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Murder Under the Microscope: A Personal History of Homicide
'Jim Fraser has been at the forefront of forensic science in the UK for decades... A superb story of real-life CSI.' Dr Richard Shepherd, bestselling author of Unnatural Causes 'Powerful... Fascinating' Independent Most murders are not difficult to solve. People are usually killed by someone they know, there is usually abundant evidence and the police methods used to investigate this type of crime are highly effective. But what about the more difficult cases, where the investigation involves an unusual death, an unusual killer, or is complex or politically charged? In these cases, bringing the accused before the courts can take many years, even then, the outcome may be contentious or unresolved. In this compelling and chilling memoir, Jim Fraser draws on his personal experience as a forensic scientist and cold case reviewer to give a unique insight into some of the most notable cases that he has investigated during his forty-year career, including the deaths of Rachel Nickell, Damilola Taylor and Gareth Williams, the GCHQ code breaker. Inviting the reader into the forensic scientist's micro-world, Murder Under the Microscope reveals not only how each of these cases unfolded as a human, investigative and scientific puzzle, but also why some were solved and why others remain unsolved or controversial even to this day.
352 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 1, 2022
Very interesting, and because of the author taking a different approach to that which has been used in a number of other 'forensic science memoir' books I have read recently, distinguished because of it. Here Fraser takes us through his work in a number of key cases in British crime, and his involvement in them as a forensic expert. There is an admirable clarity to his writing style, and the prose is also well referenced and well paced.
In particular, I found interesting how little biographical preamble there was - how the author didn't choose to talk a huge amount about their childhood etc. as is the case with some books of this type, and also how the majority of the book didn't indulge too much in personal recollections and framing aspects slightly egocentrically. This is a good solid forensics book and worth a read.
For all that I say there isn't an egocentricity, however, at times I did find Fraser to be a little critical and even slightly arrogant. The general impression the book provides is that the police (esp. The Met) are/were incompetent, journalists are frequently damaging to cases, the legal system is unjust, and the forensic science services are flawed. He may have a valid point in some ways, and I *do* bow to his greater knowledge in this area, but the book chose as a focus where things went wrong in investigations to a greater degree than what went right, and I'm not sure all of this stance was justified.
In particular, I found interesting how little biographical preamble there was - how the author didn't choose to talk a huge amount about their childhood etc. as is the case with some books of this type, and also how the majority of the book didn't indulge too much in personal recollections and framing aspects slightly egocentrically. This is a good solid forensics book and worth a read.
For all that I say there isn't an egocentricity, however, at times I did find Fraser to be a little critical and even slightly arrogant. The general impression the book provides is that the police (esp. The Met) are/were incompetent, journalists are frequently damaging to cases, the legal system is unjust, and the forensic science services are flawed. He may have a valid point in some ways, and I *do* bow to his greater knowledge in this area, but the book chose as a focus where things went wrong in investigations to a greater degree than what went right, and I'm not sure all of this stance was justified.
July 17, 2022
Those wanting a memoir featuring the all-encompassing wonders of forensic science, look elsewhere. This is a meandering and frequently rather bitchy account of the author's involvement in several high-profile murder cases. It's a telling indictment of the quality of writing that the blurb features praise from someone he worked with and frequently cites, a barrister, but only one book reviewer.
Things start grimly yet intriguingly enough with the investigation into the unsolved child murders linked to Robert Black. The next case to feature is the murders of Lin and Megan Russell in Kent and the attempted murder of Josie Russell. Fraser gives a good account of what happens from a forensic investigation perspective. There then follows a lot of discussion of the evidence they didn't have. Readers of Private Eye will be familiar with the theory that the evidence against Michael Stone is very weak and that the real culprit may be the serial killer Levi Bellfield. It is clear that Fraser is also dubious about Stone's conviction, yet he cannot bring himself to say so directly. This is at odds with his frequently scathing criticism of named police officers past and present and so the reader is left wondering why he is hesitant here.
The next chapter looks at what appears to be a confirmed miscarriage of justice, but this time it seems Fraser has doubts about the exoneration of the man originally convicted. I imagine this chapter may have been written with some legal guidance to avoid libel, but it means his conclusions are rather fudged.
The disintegration of the Forensic Science Service is a frequent backdrop. This could have benefitted from a dedicated chapter with an organisational failure angle. Poor practice by forensic scientists is mentioned alongside these organisational failures, but there is very little criticism of the profession itself which is in stark contrast to his frequent criticisms of the police and therefore seems rather self-serving. Considering he is often talking about the London Met, some of this criticism is very much deserved. However, clearance rate for murder in England and Wales is 85%, which is in line with much of Western Europe and much of that is due to police work.
Fraser bemoans the police and CJS not understanding forensics but then makes ludicrous statements like "Only rarely can technology be used to get ahead of the bad guys because the bad guys are lighter on their feet and more entrepreneurial". At this point I have to ponder if CCTV and ANPR don't count as technology, as with the exception of China, the UK has more CCTV cameras than anywhere else on earth and uses them to solve crimes very frequently.
Nonetheless, he is correct that there is a lot of misunderstanding of the nature of what forensic science can and cannot do. He mentions the questions around fingerprint analysis and here he has a valid point. If more people knew that fingerprint analysis involves someone drawing on top of a top of an enlarged picture of a fingerprint with a marker pen, it might not be quite so highly thought of as an identification tool.
This isn't a memoir, more of a rather partial collection of case studies. With tighter editing and the removal of a rather large amount of score-settling, this could have been a much more interesting book.
Things start grimly yet intriguingly enough with the investigation into the unsolved child murders linked to Robert Black. The next case to feature is the murders of Lin and Megan Russell in Kent and the attempted murder of Josie Russell. Fraser gives a good account of what happens from a forensic investigation perspective. There then follows a lot of discussion of the evidence they didn't have. Readers of Private Eye will be familiar with the theory that the evidence against Michael Stone is very weak and that the real culprit may be the serial killer Levi Bellfield. It is clear that Fraser is also dubious about Stone's conviction, yet he cannot bring himself to say so directly. This is at odds with his frequently scathing criticism of named police officers past and present and so the reader is left wondering why he is hesitant here.
The next chapter looks at what appears to be a confirmed miscarriage of justice, but this time it seems Fraser has doubts about the exoneration of the man originally convicted. I imagine this chapter may have been written with some legal guidance to avoid libel, but it means his conclusions are rather fudged.
The disintegration of the Forensic Science Service is a frequent backdrop. This could have benefitted from a dedicated chapter with an organisational failure angle. Poor practice by forensic scientists is mentioned alongside these organisational failures, but there is very little criticism of the profession itself which is in stark contrast to his frequent criticisms of the police and therefore seems rather self-serving. Considering he is often talking about the London Met, some of this criticism is very much deserved. However, clearance rate for murder in England and Wales is 85%, which is in line with much of Western Europe and much of that is due to police work.
Fraser bemoans the police and CJS not understanding forensics but then makes ludicrous statements like "Only rarely can technology be used to get ahead of the bad guys because the bad guys are lighter on their feet and more entrepreneurial". At this point I have to ponder if CCTV and ANPR don't count as technology, as with the exception of China, the UK has more CCTV cameras than anywhere else on earth and uses them to solve crimes very frequently.
Nonetheless, he is correct that there is a lot of misunderstanding of the nature of what forensic science can and cannot do. He mentions the questions around fingerprint analysis and here he has a valid point. If more people knew that fingerprint analysis involves someone drawing on top of a top of an enlarged picture of a fingerprint with a marker pen, it might not be quite so highly thought of as an identification tool.
This isn't a memoir, more of a rather partial collection of case studies. With tighter editing and the removal of a rather large amount of score-settling, this could have been a much more interesting book.
September 27, 2021
Really interesting and in depth analysis of multiple recent crimes in the UK and what went wrong in each situation. This really highlights the issues within the UK justice system and should be read by anyone who has a link to this.
April 22, 2024
A little too scientific for my a lover of true crime, but I suppose the clues in the title.
Very interesting nonetheless
Very interesting nonetheless
March 8, 2023
This entire book is a vanity project for the author who constantly talks about how terrible most other forensic scientists are and how he could (and would!) it all much better. Very boring and tedious.
August 24, 2021
My review for Jim Fraser's 'Very Short introduction to Forensic Science read "Clearly written, interesting and much of it highly useful." I was also impressed with his input on the Future Learn course I did into the subject, so buying this took no effort at all. It was not, not quite, what I expected, insofar as it was more memoir than science, detailing cases I was semi-familiar with and all that went wrong in their investigations.
Similarly clear and well-written, and somewhat dour in recounting others' input, this ought to sit moderately contentedly, between Richard Shepherd and Kate Bendelow on my bookshelf.
Similarly clear and well-written, and somewhat dour in recounting others' input, this ought to sit moderately contentedly, between Richard Shepherd and Kate Bendelow on my bookshelf.
February 1, 2022
I found this book to be a really interesting read. I have always been interested in forensic science due to my love of crime books and TV shows so I was looking forward to reading this.
Jim Fraser provides an in depth insight into the criminal investigation scene, how evidence is analysed, stored, used and the problems that comes with this. Aside from his accounts of six different cases (with short injections of cases similar or where similar problems have arisen), he discusses the issues he has faced when working with police officers and outside companies. It is interesting to read about the lack of consideration that some police officers have for forensic investigators and while it was not all surprising that he'd viewed some officers as incompetent or ignorant, I was surprised at how often this has happened with little or no change to criminal procedures or police training.
Another interesting point I picked up on was the involvement of the media. I was already aware of there being cases of police officers selling/providing the media with sensitive case information however I was unaware that this spanned all the way up the ranks of the justice system. He briefly mentioned how the media prioritise which cases they want to print or focus on. Something I have noticed in news reports is the fact that in murder cases that face high coverage are often of young white females with decent or "socially acceptable" jobs and/or are of children. There is a lot of background information that brings the systematic racism and of the justice system and while improvements have been made in the past years it is not nearly enough.
In conclusion, I found this an incredibly interesting read and would highly recommend. It highlights the many issues the UK's justice system contains and the lack of measures that have been taken to improve this all while providing an in depth look at forensic science and its importance.
Jim Fraser provides an in depth insight into the criminal investigation scene, how evidence is analysed, stored, used and the problems that comes with this. Aside from his accounts of six different cases (with short injections of cases similar or where similar problems have arisen), he discusses the issues he has faced when working with police officers and outside companies. It is interesting to read about the lack of consideration that some police officers have for forensic investigators and while it was not all surprising that he'd viewed some officers as incompetent or ignorant, I was surprised at how often this has happened with little or no change to criminal procedures or police training.
Another interesting point I picked up on was the involvement of the media. I was already aware of there being cases of police officers selling/providing the media with sensitive case information however I was unaware that this spanned all the way up the ranks of the justice system. He briefly mentioned how the media prioritise which cases they want to print or focus on. Something I have noticed in news reports is the fact that in murder cases that face high coverage are often of young white females with decent or "socially acceptable" jobs and/or are of children. There is a lot of background information that brings the systematic racism and of the justice system and while improvements have been made in the past years it is not nearly enough.
In conclusion, I found this an incredibly interesting read and would highly recommend. It highlights the many issues the UK's justice system contains and the lack of measures that have been taken to improve this all while providing an in depth look at forensic science and its importance.
April 12, 2022
Very different read from my usual. Really interesting insights to behind the scenes of high profile cases.
I believe the writing needs to be more carefully checked over as I spotted several typos but it is overall told well and interesting
I believe the writing needs to be more carefully checked over as I spotted several typos but it is overall told well and interesting
December 31, 2022
The approach was insightful and different to some others I had reason similar topics. Interestingly read the seven ages of death immediately after in which one case was covered by both. Fascinating to see the different approach to the case and the information each author chose to share.
January 2, 2024
A fascinating and enlightening look into the world of forensic science, pathology and psychology. It opens one's eyes to the challenges along with the fallibility of the investigating officers, be they police, coroners, investigators and forensic experts.
January 18, 2023
2.5 stars
April 5, 2023
Read about 2/3 of the book. Was interesting. But it dragged so didn’t finish
August 3, 2023
Brutally honest depiction of forensic sciences as they truly are. Very interesting and far from the generic clichés of TV series
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews