In a lab filled with curiosities--beakers, microscopes, Bunsen burners, and hundreds upon hundreds of books--sat an investigator who would go on to crack at least two thousand cases in his forty-year career. Known as the "American Sherlock Holmes," Edward Oscar Heinrich was one of America's greatest--and first--forensic scientists, with an uncanny knack for finding clues, establishing evidence, and deducing answers with a skill that seemed almost supernatural.Heinrich was one of the nation's first expert witnesses, working in a time when the turmoil of Prohibition led to sensationalized crime reporting and only a small, systematic study of evidence. However with his brilliance, and commanding presence in both the courtroom and at crime scenes, Heinrich spearheaded the invention of a myriad of new forensic tools that police still use today, including blood spatter analysis, ballistics, lie-detector tests, and the use of fingerprints as courtroom evidence. His work, though not without its serious--some would say fatal--flaws, changed the course of American criminal investigation.Based on years of research and thousands of never-before-published primary source materials, American Sherlock captures the life of the man who pioneered the science our legal system now relies upon--as well as the limits of those techniques and the very human experts who wield them.

    But this time, she didn’t show—and Christopher’s calls went unanswered. The police found what looked like a scene from a horror movie at their home. The backdoor kicked in. A bedroom splattered with blood. And a pregnant young woman violently stabbed to death.Could Christopher have murdered the woman he claimed to love? Or was the crime done by an intruder Angila had feared for weeks? Angila’s womanizing ex-husband, Richie Wilder, Jr., aimed detectives straight toward Christopher. The evidence, however, pointed squarely at Richie.Kindergarten teacher Cynthia Wilder thought her dreams had come true when she married Richie. But while her husband sat behind bars, Cynthia grew lonely. When she shared some disturbing details with a former lover, Cynthia finally revealed the truth behind the sinister plot to kill Angila Wilder. After four years of lies and deceit, the real story would shock a community to its very core …

    He "did," however, admit to dismembering her, boiling her bones, and hiding them in the Port Authority locker." At the heart of countless crimes lies the mystery of the human mind. In this eye-opening book, Dr. Cheryl Paradis draws back the curtain on the fascinating world of forensic psychology and revisits the most notorious and puzzling cases she has handled in her multifaceted career."Out it all came, a slew of bizarre comments about the electronic chips implanted in his brain."Her riveting, sometimes shocking stories reveal the crucial and often surprising role forensic psychology plays in the pursuit of justice. Sometimes the accused believe their own bizarre lies, creating a world that pushes them into frightening, violent crimes."My client is charged with murder and tells me he is a descendent of kings. He says he is of royal blood. Can you evaluate him for an insanity defense?"Join Dr. Paradis in a stark concrete cell, with the accused handcuffed to a chair opposite her, as she takes on the daunting task of mapping the suspect's madness--or exposing it as fakery. Have a front-row seat in a tense, packed courtroom, where her testimony can determine an individual's fate. The criminal mind has never been so intimately revealed--or so darkly compelling."A forensic psychologist reveals the dark and troubling human mind. Fascinating."--Robert K. Tanenbaum The Experts PraiseThe Measure of Madness"Fascinating . . . A forensic psychologist reveals the dark and powerful motives that challenge our justice system and opens up the troubling workings of the human mind."--Robert K. Tanenbaum, author of "Capture""Compelling . . . Dr. Cheryl Paradis offers a window into the world of a clinical psychologist who has made many assessments for the courts."--Katherine Ramsland, author of "The Criminal Mind""Eloquent . . . Anyone concerned with the relationship between deviance and mental illness will find this excellent book to be of great value."--Simon Baatz, author of "For the Thrill of It: Leopold, Loeb and the Murder that Shocked Chicago""Clearly written and comprehensive . . . Dr. Paradis skillfully leads the reader through the labyrinth of the psychotic criminal mind and the maze of the judicial system."--Barbara Kirwin, author of "The Mad, the Bad, and the Innocent""Insightful, remarkable . . . not to be missed if you want to understand the real-world dramas that underlie criminal justice."--Barbara Oakley, author of "Evil Genes""Informative, discussion-provoking . . . a much needed, intriguing collection of personal reflections as well as fascinating cases."--Thomas M. O'Rourke, Director of Forensic Psychiatry, Kings County Hospital Center"Riveting . . .Cheryl Paradis shows us a world rarely seen and one full of mystery."--John Coston, author of "To Kill and Kill Again" and "Sleep My Child Forever""Lucid, intelligent, provocative . . . Cheryl Paradis is an articulate expert guide to the bizarre and routinely baffling world of irrational and aberrant crime."--Stephen G. Michaud, author of "The Only Living Witness" and "Whisper of Fear""A marvelous book . . . a masterpiece that not only beautifully describes the people she examines but, just as importantly, fills in the dialogues between herself and others and includes her own thoughts and feelings. This book stands out."--Daniel W. Schwartz, M.D., Director (Ret.) of Forensic Psychiatry Service, Kings County Hospital"Written with clarity, objectivity, and expertise . . . Cheryl Paradis draws you into the fascinating world of the forensic psychologist and into the minds and often disturbing motives of the defendants she has examined."--Robert H. Berger, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine"Chilling . . . "The Measure of Madness" is an insider's view of a world few of us really know. Dr. Paradis makes clear that the reality of criminal forensic psychology is far different -- and far more fascinating -- than that portrayed in TV and movies. Fans of 'CSI' and 'Law and Order' as well as criminal law practitioners will find this book hard to resist."--Robert Reuland, criminal defense attorney and author of "Hollowpoint" and "Semiautomatic""A down-to-earth, tell-all case book . . . an unvarnished insider's view into the fascinating world of forensic psychology and the minds of mentally ill criminal offenders. This book will be of interest not only to forensic specialists, but to all those who have ever thought of entering this vexing but richly rewarding profession or wondered what it might be like to take an intimate look at the criminally insane."--Sanford L. Drob, Ph.D., former Director of Psychological Assessment at Bellevue Hospital, New York"Engaging, vivid, invaluable . . . a fascinating look at real-life case materials from the author's own practice as a forensic psychologist. The accounts of criminal defendants whose minds are on trial and the issues that Paradis must determine in making her evaluations make this book a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of psychology and criminal law."--Patricia E. Erickson, J.D., Ph.D., co-author of "Crime, Punishment, and Mental Illness: Law and the Behavioral Sciences in Conflict" "The criminal justice system fascinates most of us but too often the violence seems incomprehensible. Cheryl Paradis' intriguing account of a number of her cases from the viewpoint of a forensic psychologist is informative and provides an inside look at crime and mental illness, something we all need to know a lot more about."--Leslie Crocker Snyder, former New York state Supreme Court Judge, author of "25 to Life

    Pretending to work? That’s fudgelling, which may lead to rizzling if you feel sleepy after lunch, though by dinner time you will have become a sparkling deipnosophist.From Mark Forsyth, author of the bestselling The Etymologicon, this is a book of weird words for familiar situations. From ante-jentacular to snudge by way of quafftide and wamblecropt, at last you can say, with utter accuracy, exactly what you mean.

    For the first time, the files have been opened, the detectives are talking and the victims are reliving the nightmare. For over 20 years, the dark secrets of the biggest criminal manhunt in British history have remained a closed book. Detectives refused all requests to tell the inside story of the Yorkshire Ripper investigation that logged over two million man-hours of police work. The victims who survived maintained a wall of silence. And the detailed forensic evidence, witness statements and autopsy reports have remained locked away. Until now. Michael Bilton has persuaded the key people to talk. After years of research he can finally reveal the truth behind the murder enquiry that left Peter Sutcliffe free to kill again and again. With exclusive access to the detectives involved, to pathologist's archives and confidential police reports, the story of the hunt is revealed.

    Award-winning journalist Mara Leveritt's The Devil's Knot remains the most comprehensive, insightful reporting ever done on the investigation, trials, and convictions of three teenage boys who became known as the West Memphis Three.For weeks in 1993, after the murders of three eight-year-old boys, police in West Memphis, Arkansas seemed stymied. Then suddenly, detectives charged three teenagers, alleged members of a satanic cult, with the killings. Despite the witch-hunt atmosphere of the trials, and a case which included stunning investigative blunders, a confession riddled with errors, and an absence of physical evidence linking any of the accused to the crime, the teenagers were convicted. Jurors sentenced Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley to life in prison and Damien Echols, the accused ringleader, to death. The guilty verdicts were popular in their home state, even upheld on appeal, and all three remained in prison until their unprecedented release in August 2011.With close-up views of its key participants, this award-winning account unravels the many tangled knots of this endlessly shocking case, one which will shape the American legal landscape for years to come.

    In the aftermath of that six-year old's abduction and slaying in 1981, everything about the nation's regard and response to missing children changed.The shock of the crime and the inability of law enforcement to find Adam's killer put an end to innocence, and altered our very perception of childhood itself - gone forever are the days when young children burst out the doors of American homes with a casual promise to be home by dark. And, due in large part to the efforts of Adam's parents, John and Reve Walsh, the entire mechanism of law enforcement has transformed itself in an effort to protect our children.Before Adam went missing, there were no children's faces on milk cartons and billboards, no Amber Alerts, no national Center for Missing and Abused Children, no national databases for crimes against children, no registration of pedophiles - in fact, it was easier to mobilize the FBI to search for a stolen car or missing horse than for a kidnapped child. Such facts may be sad testimony to the weariness of a modern world, but there is also an uplifting aspect to Adam's story - the 27 years of undaunted effort by decorated Miami Beach Homicide Detective, Joe Matthews, to track down Adam's killer and bring justice to bear at long last.Bringing Adam Home tells the story - the good, the bad, and the ugly - of what it took for one cop to accomplish what an entire system of law enforcement could not. Matthews' achievement is a stirring one, reminding us that such concepts as hard work, dedication, and love, survive, and that goodness can prevail.

    He abducts young boys, has his way with them, and, if they "know too much," kills them. He forces his nephew to participate in his crimes and to consign these little victims, sometimes still living, to their graves. His father is afraid of his own son. His son mocks and abuses him, falsely accuses him of incest and child abuse-and still he supports his son. His mother loves her boy and will do anything to help him-even commit murder. The Gordon Stewart Northcott case-a part of which is fictionalized in the major new Clint Eastwood film CHANGELING, starring Angelina Jolie-is still, eight decades later, one of the most nightmarish in American criminal annals. This book-nearly two decades in the research and writing-tells the whole story for the first time. Disclaimer: It should be noted that the film CHANGELING is not based upon this book, nor this book upon it. Both are entirely separate works, and one had no influence upon the other´s creation.

    One of the great unexplained wonders of human history is that written philosophy flowered entirely separately in China, India and Ancient Greece at more or less the same time. These early philosophies have had a profound impact on the development of distinctive cultures in different parts of the world. What we call 'philosophy' in the West is not even half the story. Julian Baggini sets out to expand our horizons in How the World Thinks, exploring the philosophies of Japan, India, China and the Muslim world, as well as the lesser-known oral traditions of Africa and Australia's first peoples. Interviewing thinkers from around the globe, Baggini asks questions such as: why is the West is more individualistic than the East? What makes secularism a less powerful force in the Islamic world than in Europe? And how has China resisted pressures for greater political freedom? Offering deep insights into how different regions operate, and paying as much attention to commonalities as to differences, Baggini shows that by gaining greater knowledge of how others think we take the first step to a greater understanding of ourselves.

    A professor of linguistics who specialized in underworld argot, Maurer won the trust of hundreds of swindlers, who let him in on not simply their language but their folkways and the astonishingly complex and elaborate schemes whereby unsuspecting marks, hooked by their own greed and dishonesty, were “taken off” – i.e. cheated—of thousands upon thousands of dollars. The Big Con is a treasure trove of American lingo (the write, the rag, the payoff, ropers, shills, the cold poke, the convincer, to put on the send) and indelible characters (Yellow Kid Weil, Barney the Patch, the Seldom Seen Kid, Limehouse Chappie, Larry the Lug). It served as the source for the Oscar-winning film The Sting.

    It is the story of notorious gangsters like Haji Mastan, Karim Lala, Varadarajan Mudaliar, Chhota Rajan, Abu Salem, but above all, it is the story of a young man who went astray despite having a father in the police force. Dawood Ibrahim was initiated into crime as a pawn in the hands of the Mumbai police and went on to wipe out the competition and eventually became the Mumbai police’s own nemesis.The narrative encompasses several milestones in the history of crime in India, from the rise of the Pathans, formation of the Dawood gang, the first ever supari, mafia’s nefarious role in Bollywood, Dawood’s move to Karachi, and Pakistan’s subsequent alleged role in sheltering one of the most wanted persons in the world. This story is primarily about how a boy from Dongri became a don in Dubai, and captures his bravado, focus, ambition, and lust for power in a gripping narrative. The meticulously researched book provides an in-depth and comprehensive account of the mafia’s games of supremacy and internecine warfare.

    An analysis of Victorian women writers, this pathbreaking book of feminist literary criticism is now reissued with a substantial new introduction by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar that reveals the origins of their revolutionary realization in the 1970s that "the personal was the political, the sexual was the textual."Contents:The Queen's looking glass: female creativity, male images of women, and the metaphor of literary paternity --Infection in the sentence: the women writer and the anxiety of authorship --The parables of the cave --Shut up in prose: gender and genre in Austen's Juvenilia --Jane Austen's cover story (and its secret agents) --Milton's bogey: patriarchal poetry and women readers --Horror's twin: Mary Shelley's monstrous Eve --Looking oppositely: Emily Brontë's bible of hell --A secret, inward wound: The professor's pupil --A dialogue of self and soul: plain Jane's progress --The genesis of hunger, according to Shirley --The buried life of Lucy Snowe --Made keen by loss: George Eliot's veiled vision --George Eliot as the angel of destruction --The aesthetics of renunciation --A woman, white: Emily Dickinson's yarn of pearl.

    Police arrive on the doorstep of your house, 25 Cromwell Street, with a warrant to search the garden for the remains of your older sister you didn't know was dead. Bones are found and they are from more than one body. And so the nightmare begins. You are the daughter of Fred and Rose West.'Mae, I mean this ... I'm not a good person and I let all you children down ...' Rose West, HM PRISON DURHAMIt has taken over 20 years for Mae West to find the perspective and strength to tell her remarkable story: one of an abusive, violent childhood, of her serial killer parents and how she has rebuilt her life in the shadow of their terrible crimes.Through her own memories, research and the letters her mother wrote to her from prison, Mae shares her emotionally powerful account of her life as a West. From a toddler locked in the deathly basement to a teen fighting off the sexual advances of her father, Mae's story is one of survival. It also answers the questions: how do you come to terms with knowing your childhood bedroom was a graveyard? How do you accept the fact your parents sexually tortured, murdered and dismembered young women? How do you become a mother yourself when you're haunted by the knowledge that your own mother was a monster? Why were you spared and how do you escape the nightmare?

    Draws on the works of theologians, art historians, and other experts to explore the sources, ideas, and major themes of the novel The Da Vinci Code..

    Wilson's thorough tome covers the tried-and-true methods from the beginning of the 20th century to the cutting-edge, innovative processes now featured on shows such as CSI. The illustrated book includes 15 black-and-white images of victims, killers, and crime scenes. This is an exceptional book for a society morbidly fascinated by this unsettling topic.