Tell kids not to worry. sorting my life out. be in touch to get some things. Instead of being a simple sms message, this text turned out to be crucial and chilling evidence in convicting the deceptive killer of a mother of two. Sent from her phone, after her death, tell tale signs announce themselves to a forensic linguist. Rarely is a crime committed without there being some evidence in the form of language. Wordcrime features a series of chapters where gripping cases are described - involving murder, sexual assault, hate mail, suspicious death, code deciphering, arson and even genocide. Olsson describes the evidence he gave in each one. In approachable and clear prose, he details how forensic linguistics helps the law beat the criminals. This is fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crime, in modern, cutting-edge criminology and also where the study of language meets the law.

Murders, cover-ups, infidelities, financial and political skulduggery: Dr. John Olsson has seen it all in his decades as one of the world's top forensic linguists specialising in authorship. Working on cases that range from accusations of genocide to domestic disputes gone bad to allegations of university plagiarism, Olsson turns the same tools to the task – the power, depth and precision of forensic linguistics. Grammatical curiosities, lexical quirks, typographic stylings and patterns of use can all give away even the most hard-bitten and careful of criminals. And Olsson doesn't stop there. From the giveaway compound nouns of heavy-handed police statements to the startling similarities displayed in what should be individual office accounts, officials in high places are given a run for their money too. Wordcrime is easy to commit – and hard to escape. More Wordcrime features a series of gripping cases involving murder, sexual assault, hate mail, suspicious death and criminal damage. In approachable and clear prose, Dr Olsson details how forensic linguistics helps the law beat criminals, and how even those in power can be held to account. This is fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crime, in modern, cutting-edge criminology and also where the study of language meets the law.

Now in its third edition, this practical introduction to forensic linguistics is required reading for students of language and the law. It includes: new chapters on identifying forensic texts and important interactional aspects of the language used in legal contexts an additional chapter on forensic phonetics by Harry Hollien, a world renowned forensic phonetician an appendix of forensic texts for student study, and even more exercises and suggestions for further reading a companion website with a repository of statements, notes and examples referred to throughout the text.

In the heat of the city, a man is out of time: speeding in a beat-up Ford Tempo, blasting easy-listening music. Reporter Steve Everett drinks too much, makes love to his boss's wife, and has just stumbled upon a shocking truth: a convicted killer is about to be executed for a crime he didn't commit. In the cold confines of Death Row, Frank Beachum is also out of time. Ready to say good-bye to the wife and child he loves and hello to the God he still believes in, Beachum knows he did not kill a convenience store clerk six years ago. But in a few hours—if Steve Everett can't find the evidence to stop it—a needle is going to pierce Frank Beachum's skin. The killing machine is primed. The executioner is waiting. And so is the priest. Now the clock is ticking down and the race is on—between the reporter and his demons, between the system and its lethal flaws, between the last innocent man and society's ultimate crime. . . .

By the author of "Atlantic Monthly's" highly popular column "Word Court" comes an engaging grammar guide for lovers of language, a national bestseller now in paperback.

Crime: Local and Global and its sister text Criminal Justice: Local and Global are two new teaching texts that aim to equip the reader with a critical understanding of the globally contested nature of 'crime' and 'justice'. Through an examination of key concepts and criminological approaches, the books illuminate the different ways in which crime is constructed, conceived and controlled. International case studies are used to demonstrate how 'crime' and 'justice' are historically and geographically located in terms of the global/local context, and how processes of criminalisation and punishment are mediated in contemporary societies. Crime: Local and Global covers the way local events (such as prostitution) have wider aspects than previously thought. Links with people traffickers, international organised crime and violence cannot be ignored any longer. Each crime or area of activity selected within this text has a global reach, and is made ever more possible due to the way globalisation has opened up markets, both legitimate and illegitimate. The book's approach and scope emphasises that we can no longer view 'crime' as something which occurs within certain jurisdictions, at certain times and in particular places. For example, the chapter on cybercrime highlights the 'illegal' acts that can be perpetrated by second lifers, anywhere in the world, but are they a crime?

From Ferdinand von Schirach, one of Germany’s most prominent defense attorneys, comes a jolting debut collection of short stories that daringly brings to light the motivations stirring within the criminal mind. By turns witty and sorrowful, unflinchingly brutal and heartbreaking, the deeply affecting, quietly unnerving cases presented in Crime urge a closer examination of guilt and innocence. In “Fähner,” a small-town physician and avid gardener betrays little emotion when he takes an ax to his wife’s head, an act that shocks the locals but provides a long-awaited reprieve for the good doctor. Abbas, a Palestinian refugee who is cornered into a life of crime, finds true love and seemingly a saving grace with a beautiful student named Stefanie in “Summertime.” But when she is viciously murdered in a hotel room after having been paid to sleep with one of the country’s wealthiest men, is Abbas to blame or is it the man who seems to have it all? And in the startling story “Love,” a young man’s infatuation with his girlfriend takes a grisly turn as he comes to grips with his unconventional—and uncontrollable—impulses to truly know a woman. “Guilt,” writes von Schirach, “always presents a bit of a problem.” In this beautifully nuanced and telling collection, guilt is indeed never as clear-cut as the crime, and justice is more nebulous still.

Murders, cover-ups, infidelities, financial and political skulduggery: Dr. John Olsson has seen it all in his decades as one of the world's top forensic linguists specialising in authorship. Working on cases that range from accusations of genocide to domestic disputes gone bad to allegations of university plagiarism, Olsson turns the same tools to the task – the power, depth and precision of forensic linguistics. Grammatical curiosities, lexical quirks, typographic stylings and patterns of use can all give away even the most hard-bitten and careful of criminals. And Olsson doesn't stop there. From the giveaway compound nouns of heavy-handed police statements to the startling similarities displayed in what should be individual office accounts, officials in high places are given a run for their money too. Wordcrime is easy to commit – and hard to escape. More Wordcrime features a series of gripping cases involving murder, sexual assault, hate mail, suspicious death and criminal damage. In approachable and clear prose, Dr Olsson details how forensic linguistics helps the law beat criminals, and how even those in power can be held to account. This is fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crime, in modern, cutting-edge criminology and also where the study of language meets the law.