Locard’s principle states that any contact between two objects results in an exchange. In crime scene parlance, that means stuff left behind. Good news for cops and prosecutors, bad news for criminals. Evidence bagged at a scene or tweezed from a body in a morgue can result in conviction of the guilty or exoneration of the innocent. Clues such as blood, powder and residue are the primary sources of forensic science and what make it such a powerful tool.
The title is catchy, the cover provocative, but for readers seeking the standard sortie into the inner workings of a forensic lab, Beth A. Bechky’s book offers something quite different — a live, human angle. The author is a sociologist interested in how relationships function in different work environments. And “Blood, Powder, and Residue” grew out of her observations at a Midwestern crime laboratory.
Read Full Article »