The Mystery Starts Here

I bought “Howdunit Forensics” from Writer’s Digest Books to use as a reference tool when writing my own mysteries. No one was more surprised than me when I wound up reading it like a novel. Why? Because it’s fascinating. The book is broken down into three large categories: The Forensics System, The Coroner and the Body, The Crime Scene and the Crime Lab. There are numerous sub-categories under each main heading and believe me, Lyle covers everything you would ever need to know when writing a mystery. Even if you’re not a writer, but simply a lover of good mysteries, you’ll enjoy this book.

Lyle writes in a style that is easy for anyone to understand and not too technical. Who else but a mystery writer or reader would enjoy reading the steps in doing an autopsy? You can in this book, Chapter 3, The Autopsy: A look Inside the Body. Want information on trace evidence? Chapter 15: Trace Evidence: Sweating the Small Stuff. I especially liked the blue-back grounded side bars citing real cases and telling how forensics helped solve the crime and convict the bad guys.

Lyle writes in a style that is easy to read and not too technical  Besides being a working doctor, he has published mysteries, and worked as a consultant to several television crime shows including Law & Order, CSI:Miami, Women’s Murder Club and Homicide,

If you write mysteries this is the one reference tool you must have on your shelf.

Don’t you love it when you find a book you absolutely positively cannot put down? "Love Kills" by Edna Buchanan is one of those mysteries. I sat up until the wee small hours this morning to finish reading it. I had to! I had to find out what happened in the end.

Buchanan has two series going: The Britt Montero series and the newer Cold Case Squad series. In "Love Kills," she brings the two together in alternating chapters. Britt is the unifying catalyst. There is one scene in the Cold Case section that had me howling with laughter.

There are two huge twists in "Love Kills" and I didn’t see either of them coming. With the second one, near the end of the book I had to stop reading I was so surprised. Buchanan puts her protagonist, Britt Montero in dangers and just when you think things can’t get worse - they do, again and again until the climactic end.

Buchanan, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist has written 16 books. I’ve read them all, AND they’re all good. She worked as a crime reporter for the Miami Herald before retiring to write full time. Her books are sharp, fast-paced and great fun to read. She brings great authenticity to her writing because of her background as a journalist working with the police in Miami. Buchanan’s non-fiction book, "The Corpse had a Familiar Face" is fabulous.

If you’re looking for a new author to read, I urge you to try Edna Buchanan. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.