The Science of Sherlock Holmes From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases

by Wagner, E. J.

• ISBN13: 9780471648796
• ISBN10: 0471648795
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-31
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Take a wild ride by hansom cab along the road paved by Sherlock Holmes- a ride that leads you through medicine, law, pathology, toxicology, anatomy, blood chemistry, and the emergence of forensic science during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Science of Sherlock Holmes is as fascinating and eye-opening as any Holmes mystery. Examining the Great Detective's remarkable adventures- along with gripping real-life mysteries such as the disappearance of Dr. George Parkman, wife-killer Kenneth Barlow, Jack the Ripper, and Lizzie Borden-author E.J. Wagner gives you a new perspective on both Holmes and modern-day forensic detection. Book jacket.

Author Biography

E. J. WAGNER is a crime historian, a lecturer, a teller of suspense stories for adults, and the moderator of the annual Forensic Forum at the Museum of Long Island Natural Sciences at Stony Brook University, New York. Her work has been published in Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, the New York Times, and the Lancet.

Table of Contents

Preface.

Acknowledgments.

1 Dialogue with the Dead.

2 Beastly Tales and Black Dogs.

3 A Fly in the Ointment.

4 Proving Poison.

5 Disguise and the Detective.

6 The Crime Scene by Gaslight.

7 A Picture of Guilt.

8 Shots in the Dark.

9 Bad Impressions.

10 The Real Dirt.

11 Notes from the Devil.

12 A Voice in the Blood.

13 Myth, Medicine, and Murder.

Glossary.

Bibliography.

Index.