - and an Edgar award for Peter Turnbull. All three award-winning stories are included in this volume. Lee Child makes his debut and there is a first story from Neil Gaiman, too, in Sherlockian rather than fantastical mode. Return offenders include Ann Cleeves, Phil Lovesey and Ruth Rendell, among many other familiar names. There are a number of newcomers to the series, too, including Nina Allan, Joel Lane and Lisa Tuttle.

The year's best, and darkest, tales of terror, showcasing the most outstanding new short stories by both contemporary masters of the macabre and exciting newcomers. As ever, this acclaimed anthology also offers a comprehensive overview of the year in horror, a necrology of recently deceased luminaries, and a list of indispensable addresses horror fans and writers. The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror remains the world's leading annual anthology dedicated solely to presenting the best in contemporary horror fiction.

For a quarter of a century, this multiple award-winning annual selection has showcased some of the very best, and most disturbing, short stories and novellas of horror and the supernatural. As always, this landmark volume features superior fiction from such masters of the genre and newcomers in contemporary horror as Michael Chislett; Thana Niveau; Reggie Oliver; Tanith Lee; Niel Gaiman; Robert Shearman; Simon Strantzas; Lavie Tidhar; Simon Kurt Unsworth and Halli Villegas. With an in-depth introduction covering the year in horror, a fascinating necrology and a unique contact directory, The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror remains the world’s leading anthology dedicated solely to presenting the very best in modern horror. Praise for previous Mammoth Books of Best New Horror: 'Stephen Jones . . . has a better sense of the genre than almost anyone in this country.' Lisa Tuttle, The Times. 'The best horror anthologist in the business is, of course, Stephen Jones, whose Mammoth Book of Best New Horror is one of the major bargains of this as of any other year.' Roz Kavaney. 'An essential volume for horror readers.' Locus

This superb annual anthology of the year’s most outstanding short crime fiction published in the UK is now well into its second decade. Jakubowski has succeeded, once again, in unearthing the best short crime stories of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish authors (along with a handful of US writers living in the UK, and some expatriate Brits). With this collection he showcases the impressive breadth of British crime writing, from cosy tales of detection to noir mayhem and psychological suspense and terror. There are puzzles to solve, nagging questions about the nature of British society, but, above all, there are over 40 wonderful, gripping stories to shock, delight and make you think twice, if not three times. Full list of contributors: Lee Child; Kevin Wignall; Will Carver; Paul Charles; Val McDermid; Paul Johnston; Alison Bruce; Tim Willocks; Maxim Jakubowski; Rhys Hughes; Edward Marston; N. J. Cooper; Michael Z. Lewin; Peter Guttridge; Mary Hoffman; Peter Tremayne; Kate Rhodes; Paul D. Brazill; Ros Asquith; Amy Myers; Alexander McCall Smith; Nina Allan; Peter Turnbull; Jay Stringer; Martin Edwards; Zoë Sharp; Col Bury; David Stuart Davies; Howard Linskey; Susan Everett; Christopher Fowler; Dreda Say Mitchell; Roger Busby; Simon Kernick; Peter Lovesey; David Hewson; Gerard Brennan; Jane Casey; Christopher J. Simmons; Stephen Gallagher; John Lawton.

Dieselpunk: an emerging retro-futuristic sub-genre, similar to steampunk, based on the era between the First World War and the start of the Atomic Age, merging elements of noir, pulp, and the past with today’s technology . . . and sometimes a dash of the occult. Award-winning editor Wallace presents a cutting-edge collection of twenty-five vibrant stories that explore the possibilities of history while sweeping readers into high-powered hydrocarbon-fuelled adventures. Join us in an era when engines were huge, fuel was cheap and plentiful, and steel and chrome blended with the grit and grease of modern machines. Praise for The Mammoth Book of Steampunk: 'World Fantasy Award-winning editor Wallace has compiled an outstanding anthology . . . sure to satisfy even the most jaded steampunk fans and engage newcomers and skeptics. Each story exemplifies steampunk’s knack for critiquing both the past and the present, in a superb anthology that demands rereading.' Publishers Weekly

Sex scandals, some historical but many contemporary, involving political figures, celebrities, movie stars, sports stars, musicians and artists, from Julius Caesar's affair with Cleopatra, which scandalized Rome and may have contributed to his murder, to what exactly IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn did or didn't get up to in that New York hotel room. England's Edward II was put to death by having a red-hot poker shoved up 'those parts in which he had been wont to make his vicious pleasures' and James Dean was known as 'the human ashtray' for the pleasure he took in having cigarettes stubbed out on his body, but from Silvio Berlusconi to Tiger Woods, many have been more focused on pleasure than pain. Even Barack Obama gets a look in - did he have an affair with Vera Baker?

A fun programme - featuring logic, observation, number and word puzzles, in categories such as reasoning, concentration and speed - that will help to build new brain skills in just a few minutes each day. At the end of each week, a 're-thinking' page features a range of suggestions and ideas to help improve your memory and unleash your creativity, challenging you to make better use of your brain in your daily life. An exceptionally wide range of content - 78 entirely different types of puzzle, none of which repeats within a quarter of a year - provides the novelty that helps a brain to thrive, while puzzles of the same type are carefully arranged in order of increasing difficulty through the book. A scoring system helps to keep you motivated as you improve week by week, with the final page of each week's puzzles offering you the chance to calculate your brain rank as another way to keep pushing yourself. Praise for The Mammoth Book of Fun Brain Training: 'The puzzles are fresh and lively' - Will Shortz

An engrossing A-Z of over 60 gory years of slasher and splatter movies, from Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later to Lucio Fulci's Zombie Flesh Eaters. Here you will find the low-down on over 250 movies with entries from 23 different countries. The index, which includes every movie mentioned in the A-Z and accompanying notes, runs to 540 movies. The book includes the list of video nasties which the UK government attempted to ban.