Written in Blood: A History of Forensic Detection

He has made himself the Philosopher-King of forensic speculation, the Diderot of the path labs. (Times Literary Supplement)

Will enthral connoisseurs of violent crime. (Glasgow Herald)

From poisoners in ancient Rome to modern serial murderers, this newly extended edition of Colin Wilson's forensic-detection bestseller is a gruesome yet gripping history of forensic toxicology, ballistics, sexual criminology and the latest advances in its armoury of investigation techniques like genetic fingerprints and psychological profiling. A chilling catalogue of case studies, taken from original sources, shows how the tiniest scraps of evidence often produce momentous results, like Nancy Titterton's murderer, betrayed by a single horsehair. Here, in all its depth and notoriety, is the surprisingly modern criminal, the serial sex killer: Jack the Ripper, the Moors murderers, Charles Manson, Peter Sutcliffe among others. An authoritative and compelling work, Written in Blood will fascinate both the expert criminologist and the general reader alike.