True Stories of C.S.I.
The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Popular TV Show
By Katherine Ramsland Thorndike Press, Large Print Edition (2009)
ISBN 10: 1-4104-1323-3
ISBN 13: 978-1-4104-1323-9
Genre: NonFiction - True Crime
Reviewed by Auggie Moore - March 20, 2009
If you are a fan of the television show C.S.I., have you ever wondered where the writers get their ideas for the crimes featured on the show? Often, it appears, they get their ideas from real life! In
True Stories of C.S.I.: The Real Crimes Behind the Best Episodes of the Popular TV Show, best-selling author and forensic specialist, Katherine Ramsland provides a detailed glimpse in the real-life crimes that inspired many of the C.S.I. episodes.
The book is organized so that each chapter starts with a brief, one or two sentence description, of a C.S.I. episode. Ramsland then goes on to detail the actual crime or series of related crimes that were the inspiration for that episode. In the course of chronicling the real-life crime, Ramsland not only describes the actual crime, but also how the crime was investigated and persecuted. She also provides intriguing factoids about forensic science, including a definition of such terms as Attachment Theory and Burking, as well as the facts behind Spontaneous Human Combustion (SHC), Intermittent Explosive Disorder, and Blood Spatter Pattern Interpretation. In addition, a list of sources is included at the end of each chapter, which will prove useful for anyone wanting to investigate these cases in greater detail.
In all, twenty-five C.S.I episodes and the real life crimes that inspired them, are chronicled in this gripping book. This is not a book for the faint-of-heart. Ramsland's descriptions are, at times, on the gruesome side - but then again, so where many of these crimes. This book is a must read for all fans of C.S.I and its various spin-offs, as well as for fans of true-crime fiction and non-fiction.
Related Reviews:
Beating the Devil's Game, by Katherine Ramsland. A History of Forensic Science and Criminal Investigation. (Large Print)
Blood on the Table, by Colin Evans.
The Greatest Cases of New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. (Large Print)
