The Science of Murder: The Forensics of Agatha Christie
Ratings4
Average rating3
15
Ratings4
Average rating3
Discover the science of forensics through Agatha Christie's novels in the ultimate true crime investigation Agatha Christie is the bestselling novelist of all time, and nearly every story she ever wrote involves one—or, more commonly, several—dead bodies. And the cause of death, the motives behind violent crimes, the clues that inevitably are left behind, and the people who put the pieces together to solve the mystery invite the reader to analyze the evidence and race to find the answer before the detective does. Nearly every step of the way, Christie outlines the nuts and bolts of early 20th-century crime detection, relying on physical evidence to tell the real story behind the facades humans erect to escape detection. Christie wouldn't have talked of "forensics" as it is understood today—most of her work predates the modern developments of forensics science—but in each tale she harnesses the power of human observation, ingenuity, and scientific developments of the era. A fascinating, science-based deep dive, The Science of Murder examines the use of fingerprints, firearms, handwriting, blood spatter analysis, toxicology, and more in Christie's beloved works. What readers are saying: "Highly entertaining with many fascinating snippets of insider information about real life criminal cases. This is a must for Christie fans." "Thoroughly researched and a delight to read!" "A wealth of information and knowledge to help give an insight to the golden age of crime fiction." "Absolutely brilliant book that looks at how Agatha Christie made use of developments in forensic science in her novels and upgraded her understanding over time." "Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors, unparalleled in her clever plots and twisting tales. She was also a forensic expert, weaving into her novels human observation, ingenuity and genuine science of the era. This book illuminates all of Agatha's incredible knowledge, showing how she stayed at the cutting edge of forensic knowledge, as seen through her much loved characters."
Reviews with the most likes.
I have not read a lot of Agatha Christie books and short stories, but I after reading this I have a good overview of much of what she wrote. I also understand better why she was so important for the genre. She seems to be placed in the cozy mystery category, but that doesn't feel accurate. She kept herself on the cutting edge of forensic science to make sure the things in her stories were as accurate as possible. So in this overview of her work, we learn about the history of forensic science as well. So this is a little bit of Agatha Christie, a little bit of science, and a little bit of history.
⭐⭐⭐ – Great cover!
I am a true crime addict and I love Agatha Christie, so I was excited to dive into this one. The author clearly did a lot of research and that shows throughout the book. However, I found the writing to be a little all over the place and hard to get through at times. I did enjoy the poisons section and how they were used throughout history and in Agatha Christie's books.
