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Cold Cases: Famous Unsolved Mysteries, Crimes, and Disappearances in America
This book explicitly chronicles 40 cases of unsolved murders and disappearances over a period of more than 160 years, tracing the evolution of criminal investigation and forensic techniques.
Murders and other violent crimes often leave an indelible mark on society. The 18th-century murder of "Beautiful Cigar Girl" Mary Rogers helped the then newly emerging tabloid papers become a fixture in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration was spurred into requiring electronic screening of passengers and carry-on luggage by a series of highly-publicized hijackings. Abductions of youth gave birth to Amber Alerts and advertising missing children on milk cartons. And popular TV shows like Law and Order , CSI , and Cold Case document our fascination with police investigations, heinous criminals, and the complicated aftermath of their actions.
This book examines 40 well-known cases of unsolved murders and suspected abductions over a period of over 160 years. Cases are organized chronologically to give readers insight into the evolution of criminal investigation techniques and forensics in the last century and a half. Later chapters detail how modern forensics were used in attempts to solve old cold cases or helped generate new leads.
Murders and other violent crimes often leave an indelible mark on society. The 18th-century murder of "Beautiful Cigar Girl" Mary Rogers helped the then newly emerging tabloid papers become a fixture in the United States. The Federal Aviation Administration was spurred into requiring electronic screening of passengers and carry-on luggage by a series of highly-publicized hijackings. Abductions of youth gave birth to Amber Alerts and advertising missing children on milk cartons. And popular TV shows like Law and Order , CSI , and Cold Case document our fascination with police investigations, heinous criminals, and the complicated aftermath of their actions.
This book examines 40 well-known cases of unsolved murders and suspected abductions over a period of over 160 years. Cases are organized chronologically to give readers insight into the evolution of criminal investigation techniques and forensics in the last century and a half. Later chapters detail how modern forensics were used in attempts to solve old cold cases or helped generate new leads.
420 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 18, 2018
It is a good book but I realized with crime I kind of wanna know whodunit..:-) Otherwise it feels like reading old papers.
February 8, 2023
This volume contains an overview of forty true crime accounts that by the time of its publication were considered as cold cases. Stories which some of them are well known, while other might be less notorious, but nevertheless maintain high level of interest and mystery. They are the stories of occurrences shrouded by the unknown, unanswered questions and an ongoing quest for justice. Some of the accounts still generate controversy to till very date, while from time-to-time new theories crop up, however most of them remain unsolved. It also a chronicle of how police investigation techniques evolved, and in some instances, it was the cases revisited themselves that where the pushing factor behind this evolution.
Each chapter recounts a particular case which are sorted in chronological order according to the date that happened, a choice which helped not only to follow the investigation technique evolution, bit also one will be able to understand and relate more why certain decisions were taken in the course of the investigations. A structure that gives the book a historical perspective especially in those cases where new leads originated as a result from those evolution. This evolution is so much important for the author herself, that the book has a chronological overview of the milestones on forensics, as part of its introduction.
Each account is recounted in a well-structured manner, and it helps further that each chapter is sub-divided into other sections. I especially like the technique of a small abstract at the beginning of each account, which serves as an informative introduction as to what the readers will be reading about, and especially to the attention that they must be particularly attentive about. The abstract is also a way of introducing the cases and highlight the circumstances that which were the main ingredients that make them so notorious. It is an excellent technique to capture the readers full attention at the first few words of each factor.
While, the stories are presented in short format, the author still managed to present a detailed account of what had taken place, and sometimes where it was possible even managed to deliver the emotions of the people involved. Sure, one can move forward an seek further information about some of the cases that captured more his or her attention, but this book is a very good introduction and well-informed of these cases. This will be easily possible as at the end of each chapter, the author lists down a number of references, which the readers can easily track if they want to reader further on that particular case. These references also show that the book was a result of intensive research and that the facts and theories presented are not fruit of myths and legends.
A book that is very well written, and unpredictably addictive. As I went from one chapter to the other, I could not drop it from hands until the very last page, and yes it made me go on the internet and look-up some, if not most of the cases to see if there were any updates. The book was
published in 2010, so in some of the cases in fact there was some development or other, even thanks to the evolution of technology, however in most cases the big questions remained, while in others there was a partial answer. A book that raises the reality of how many homicides and disappearing cases occur in our society. All these elements make this book an excellent one for true crime fans, especially those who thrive on unsolved mysteries.
Each chapter recounts a particular case which are sorted in chronological order according to the date that happened, a choice which helped not only to follow the investigation technique evolution, bit also one will be able to understand and relate more why certain decisions were taken in the course of the investigations. A structure that gives the book a historical perspective especially in those cases where new leads originated as a result from those evolution. This evolution is so much important for the author herself, that the book has a chronological overview of the milestones on forensics, as part of its introduction.
Each account is recounted in a well-structured manner, and it helps further that each chapter is sub-divided into other sections. I especially like the technique of a small abstract at the beginning of each account, which serves as an informative introduction as to what the readers will be reading about, and especially to the attention that they must be particularly attentive about. The abstract is also a way of introducing the cases and highlight the circumstances that which were the main ingredients that make them so notorious. It is an excellent technique to capture the readers full attention at the first few words of each factor.
While, the stories are presented in short format, the author still managed to present a detailed account of what had taken place, and sometimes where it was possible even managed to deliver the emotions of the people involved. Sure, one can move forward an seek further information about some of the cases that captured more his or her attention, but this book is a very good introduction and well-informed of these cases. This will be easily possible as at the end of each chapter, the author lists down a number of references, which the readers can easily track if they want to reader further on that particular case. These references also show that the book was a result of intensive research and that the facts and theories presented are not fruit of myths and legends.
A book that is very well written, and unpredictably addictive. As I went from one chapter to the other, I could not drop it from hands until the very last page, and yes it made me go on the internet and look-up some, if not most of the cases to see if there were any updates. The book was
published in 2010, so in some of the cases in fact there was some development or other, even thanks to the evolution of technology, however in most cases the big questions remained, while in others there was a partial answer. A book that raises the reality of how many homicides and disappearing cases occur in our society. All these elements make this book an excellent one for true crime fans, especially those who thrive on unsolved mysteries.
January 29, 2019
Surprisingly well written and addictive. I've been a true crime fan for a while and especially interested in cold cases and disappearances so I figured I was familiar with most of them. But this book brought to my attention a lot of new weird and strange cases going back to the 1800's in America. It provides a good rundown of the people, events and subsequent investigations and theories for each case without getting too bogged down in minutiae. It is simply amazing how many murders and disappearances can occur without any answers to what happened.
May 25, 2023
Nunca me canso de este tipo de libros.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews