Case Files: 40 Murders and Mysteries Solved by Science

by Larry Verstraete

A fascinating look at how scientists solve today's mysteries and centuries-old "cold cases." Savvy investigative work and scientific knowledge combine to answer perplexing questions and to uncover long-unknown truths. Using a trail of evidence ― clues, careful observation, laboratories and new testing protocols ― scientists reveal intriguing answers to such questions What really killed Beethoven? Are the Hitler diaries real or fakes? The stories and sidebars show how scientists collect clues, analyse them, test theories, and arrive at solutions ― or gather enough evidence to support further investigation. The cases involve branches of science as wide-ranging as astronomy and biochemistry to geology and physics. These are gripping high-interest stories for middle-grade non-fiction lovers, with Canadian content throughout. A helpful index and glossary are also provided.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

At nine years old, there were subtle signs that Larry Verstraete might be a writer some day. While thumbing through a toy catalog just before Christmas, he found, and then later received, the perfect gift - a small toy printing press. The summer after, Larry and a friend started an ambitious publishing project, aiming to become as he puts it, ‘rich and famous’ with the printing press.

Their goal was to publish and sell a newsletter filled with stories gathered around the neighborhood. For a week, the two would-be reporters spied on neighbors, filling notepads with facts and observations. But when they started setting the stories into type on the printing press, the project floundered. The work was too boring, too tedious, and they abandoned dreams of fame and wealth in favor of more enjoyable summer pastimes like swimming and biking.

That was Larry’s earliest foray into writing, and although that venture was a gob-smacking failure, the drive to write simmered below the surface for years. One day, older now with a science degree under his belt and a teaching career already well in hand, fate intervened. While waiting for a haircut in a salon, a magazine ad for a correspondence writing course caught his eye, rekindling his desire to write and be published. He clipped out the ad, enrolled in the course and as the saying goes ‘the rest is history’.

One of his first course assignments was to write a non-fiction article for children. He quickly latched on to a topic that fascinated him – accidental discoveries in science. By the end of the course, he’d written about 25 short stories, each telling about a breakthrough in science that owed much to a mistake, mishap, coincidence or spectacular blunder. That became his first Scholastic book – The Serendipity Effect (later re-issued under the title Accidental Discoveries: From Laughing Gas to Dynamite).

Since then, Larry has published 13 non-fiction books and 1 middle grade novel. The roots of his writing lie deep in his own personal experiences and his interests in science, history and true adventure. For Larry, ideas usually begin with an intriguing story, event or fact, something that triggers his curiosity. He and his wife are devoted travelers, and each trip offers fresh opportunities to discover new writing material. Becoming lost on a mountain hike in Colorado, for example, sparked the idea for Survivors:True Death-Defying Escapes, and visiting the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona – the place where Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto – eventually became C is for Compare in his book S is for Scientists: A Discovery Alphabet.

Some key accomplishments of Larry’s career include:
•Two-time recipient of Ontario’s Silver Birch Award for Non-fiction (Survivors: True Death-Defying Escapes; At the Edge: Daring Acts in Desperate Times)
•Two-time recipient of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year for Young People Award (Lost Treasures: True Stories of Discovery; S is for Scientists: A Discovery Alphabet)
•Awarded B.C.’s Red Cedar Award (Survivors: True Death-Defying Escapes)
•Nominated for the Norma Fleck Award (Accidental Discoveries: From Laughing Gas to Dynamite)
•Nominated for the New York Reading Association Charlotte Award & Alberta’s Rocky Mountain Award (Surviving the Hindenburg)
•Among other distinctions: Honor winner, 2014 Story Telling World Resource Awards (Surviving the Hindenburg); Runner-up, 2012 USA Best Book Awards, Children's Picture Book (Surviving the Hindenburg); Outstanding Science Trade Book of 2011 by the National Science Teachers Association and Children’s Book Council (S is for Scientists: A Discovery Alphabet); Selected, 2001 Canadian Toy Testing Council, 25 Great Books, (Whose Bright Idea Was It?)

Reviews

[Danielleacorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the book because it was really cool to learn how they find out who killed the people, why they were killed and how. My favorite story was the one about Beetoven. It was my favorite because it was really cool and weird how they cut his head open to see why he dyed. In some of them they said that they probubly got lead poisoning. I guess that was really common back then because in most of the storys thats how they died. I also really liked the mozart one. I did a biography on him and I was wondering, if they were ever going to find his unmarked grave. In a way I want to be one of those types of scientists so I can go to Salzburg Ausstria to look for mozarts,grave.This book might get my vote.

[Spencer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Case Files is a book that features detailed information about each murder/mystery. I liked how in some of them, they didn't stop at the conclusion they were at, but instead kept looking and checking to see if it was the correct conclusion. It's pretty interesting how they can recreate a human face with a skull. One of the murders took place in Scarborough, this made me feel a bit scared for some reason. It was a family conflict and because the murderer left a slick of oil, they could trace it back to the murderer. I guess this book was fun learning all this new stuff about DNA (for example, DNA degrades over time). I read this book because I like mysteries, and I was left completely satisfied. I would recommend this book to people aged 10 and up. Simply because some words are hard and some mysteries are a bit hard to comprehend. I could not put the book down, that's how interesting this book was. The author added some extra information (unrelated to the mystery) throughout the book. I gave this a 4/5 because I am interested in the mystery genre. To others, this may not be as interesting.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome! I really loved it because it was cool to learn how scientists can help solve mysteries. It was interesting to learn how scientists can use just one strand of hair to get DNA to find out who the bones belong to. My favourite story was the one about the bones they found in the carpet because scientists could not find out any more information about the girl that the bones belonged to, to so they put plaster on the skull to make it look like the face of the girl and made posters and people recognized the girl so they gave them information about her. This book was so good I could not stop reading!

[Thebruce1314 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the cases contained in this book were fascinating. Even if I knew some of the details, the author presents the science behind solving the mysteries in language that is accessible, without dumbing down the facts. I found it a little frustrating that a couple of the short profiles ended with something along the lines of, "more evidence is needed," but he moan stories in the book were complete and satisfying to read.
This would be a great book for kids interested in the possibilities of science, but also enjoyable for anyone who loves bite-sized real-life mysteries.

[Sydneyreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Case Files is about different murders and mysteries solved by using science. I thought it was super detailed and well put. However some of the stories were a little bit gross. one of my favourite stories was the one about the murder, burial and finding of the Romanov family. I love the story about the Romanov's because I'm interested about Princess Anastasia and the story that she lived so the story in Case Files put my wandering mind at rest.

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the cases were really interesting to me because the unexplained thing that happened seemed strange which makes it fun to read and figure out what happened. But most of the time I get really bored reading this book because it's constantly talking about science that I don't even understand. The only time I enjoyed this book is at the beginning of the case when it says what happened, and at the end where say solve it.

[Barbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great addition to the study of Forensic Science, this book outlines forty
high-interest cases, organized into four chapters. Each focuses on a particular goal of science detection: identify, prove, explain and resolve. Combined with sidebars, photographs, captions, glossary, and index, topics range from astronomy and biochemistry to geology and physics. A must have for inquiring minds, ages 11-13

[Mary-Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

An fascinating collection of true old and new mysteries "solved" by modern science methods. A number of the cases are murders. The author clearly and briefly outlines each case and how it was "solved". I would recommend this book for an older audience (high school adult) rather than the elementary school age.

[Logan D · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an interesting book. It was cool reading about how they can solve mysteries. Also my favourite story is about a walkway that fell down because of the cables that were designed to hold 2 walkways but there was 4 walkways because there was too much pressure

[Zack Blaze · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked this book because there were alot of cool mysteries and murders like ships vanishing and peoples death. its a good book for many ages like 8-13. you will like this book if you like murders ands mysteries.

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned some really cool things from this book, one very interesting thing that I did not know was that scientists could take a skull and closely recreate what the persons face looked like. Also one of the stories, the one about the Romanov family was in a book we had in Silver Birch last year.