Product Description

The forensic entomologist turns a dispassionate, analytic eye on scenes from which most people would recoil - human corpses in various stages of decay, usually the remains of people who have met a premature end through accident or mayhem. To Lee Goff and his fellow forensic entomologists, each body recovered at a crime scene is an ecosystem, a unique micro-environment colonized in succession by a diverse array of flies, beetles, mites, spiders, and other arthropods: some using the body to provision their young, some feeding directly on the tissues and by-products of decay, and still others preying on the scavengers. Using actual cases on which he has consulted. Goff shows how knowledge of these insects and their habits allows forensic entomologists to furnish investigators with crucial evidence about crimes. Even when a body has been reduced to a skeleton, insect evidence can often provide the only available estimate of the post-mortem interval, or time elapsed since death, as well as clues to whether drugs have contributed to the death. An experienced forensic investigator who regularly advises law enforcement agencies in the United Sates and abroad, Goff is uniquely qualified to tell the fascinating if unsettling story of the development of practice of forensic entomology.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #346551 in Books
• Published on: 2001-09-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Almost every murder has literally millions of witnesses, but their only testimony is a maddening buzz. Speaking for the insects is forensic entomologist M Lee Goff who relates some of the secrets of his young profession in A Fly for the Prosecution. Equal parts scientific and true-crime journalism, the book reports unflinchingly on the development of this field as an important adjunct to traditional means of investigation. Based on our constantly-improving knowledge of the reproduction and growth of carrion flies and beetles, an informed examiner can determine the time and location of death with great precision, often lending the final evidence needed to close a case. Goff has been at the forefront of forensic entomology and has worked closely with Hawai'i law enforcement over many years, yielding a rich assortment of crime stories to illustrate his research. Readers need a strong stomach to take the macabre details of some of the murders; fortunately for those at the borderline, all of the excellent illustrations depict insects rather than their meals. Goff also explores how we came to the knowledge we have today, including the meticulous field research of the 19th century and the modern decomposition studies with pigs in a wide variety of environments and conditions. You might never need the knowledge, but reading A Fly for the Prosecution will at least satisfy your curiosity by telling you what the blowfly saw. --Rob Lightner

Review
"Irresistible... Goff [is] a marvellously vivid and clear explainer of his science... [His] tales can be riveting." - Atul Gawande, New York Times Book Review; "Goff takes you into the world of the forensic entomologists: the intrepid band of insect experts around the world who turn their intimate knowledge of creepy crawlers to the service of police work... A fascinating read... Goff seems like just the sort of gifted storyteller you'd want to have a drink with - but, perhaps, not dinner." - John Schwartz, Washington Post Book World

Atul Gawande, New York Times Book Review
"Goff, a marvelously vivid and clear explainer of his science...uses plenty of true-life...cases to show how it's done."

Customer Reviews

Sherlock Holmes Would Love This Book!
This book is required reading for mystery writers, because it contains unlimited new material for creating better mysteries. Mystery readers will enjoy it too, as they sense new elements of potential complexity for future novels in the genre. Sherlock Holmes loved to read monographs, just like this one.

I do suggest that those who are easily upset by the details of death avoid this book. Although the pictures are not graphic (except as drawings about various insects), the descriptions of the murder victims and what the insects do to them are quite graphic. There was a good reason, after all, why many of the original English murder mysteries had the murder and the investigation of the body occur outside the main line of the story.

If you like forensic detection (such as occurs in the Cornwell and Elkins mysteries), this will be right up your alley.

Forensic entomologists observe what insects are present (and their state of development) to determine time of death and the time when the body was put into its current location. They can also sometimes tell something about where the body has been before.

There are a lot of variables, such as temperature, humidity, where the body is, whether it is covered or not, and so forth. Dr. Goff describes his many experiments with animal carcasses to find out how these factors affect the results.

The book is half science, and half cases that Dr. Goff and others have worked on where these principles have been applied.

In the future, the insects may even be sources of DNA data to help identify the guilty party.

You will also get a sense of how this evolving science came into being, what it is like to serve as a consulting expert in the field, and the strains of being an expert witness in trials.

With the help of these insects, though, justice will be done more often. That is something we should all be glad about, as well as the fact that there are scientists willing to take on these grisly, smelly chores for our society. Well done, Dr. Goff!

This book is an excellent example of the benefits of overcoming the Ugly Duckling stall: Avoiding the unattractive by assuming that it is worthless. After you finish reading this excellent book, I suggest you also consider where unattractive activities can yield valuable clues for improving your organization. For example, what does the waste look like that you throw away? Have you looked at it lately? If not, you may be surprised. You will get ideas for how to avoid the waste by knowing what to work on, and you will also know what the potential savings are. Where else can you look that everyone sees, but no one concentrates on?