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.