Crime & Clues

By James W. Osterburg and Richard H. Ward

Review by Daryl W. Clemens

(This review is based on the Third Edition).

The text is divided into four sections with thirty chapters. New in this edition is a chapter on automobile theft. Earlier editions of the book were required reading for the International Association for Identification's crime scene certification course and I expect that will continue to be true with this edition.

The third edition continues to be bound in paperback which was one my main complaints from the second edition. The dimensions of the book of the been changed resulting in a rather more solid feel to this edition. I'd still prefer to see it in hard cover, however, I understand some of the cost factors involved, which lead to the use of a paper cover.

The third edition also includes a 228 page study guide. The instructors edition includes both an instructors guide, and a set of PowerPoint slides, although I didn't receive the slides with my review copy. Given the popularity of PowerPoint presentations I have to believe this is a valuable addition for those that are using the text in a college course.

Overall the book continues to be well written and illustrated with appropriate photographs or illustrations.

Time of Death, Decomposition and Identification: An Atlas (Causes of Death Atlas Series)

by Jay Dix and Michael Graham.

This is the first book in the Forensic Pathology: Causes of Death Atlas series.

Review by Daryl W. Clemens

My first thought when this arrived in the mail was geez it's awfully thin. The entire book is 112 pages. Having looked through the whole thing my opinion is that for $19.95 this would be a great book, unfortunately it's rather more than that.