Nonfiction Readings—Forensic Books for High-School Students
Nonfiction, high-interest forensics reading to be used in conjunction with Forensic Science:
Fundamentals and Investigations 2e (Bertino& Bertino 2016)
There are many great nonfiction forensics books of high interest to students. Reading excerpts
from forensic books in class also promotes interest and encourages students to read more. The
list below is a small sample of the many high-interest books forensic books available for
students. A few textbooks were included to provide additional background. (Note that forensics
books may contain graphic content, especially those concerning autopsies, blood spatter, bones,
and decomposition.)
High-School Forensics Textbook
Bertino, Anthony, and Bertino, Patricia Nolan Forensic Science: Fundamentals and
Investigations, 2nd edition. Mason, OH: Cengage/National Geographic Learning, 2016.
Autopsy
Cohle, Stephen, M.D., and Tobin T. Buhk, Cause of Death. Amherst, New York: Prometheus,
2007.
Blood
Wonder, Anita Y., Bloodstain Pattern Evidence, Boston: Elsevier, 2007. (more advanced; many
physics applications)
Bones (Forensic Anthropology)
Hansen, Joyce, and Gary McGowan. Breaking Ground, Breaking Silence. New York: Henry
Holt, 1998. (excavation of New York City’s African Burial Ground National Monument)
Jackson, Donna. The Bone Detectives. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 1996.
Maples, William R., and Michael Browning. Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and
Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist. Jackson, TN: Main Street Books, 1995.
Massie, Robert K. The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. New York: Random House, 1995.
Thomas, Peggy. Forensic Anthropology: The Growing Science of Talking Bones. New York:
Facts on File, 2003. (lower reading level)
Walker, Sally M. Written in Bone: Buried Lives of Jamestown and Colonial Maryland.
Minneapolis: Carolrhoda, 2009. (forensic anthropology; biological profiles of lives of
Jamestown and colonial Maryland; easy reading)
Walker, Sally M., and Douglas W. Owsley. Their Skeletons Speak. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda
Books, 2012. (lower reading level)
Ubelaker, D., and Henry Scammell. Bones: A Forensic Detective’s Casebook. New York: M.
Evans and Company, 1992.
Forensic Botany
Hall, David W., and Jason Byrd. Forensic Botany: A Practical Guide. Chichester, UK: John
Wiley and Sons, 2012. (textbook)
Walker, Maryalice. Entomology and Palynology. Philadelphia: Mason Crest, 2006. (lower
reading level)
Case Studies
Baden, Michael M. Unnatural Death: Confessions of a Medical Examiner. New York: Ivy, 1989.
Baden, Michael, M., and Marion Roach. Dead Reckoning. London: Arrow, 2002.
Craig, Emily. Teasing Secrets From the Dead: My Investigations at America's Most Infamous
Crime Scenes. New York: Three Rivers, 2004.
Erzinclioglu, Zakaria. The Illustrated Guide to Forensics: True Crime Scene Investigations. New
York: Barnes & Noble, 2004.
Evans, Colin, The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the World’s Most
Baffling Crimes. New York: John Wiley, 1996.
Mann, Robert, Forensic Detective: How I Cracked the World's Toughest Cases. New York:
Ballantine, 2007.
Crime-Scene Investigations
Hallcox, Jarrett, and Amy Welch. Bodies We've Buried. New York: Berkley, 2006. (CSI
academy training)
Kollmann, Dana. Never Suck a Dead Man’s Hand: Curious Adventures of CSI. New York:
Citadel Press Books, 2007. (not appropriate for younger students)
Fletcher, Connie. What Cops Know. New York: Pocket Books, 1990
Gardner, Ross M., and Bevel, Tom. Practical Crime Scene Analysis and
Reconstruction. Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 2009.
Platt, Richard. Crime Scene: The Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science. U.K.: Dorling Kindersley,
2003.
Death and Decomposition
Bass, Bill, and Jon Jefferson. Death’s Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab, the Body Farm,
Where the Dead Do Tell Tales. New York: Putnam, 2003. (the Body Farm)
Cohle, Stephen, M.D., and Tobin T. Buhk, Cause of Death. Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2007.
(autopsy case studies)
Roach, Mary. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. New York: Norton, 2003
Sachs, Jessica Snyder. Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint Time of Death.
New York: Basic Books, 2001.
Wecht, Cyril. Tales From the Morgue, Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2005.
DNA
Butler, John M. Fundamentals of Forensic DNA Typing. New York: Academic Press, 2010.
(college reading level but excellent resource)
Thompson-Cannino, Jennifer and Ronald Cotton with Erin Torneo. Picking Cotton. New York:
St. Martin’s Griffin, 2009. (wrongful conviction later exonerated by DNA via The Innocence
Project)
Massie, Robert K. The Romanovs: The Final Chapter. New York: Random House, 1995.
Wambaugh, Joseph The Blooding, New York: William Morrow, 1989. (First case solved with
DNA; not for younger readers, deals with rape)
Drugs and Toxicology
Cobb, Cathy; Feteroff, Monty L.; Goldsmith, Jack G., Crime Scene Chemistry for the
Armchair Sleuth, Amherst, NY: Prometheus, 2007.
Blum, Deborah. The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz
Age New York. Penguin, 2010.
Environmental Forensics
MacMaster, Greg. Environmental Forensics. Kewadin, MI: Greg MacMaster, 2010.
Evidence
Lee, Henry. Physical Evidence in Forensic Science, Tucson, AZ: Lawyers & Judges Publishing,
2000.
Forensic Entomology
Byrd, Jason H., and James L. Castner, eds. Forensic Entomology: The Utility of Arthropods in
Legal Investigations, Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 2011. (textbook)
Erzinclioglu, Zakaria, Maggots, Murder, and Men, New York: St. Martin’s, 2000.
Goff, M. Lee. A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes. Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 2000.
Facial Reconstruction
George, Robert M., Facial Geometry: Graphic Analysis for Forensic Artists. Springfield, IL:
Charles C. Thomas, 2007. (higher reading level)
Taylor, Karen T. Forensic Art and Illustration. Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 2001. (higher reading
level)
Fibers
Schiller, Lawrence. S. Perfect Murder, Perfect Town. New York: Harper, 1998. (JonBenet
Ramsey Case)
Forensic Psychology
Van Zandt, Clint, Facing Down Evil: Life on the Edge as an FBI Hostage Negotiator. New
York: Putnam, 2006. (FBI profiler)
Fraud and Counterfeiting
Abagnale. Frank W. Catch Me if You Can. New York: Random House, 1980.
Abagnale, Frank W. The Art of the Steal. New York: Random House, 2001.
Perenyi, Ken, Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger, New York: Pegasus,
2012.
Wittman, Robert K. Priceless, New York: Random House, 2010.
Glass
Fisher, David. Hard Evidence. New York: Dell, 1995.
Handwriting
Rainis, Kenneth. Forgery, Crime-Solving Experiments. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow
Publishers, 2006.
Impressions
Evans, Colin. The Casebook of Forensic Detection. New York: John Wiley, 1998.
McDonald, Peter. Tire Imprint Evidence (Practical Aspects of Criminal and Forensic
Investigations). Boca Raton, FL: CRC, 1992. (textbook)
Observational Skills
Ekman, Paul, Emotions Revealed. 2nd ed. New York: Holt, 2007.
Sand and Soil
McPhee, John. Irons in the Fire. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997.
Murray, Raymond C. Evidence from the Earth: Forensic Geology and Criminal Investigation,
Missoula, MT, Mountain Press, 2004. (textbook)
Tool Marks
Baldwin, David, John Birkett, Owen Facey, and Gilleon Rabey. The Forensic Examination and
Interpretation of Tool Marks. London: John Wiley, 2013. (textbook)