Phil in SF reviewed American Sherlock by Kate Winkler Dawson
Solid biography of E.O. Heinrich, early forensic investigator
3 stars
Lots of retellings of the cases Heinrich participated in, both from both sides of the prosecutorial divide. Heinrich comes off as an insecure person who is dedicated to the truth. It feels a bit like copaganda, because there's no discussion of Heinrich ever getting anything wrong. And we know that forensics often embraced junk science (as the Epilogue covers). The one case discussed in the book about his embrace of blood spatter analysis (which is mostly junk science), was that of David Lampson, and Heinrich sided with the defense there. But he did thousands of cases. As a portrait of early forensic investigation, it's good though.
