A Fly for the Prosecution: How Insect Evidence Helps Solve Crimes

by Lee Goff and M. Lee Goff

Book Overview

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 microenvironment colonized in succession by a diverse array of flies, beetles, mites, spiders, and...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0674007271
• ISBN13: 9780674007277
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.2" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A True Forensic Lover's Dee-Light

A wonderful triumph for M. Lee Goff! Yet another forensic masterpiece that I did not want to end. His comforting, empathetic, thorough coverage of the material was engrossing and tantalizing. I hope he will grace us with another treasure such as this. His success is well worth the "gross-out" factor (others - not moi). Very readable and yet mesmorizing.

a "must read" in the category

This book succeeds at all levels. He has hard science a layperson can follow. He has history as he was in on the process of forensic entymology becoming a recognized field. He has case histories. He has thoughts on being a forensic entymologist. ("I know a life can be radically changed, even ended by my testimony.") And he has funny parts (really) that you can buttonhole your family to read to them aloud. Goff seems an honorable and compassionate man. I want to read his thoughts. I've read any number of books on forensic science for the lay reader so it isn't often anymore that I learn so much new. I had not read one on bugs before and recommend this one with enthusiasm.

Don't Read It While Eating!

I initially picked up the book after an interview Dr. Goff gave on NPR's Fresh Air piqued my interest. The book is at once a macabre and fascinating read. Dr. Goff succeeds in being detached while relating some very sordid, horrifying accounts in a very easy to read fashion. My only mistake was reading this book while eating at a Japanese restaurant. Rest assured, like me, after reading this book, you will never look at flies, or food, the same way again (even now, I often wonder where flies I see about have previously been before).Part true crime, part science fact, this book sheds light on an interesting, growing, and increasingly important area of criminology. Similar in fashion to the techniques depicted in the book, The Silence of the Lambs, this book gives an in-depth treatment of the way insects have been used not only to determine the time of death, but also solve crimes. I found the history of the field of forensic entomology, which easily goes back some one hundred years, to be quite fascinating. Dr. Goff also relates to the reader some of the ways fly larvae can potentially be used for the benefit of the living, such as the medicinal uses of wound cleaning and anti-coagulant properties of larvae.Moreover, I was also touched by the compassion Dr. Goff has for the victims, both living and dead, of violent crime. To do the kind of work he does requires a certain amount of cold detachment (otherwise many could not do it), yet Dr. Goff never forgets that the victims were once human beings. As such, though he has understandably been the subject of more than a few TV dramas, he himself does not try to sensationalize his work. In addition to relating the horrific and sordid, he also gives the reader a hefty dose of the mundane, tedious, and frustrating, as he relates the red tape involved in doing his experiments and the often annoying complications of being involved in all facets of a murder investigation.This is a fascinating read. Dr. Goff has so captivated me that I am thinking of enrolling in the forensic entomology class offered at UC Davis in the spring, if my stomach can stand it!

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?

Bugs and more...

Reading this book makes one realize how we are part of the circle of life. Our bodies are part of a cycle and this book graphically describes the process of decomposition. This book provides details on how a forensic entomologist can document the time of death, based upon several factors on the scene, to include the decomposition of the body, bugs that are nearby and other environmental factors.This book is well written and the illustrations are superb. I recommend this book to any investigator, detective or mystery/crime writers.