Forensic Books for High School Students
Patti Nolan Bertino 1.14.15
www.BertinoForensics.com
There are many great non-fiction forensics books that are of high interest to students.
This is just a very small list. As part of my forensics class, I often read excerpts from the
following books. After hearing sections of these books, many students become motivated to read
the rest of the book.
A suggestion for teachers: As you read books, articles, and blogs record the topic and page
number in the back of the book or article so that when you want to find that passage again next
year, you can easily locate the reference in the back of the book ex. pg 56 Bones: male vs.
female. Add a stick-em note to that page with the topic on the note.
Forensic Books List
High School Forensic Textbook
Bertino, Anthony, and Bertino, Patrician N., Forensic Science: Fundamentals and
Investigations, Mason, Ohio: Cengage/National Geographic Learning, 2016.
General
Cohle, Stephen, M.D., and Tobin T. Buhk, Cause of Death. Amherst, New
York: Prometheus, 2007.
Blood
MacDonell, Herbert Leon, Bloodstain Patterns, Elmira Heights, New York: Golos
Printing, 2005, Second revised edition
Wonder, Anita Y., Bloodstain Pattern Evidence, Boston, MA: Elsevier Academic Press,
2007 (more advanced many physics applications)
Bones (Forensic Anthropology)
Hansen, Joyce and McGowan, Gary, Breaking Ground Breaking Silence, New York,
New York: Henry Holt, 1998
(Story of New York City African Burial Ground)
Jackson, Donna M., The Bone Detectives, Hong Kong, Little, Brown & Company, 1996
Massie, Robert K., The Romanovs: The Final Chapter, New York, New York: Random
House, 1995 (Romanov investigation)
Maples, William, Dead Men Do Tell Tales, New York, New York: Doubleday, 1994
(case studies)
Thomas, Peggy, Forensic Anthropology The Growing Science of Talking Bones, New
York, New York: Facts on File, 2003
Walker, Sally, Written in Bone in Bone, Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, 2009
(forensic anthropology, story of lives of colonial Jamestown and Maryland, easy reading)
Walker, Sally and Owsley, Douglas W., Their Skeletons Speak Kennewick Man and
the Paleoamerican World, Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, 2012
(easy reading level)
Ubelaker, Dr. Douglas and Scamell, Henry, Bones; A Forensic Detective’s Casebook,
New York , New York: M. Evans and Company, 1992
Forensic Botany
Hall David W., and Byrd,Jason, Forensic Botany: A Practical Guide, Chichester,
Sussex, U.K.: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 2012
Walker, Maryalice. Entomology and Palynology: Evidence for the Natural World,
Philadelphia, PA: Mason Crest, 2006
Case Studies
Baden, Michael, Unnatural Death Confessions of a Medical Examiner, Toronto,
Canada: Ivy Books, 1989
Baden, Michael and Roach, Marion, Dead Reckoning, New York, NY: Touchstone, 2001
Craig, Emily PhD, Teasing Secrets From the Dead: My investigations at America's
Most Infamous Crime Scenes, New York, NY: Three Rivers Press, 2004
Erzinclioglu, Zakaria Dr., The Illustrated Guide to Forensics True Crime Scene
Investigations, New York, NY: Barnes & Noble, 2004
Evans, Colin, The Casebook of Forensic Detection: How Science Solved 100 of the
World’s Most Baffling Crimes, New York, NY: John Wiley & Company, 1996
Mann, Robert, Forensic Detective: How I Cracked the World's Toughest Cases, New
York, NY: Ballantine Books, 2007
Crime Scene Investigations
Hallcox, Jarrett and Welch, Amy, Bodies We've Buried , New York, NY: Berkley
Publishing Group, 2006
(describes CSI academy training)
Kollmann, Dana. Never Suck a Dead Man’s Hand: Curious Adventures of CSI, New
York, NY: Citadel Press Books, 2007
(not appropriate for younger students)
Fletcher, Connie. What Cops Know, New York, NY: Pocket Books, 1990
Gardner, Ross M., and Bevel, Tom. Practical Crime Scene Analysis and
Reconstruction, Boca Raton, Florida, CRC Press, 2012
Platt, Richard, Crime Scene: The Ultimate Guide to Forensic Science, U.K.: DK
Publishing, 2003
Time of Death
Cohle, Stephen, M.D., and Tobin T. Buhk, Cause of Death. Amherst, New
York: Prometheus, 2007.
Sachs, Jessica. Corpse: Nature, Forensics, and the Struggle to Pinpoint the Time of
Death. Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2001.
Wecht, Cyril, MD, JD., and Curriden, Mark, Tales From the Morgue, Amherst, NY:
Prometheus Books, NY 2005
Bass, Dr. Bill and Jefferson, Jon, Death's Acre, New York, NY: Berkeley Publishing
Group, 2003 (Body Farm)
Roach, Mary, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, New York, NY: Norton,
2003
DNA
Butler, John M. Fundamentals of Forensic DNA Typing, Burlington, MA: Elsevier,
2005 (AP level text)
Massie, Robert K. The Romanovs The Final Chapter, New York, NY: Random House,
1995
Cotton, Ronald and Thompson-Cannino, Jennifer, Picking Cotton, New York, NY: St.
Martin’s Press, 2009 (wrongful conviction later exonerated by DNA)
Wambaugh, Joseph The Blooding, New York, NY: Bantam Book, 1989
(First case solved through DNA not for younger readers)
Drugs and Toxicology
Cobb, Cathy; Feteroff, Monty L.; Goldsmith, Jack G., Crime Scene Chemistry for the
Armchair Sleuth, Amherst NY: Prometheus Books, 2007
Blum, Deborah, The Poisoner's Handbook, New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2010
Entomology (Insects)
Byrd, Jason H. and Castner, James L. editors, Florida, CRC Press, Forensic Entomology:
The Utility of Arthropods in Legal Investigations, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2011
Erzinclioglu, Dr. Zakaria, Maggots Murder and Men, New York, NY: Thomas Dunne
Books, 2000
Goff, M. Lee, A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes:
First Harvard Press, 2001
Evidence
Lee, Henry, Lee, Henry. Physical Evidence in Forensic Science , Tucson, AZ: Lawyers
& Judges Publishing, 2000.
Facial Reconstruction
George, Robert M., Facial Geometry: Graphic Analysis for Forensic Artists,
Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas, 2007
Taylor, Karen T., Forensic Art and Illustration, Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2001
Fibers
Schiller, Lawrence. S, Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, New York, NY: Harper Books,
1998
(Jon Benet Ramsey Case)
Forensic Environment
MacMaster, Greg. Environmental Forensics, Kewadin, MI: Greg MacMaster, 2010
Forensic Psychology
Van Zandt, Clint, Facing Down Evil: Life on the Edge as an FBI Hostage
Negotiator, New York, NY: G. P. Putnam Son's, 2006
Fraud and Counterfeiting
Abagnale. Frank W., Catch Me if You Can, New York, NY, Random House, 1980
Abagnale, Frank W. The Art of the Steal , New York, NY: Random House, 2001
Perenyi, Ken, Caveat Emptor: The Secret Life of an American Art Forger, New York,
NY, Pegasus Books, 2012
Wittman, Robert K. Priceless, New York, NY, Random House, 2010
Glass
Fisher, David. Hard Evidence, New York, NY: 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, NY: John Wiley
& Sons, 1998.
McDonald, Peter. Tire Imprint Evidence (Practical Aspects of Criminal and
Forensic Investigations). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 1992.
Observational Skills
Ekman, Paul, Emotions Revealed, New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, 2007
Sand and Soil
McPhee, John. Irons in the Fire, New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997
Murray, Raymond C. Evidence from the Earth: Forensic Geology and Criminal
Investigation, Missoula, MT, Mountain Press Publishing, 2004
Tool Marks
Baldwin, David; Birkett, John; Facey, Owen; Robey, Gilleon. The Forensic
Examination and Interpretation of Tool Marks, London. John Wiley and Sons, 2013
Visit our website at www.BertinoForensics.com for:
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Additional teacher resources
Four Forensic webinars
Forensic apps for iPhone or iPads
Summer Forensic Institute for Teachers
Additional Information about our forensic high school textbook
Forensic Science: Fundamentals and Investigations