Just Finished Reading: American Sherlock – Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of Crime Scene Investigation by Kate Winkler Dawson (FP: 2020) [274pp] 

Whenever I read about criminal investigation in the 19th century (fictional or otherwise) I can't help but wonder how anything was actually solved before the advent of modern forensics. It would appear that the lack of CSI as well as the lack of understanding (or belief) by members of the jury lasted well into the early 20th century. However, one man (in the US) was determined to change that – Edward Oscar Heinrich. Starting as a pharmacist assistant and later chemist he was determined to bring scientific principles into criminal investigation as well as into the courtroom not only to prosecute the guilty but to ensure that the right people ended up in prison rather than someone who just happened to be the most obvious person in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

It wasn't long before Heinrich was asked for every time a local police force hit a problem. As his fame spread, he began attending incidents across the country – much to the dismay of his wife and children. Inevitably as he all too often identified suspects from the smallest items of physical evidence, he was just as often called to the stand to show the jury exactly what he found and to explain exactly why it was important. [I was actually shocked more than once at how contaminated the crime scenes of the era where – not only be the number of police officers at any particular scene but by the members of the public who wanted to see blood but also to take 'souvenirs' of the event. Most of the cases would fail these days because of the sheer amount of contamination of the crime scene.] The biggest frustration that Heinrich struggled with was the fact that juries often either didn't understand his evidence or simply dismissed it as fantasy or what we might call today 'technobabble'. But this was the age where fingerprinting was just coming into regular use and the concept of blood types had only just been recognised, so it's hardly surprising that even the police themselves were sceptical of any scientific explanation – most especially when it contradicted their own 'gut feelings' or prejudices. 

Scattered throughout with some of his most famous cases (only one of which I had previously heard of) this was an interesting look at the earliest days of modern forensic science and the uphill struggles its practitioners had both in solving crimes and convincing juries that their science could prove who actually did do it (and of course sometimes the 'science' was nothing of the sort). Although this was, primarily, a biography of the man himself I was a little disappointed that it didn't focus more of the science. I was also slightly irritated by the repeated mention of his financial worries and his rivalry with other 'experts' in forensics. But these niggles were generally a minor affair. Overall, an interesting look at the period – 1920's and 30's – and the crimes committed then. Reasonable and more Sherlock Holmes Adjacent (SHA) content to come.  

WOW.... Things are tougher out there than I thought..... 

INTERESTING! Especially having the German weather charts too...!

Just Finished Reading: I Don't Like Mondays – The True Story Behind America's First Modern School Shooting by N Leigh Hunt (FP: 2022/2026) [309pp] 

I don't remember the actual shooting when it happened on 29th January 1979. I don't even know if it was reported here. It probably was, being SO unusual at the time, but if it did then it didn't register. I only really remember knowing about it after the Boomtown Rats made her (apparently disputed) reason for the shooting into a hit song (below) – at least in the UK. It's also why I 'clocked' this book when I saw it in a local "we sell EVERYTHING shop'. 

The story is surprisingly simple. One morning 16-year-old Brenda Spencer told her father that she wasn't feeling well and would be taking a day off school. Shortly after her father left for work Brenda got her .22 rifle and, from her own front door, began firing across the street at her local Elementary school killing the Principle and Head Janitor and injuring 8 children all under ten. When she was finally arrested and was asked WHY she did what she did (a particularly unusual thing at the time but increasing common event today) she is supposed to have responded "I Don't Like Mondays" - which she later denied. 

Covering the shooting in detail (including extracts from the police dispatch and SWAT Team) before moving onto the arrest and fallout from the event this started out quite strong, but I slowly became a little bored as, despite the attention (and sometimes honestly over-attention) to detail, it didn't feel like there was a whole lot of SUBSTANCE here. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but I did feel more than once like I was making my way through a plot made of cotton candy. I think that a big part of that was the fact that Brenda never went to trial (having eventually pled guilty) and that we never got to the bottom of why she did it or what circumstances made her at such a young age into a person who could gun down little kids in the school yard. There was talk of abuse (both physical and psychological), a broken home, drugs, a history of petty theft and 'trouble making' but nothing substantial or of substance. It was more than a little frustrating. 

 I was definitely looking for much more analysis here, both of the event and the larger (post-1979/future) context but that was rather thin on the ground. Whilst not a 'bad' book I think this needed a little less focus on Brenda's jail time (and seemingly endless delusions of eventually going free) and more focus on the causes and impacts of school shootings. Reasonable and more on school shootings and other aspects of the 'Dark Side' of American history/culture to come.     

Well..... Actually Sarah (and friends) blew up the Headquarters and main Research hub of Cyberdyne Systems in California who were under contract to supply advanced computer chips to the US military for its Skynet Project.... So..... kinda close..... [lol]