Kate Winkler Dawson

author of Death in the Air

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American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson

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"Those interested in the development of modern forensics will be enthralled."

—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Kate Winkler Dawson
2020-01-03T23:39:56+00:00

—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

"Those interested in the development of modern forensics will be enthralled."
"A fascinating book worthy of being associated with the title’s literary sleuth. Readers will want a follow-up so they can discover more of Heinrich’s cases as told through Dawson’s great storytelling."

—Library Journal

Kate Winkler Dawson
2020-01-03T23:40:52+00:00

—Library Journal

"A fascinating book worthy of being associated with the title’s literary sleuth. Readers will want a follow-up so they can discover more of Heinrich’s cases as told through Dawson’s great storytelling."
"While many true-crime books suffer from stale prose, Dawson's writing is remarkable in that it never uses the crutch of false suspense but also doesn't skimp on valuable details… An entertaining, absorbing combination of biography and true crime.”

—Kirkus (Starred Review)

Kate Winkler Dawson
2019-10-17T16:47:48+00:00

—Kirkus (Starred Review)

"While many true-crime books suffer from stale prose, Dawson's writing is remarkable in that it never uses the crutch of false suspense but also doesn't skimp on valuable details… An entertaining, absorbing combination of biography and true crime.”
"Part suspenseful detective story, part compelling character study, AMERICAN SHERLOCK does full justice to Heinrich's starts, stumbles, and his startling brilliance."

—Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author of The Poisoner's Handbook

Kate Winkler Dawson
2019-10-14T16:25:24+00:00

—Deborah Blum, Pulitzer-prize winning journalist and author of The Poisoner's Handbook

"Part suspenseful detective story, part compelling character study, AMERICAN SHERLOCK does full justice to Heinrich's starts, stumbles, and his startling brilliance."
“Riveting biography of Edward Oscar Heinrich who helped put the science into old fashion detective work. His cases, his methods, his lasting contributions to crime busting are all here.”

—Joe Drape, bestselling author of American Pharaoh

Kate Winkler Dawson
2019-10-11T03:00:21+00:00

—Joe Drape, bestselling author of American Pharaoh

“Riveting biography of Edward Oscar Heinrich who helped put the science into old fashion detective work. His cases, his methods, his lasting contributions to crime busting are all here.”
“Fascinating account of the Great Detective who ought to be a household name, but isn’t…I was completely immersed in AMERICAN SHERLOCK, from start to finish.”

—Lyndsay Faye, author of Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson

Kate Winkler Dawson
2019-10-11T02:58:57+00:00

—Lyndsay Faye, author of Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson

“Fascinating account of the Great Detective who ought to be a household name, but isn’t…I was completely immersed in AMERICAN SHERLOCK, from start to finish.”
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Kate Winkler Dawson
 

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About the Book

Murder, Forensics, and the Birth of American CSI

Berkeley, California, 1933. 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.

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From the acclaimed author of Death in the Air (“Not since Devil in the White City has a book told such a harrowing tale”—Douglas Preston) comes the riveting story of the birth of criminal investigation in the twentieth century.

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