Edgar Award winner Thomas H. Cook has earned acclaim and a growing legion of fans for his brilliantly styled, intensely evocative thrillers. Now, in his most seductive suspense novel yet, he draws us into a world of love, betrayal, and murder from which one man can find no escape. "It's better to know, don't you think?... No matter what the cost?" Forty years ago in Sequoyah, Georgia, Charles Overton was sentenced to die for the murder of a young woman, even though her body was never found. But the prosecution had all the ammunition it needed: a blood-stained dress and a jury out for vengeance.... Now true-crime writer Jackson Kinley is coming home to grieve for an old friend. But Sequoyah sheriff Ray Tindall's death has left many questions: Why had he reopened the Overton case... and then, without explanation, shut it down? What was he looking for? And what did he find that he couldn't bear to reveal? The search for answers leads Kinley into a small-town web of corruption, secrecy, and lies--and finally into the darkest corners of the human heart, where the terrible truth lies...in the Evidence of Blood.

Uses case studies to examine how investigators collect genetic evidence and discusses how DNA has altered crime-solving and the court system as well as the ethical ramifications of cloning, genetic modification, and the death penalty.

A rare behind-the-scenes look at the work of forensic scientists The findings of forensic science—from DNA profiles and chemical identifications of illegal drugs to comparisons of bullets, fingerprints, and shoeprints—are widely used in police investigations and courtroom proceedings. While we recognize the significance of this evidence for criminal justice, the actual work of forensic scientists is rarely examined and largely misunderstood. Blood, Powder, and Residue goes inside a metropolitan crime laboratory to shed light on the complex social forces that underlie the analysis of forensic evidence. Drawing on eighteen months of rigorous fieldwork in a crime lab of a major metro area, Beth Bechky tells the stories of the forensic scientists who struggle to deliver unbiased science while under intense pressure from adversarial lawyers, escalating standards of evidence, and critical public scrutiny. Bechky brings to life the daily challenges these scientists face, from the painstaking screening and testing of evidence to making communal decisions about writing up the lab report, all while worrying about attorneys asking them uninformed questions in court. She shows how the work of forensic scientists is fraught with the tensions of serving justice—constantly having to anticipate the expectations of the world of law and the assumptions of the public—while also staying true to their scientific ideals. Blood, Powder, and Residue offers a vivid and sometimes harrowing picture of the lives of highly trained experts tasked with translating their knowledge for others who depend on it to deliver justice.

After a Georgia sheriff’s death, old secrets start to emerge in this “highly satisfying story, strong in color and atmosphere, intelligent and exacting” (The New York Times). Jackson Kinley has returned to Sequoyah, his small Southern hometown, to mourn the passing of his old friend Ray Tindall. But Sheriff Tindall’s death has raised new questions about a very old case. Forty years ago, a man was sentenced to die for murder, even though the body of the victim was never found—only her bloodstained dress. The late sheriff had begun to take another look at the case, before quickly closed it again. Kinley, a true-crime writer, wants to know why. His investigation will lead him into a maze of corruption—and into the darkest corners of the human heart—in this powerful, evocative work of fiction by an Edgar Award winner and “masterful crime novelist” (Toronto Star). “[A] splendid novel.” —Publishers Weekly “[A] gripping Southern drama.” —Kirkus Reviews

The author works with the full cooperation of all involved parties, and draws on legal files and personal interviews to weave the fascinating, true story of the brutal crime that rocked a community and divided its citizens. In a quiet Louisiana suburb, a woman is bludegeoned to death while she sleeps. Her husband is convicted of the murder. But is he really guilty?

As witnessed in landmark criminal cases, the quality and integrity of bloodstain evidence can be a crucial factor in determining a verdict. Since the first edition of Interpretation of Bloodstain Evidence at Crime Scenes was published nearly a decade ago, bloodstain pattern interpretation has continued to grow as a branch of forensic science. Revised and updated to reflect new technology and developments in the field, the second edition is packed with new information and illustrations-including 421 photographs and diagrams of improved quality that will aid in interpretation of evidence. Expanding on a single chapter presented in the bestselling first edition, the second edition details, in four chapters, an introduction to bloodstain interpretation; low-velocity impact and angular considerations; medium and high-velocity impact; and the significance of partially dried, clotted, aged, and physically altered bloodstains in four new chapters. A full chapter on the detection of blood with luminol, featuring high-quality, full-color photographs of luminol reactions, has been added. This new edition also includes 12 new case studies in addition to 8 original case studies from the first edition that have been retained for their interpretative value. Everyone involved in crime scene evaluation and interpretation-law enforcement officers, criminologists, medical examiners, forensic pathologists, medicolegal personnel, and prosecutors and defense attorneys-will benefit from the improved and expanded second edition of this definitive reference.

Forensic scientist Theresa MacLean takes on the worst kind of murder case--one without clues--in this follow-up to "Takeover."

A 2006 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime. With intimate access to the families, award-winning journalist Diane Fanning's Written in Blood spins a heart-wrenching true crime tale that's been the subject of an acclaimed documentary, "The Staircase", and an HBO TV miniseries starring Colin Firth. An army brat-turned-marine, Michael Peterson saw combat in Vietnam, and returned a decorated soldier. An avid reader, his dreams of being an acclaimed novelist came true. His desire to find love was fulfilled when he married brilliant executive Kathleen Atwater, the first female student accepted at Duke University's School of Engineering. The Petersons seemed the ideal academic couple- well-respected, prosperous, and happy. All that came crashing down in December of 2001, when Kathleen apparently fell to her death in their secluded home in an exclusive area of Durham, North Carolina. But blood-spattered evidence and a missing fireplace poker suggested calculated, cold-blooded murder. Her trusted husband stood accused. Prosecutors introduced evidence at trial that sixteen years earlier, Peterson was one of the last people to see his neighbor alive before she was found dead at the bottom of a staircase in her home in Germany. A dramatic trial followed in the explosive final chapter of a life that no novelist could ever have conceived...

In Bloodstain Pattern Evidence, the concepts introduced in the author's first book, Blood Dynamics, are updated and applied to provide essential answers in the resolution of actual crimes. The book is accessible to all levels of investigators, regardless of academic background, and allows readers to develop a fundamental understanding of the underlying scientific principles behind bloodstain pattern evidence. Bloodstain Pattern Evidence builds on the fundamental ideas brought about by an understanding of Non-Newtonian dynamics, and illustrates through case work the practical forensic science applications of these principles to the analysis of bloodstain patterns. - Extensive case examples provide practical application of essential pattern analysis principles - Extensively illustrated with over 350 photos and line drawings - Takes a unique and scientific approach to bloodstain pattern analysis by exploring the fundamentals of fluid behavior

"Master of craft and narrative" Walter Mosley returns with this crowning achievement in the Easy Rawlins saga, in which the iconic detective's loyalties are tested on the sun-soaked streets of Southern California (National Book Foundation) It is 1969, and flames can be seen on the horizon, protest wafts like smoke though the thick air, and Easy Rawlins, the Black private detective whose small agency finally has its own office, gets a visit from a white Vietnam veteran. The young man comes to Easy with a story that makes little sense. He and his lover, a beautiful young woman, were attacked in a citrus grove at the city’s outskirts. He may have killed a man, and the woman and his dog are now missing. Inclined to turn down what sounds like nothing but trouble, Easy takes the case when he realizes how damaged the young vet is from his war experiences—the bond between veterans superseding all other considerations. The veteran is not Easy’s only unlooked-for trouble. Easy’s adopted daughter Feather’s white uncle shows up uninvited, raising questions and unsettling the life Easy has long forged for the now young woman. Where Feather sees a family reunion, Easy suspects something else, something that will break his heart. Blood Grove is a crackling, moody, and thrilling race through a California of hippies and tycoons, radicals and sociopaths, cops and grifters, both men and women. Easy will need the help of his friends—from the genius Jackson Blue to the dangerous Mouse Alexander, Fearless Jones, and Christmas Black—to make sense of a case that reveals the darkest impulses humans harbor. Blood Grove is a novel of vast scope and intimate insight, and a soulful call for justice by any means necessary.