Product Description

Winner of the 2003 Golden Dagger award for non-fiction crime writing at The Crime Writer's Aassociation Awards.

A scientific and legal thriller with the perfect twist. In April 1984, a young British DNA scientist is sexually assaulted in her San Francisco cottage. A year later, and hundreds of miles away, she is brutally murdered. The alleged rapist, an American financial analyst named Paul Frediani is the only suspect. Police and forensic experts, however, fail to link him to the crime and the crime languishes in the "unsolved" file".

Fast forward to 1999 and a keen detective re-opens the case utilising the latest in DNA techniques - techniques pioneered fifteen years ago by the mudered British scientist. Armed with these newly developed techniques the detective finds a vital clue...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #298075 in Books
• Published on: 2004-03-25
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Synopsis
In 1984 a young British DNA scientist was sexually assaulted in her San Francisco cottage. A year later, and hundreds of miles away, she was brutally murdered. The alleged rapist was the only suspect, but he could not be linked to the crime until 15 years later when the newest DNA techniques provided a vital clue.

About the Author
Samantha Weinberg has worked as a journalist in southern Africa, the United States and London. She is the author of Last of the Pirates and A Fish Caught in Time: The Search for the Coelacanth, which was a top 10 bestseller. She lives in Wiltshire.

Customer Reviews

Samantha Weinberg does it again!
Samantha writes in an easy, understandable way. Her research cannot be faulted and this book is the culmination of some intensive and dedicated research. It is a fascinating account of how DNA can identify criminals and, in this case, convict the murderer of the very woman who's pioneering work in DNA set the scene for his conviction. It's a real and gripping catch-22 situation.

Victim's work helps solve own murder
"Pointing from the Grave" is the story about scientist Helena Greenwood and how the progress in DNA helped to solve her murder 15 years after it was committed. It's an enthralling and informative read which, although covers the scientific developments of DNA, is clear and well written. The scientific history is dispersed throughout the book and is easy to follow. Samantha Weinberg has produced a well researched and interesting piece of writing and I highly recommend it.

Gripping murder mystery which teaches you stuff too!
I wasn't sure what to expect from this 'true story' as sometimes scientific explanations can bog you down. But once I started reading, I really couldn't stop.

It is actually a very easy writing style which constantly reveals new facts about the story and allows you to weigh up the evidence yourself. All the way to the end I was left guessing and weinberg sows plenty of seeds of doubt to keep you thinking all the way to the last page.

The story of the murder and the suspect are well written and intertwine nicely with the scientific story of the development of DNA fingerprinting. It never gets too technical and as long as you concentrate you begin to understand how it all works, which made me feel very clever and added an excellent dimension to my dinner party conversation!

I would definately recommend this book if you enjoy murder mysteries but want to read something 'real' that actually teaches you a thing or two along the way.