From Publishers Weekly
Miller, a British writer on forensic science, has put together a highly informative collection of true-life criminal cases solved chiefly through the efforts of forensic experts. There is not a dull case among the 16, and some of them, with their airtight alibis, red herrings and maddening paradoxes, are pure Agatha Christie. An American engineer in Buenos Aires, who conceals his secret life as an obsessive gambler and philanderer, dies in his home of carbon monoxide poisoning, though no CO-producing source is evident. A house maid in the Hamptons rubs out her employersAa millionaire barbecue manufacturer and his wifeAin revenge for her brother's accidental death, using bullets made of pork that fragment and dissolve into her victims' bodies. Miller, a British master of the forensic procedural, deftly interweaves just enough detail on DNA analysis, chemistry, ballistics and other tricks of the trade for readers to come away with a keen appreciation of the uncanny, scientifically grounded sleuthing of forensic investigators who prove that where there's a crime, there's a clue. International in scope, this highly entertaining compendium hops from the murder of a Yorkshire constable's unfaithful wife to the arson of an L.A. retirement home for silent-film performers to cases from Spain, Italy and Hungary. Miller is a wry observer of the vagaries of justice and family psychodynamics, the thirst for redress and even vengeance. Photos. Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Every crime has a story. Finding the story is done with the help of forensic science. Miller, an expert on forensic medicine and the author of forensic mystery novels such as Skin Deep (St. Martins, 1992), provides the reader with 15 cases in which forensic medicine helped solve the crime. These true cases are from Europe and the United States. With the exception of one, they each tell a fascinating but sad story of how the victim died and how the killer was caught. The lone exception is a foiled attempt on the life of a famous actor, a case that was solved before the perpetrator succeeded. This well-written book holds the readers attention through all the background and methods of forensic detection. The reader will be amazed how far forensic science has come in helping to finish the story. Highly recommended for all crime collections.Michael Sawyer, Northwestern Regional Lib., Elkin, NCCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Kirkus Reviews
Veteran crime writer Miller (Proclaimed by Blood, not reviewed, etc.) offers his second collection of mysteries solved chiefly through the efforts of forensic scientists. Though the many strange cases here are certainly engrossing, chockablock with the sort of fascinating procedures thirsted for by the readers of Patricia Cornwell et al., Millers use of an episodic format dampens the books impact. He recounts 16 killings from various countries (mostly European) that initially baffle conventional detectives, including the proverbial shooting in a sealed room, revenge murders, and the poisonings of hedonistic beach teens. Only the forensic scientists, inevitably appearing in the investigations as zany, tousled outsiders, manage to identify the murderer. The methods examined by Miller (and the chatty scientists who are his protagonists) include the toxicological analysis of liver samples from supposedly unrelated accidental deaths to confirm multiple poisonings; crime reconstruction based on such grim specifics as coup or contre-coup wounds; and reading the inherently revealing patterns of blood spatter. Then again, sometimes the scientists score in simpler ways, such as finding hidden compartments in a suspects luggage that the cops missed. Stylistically, Miller is that peculiar sort of British crime writer who rocks the reader gently to sleep even while weltering in gore. Without an overall narrative to unify it, the book is less than hypnotic. That said, it must be noted that Millers mastery of the alternately grisly and frustratingly arcane science of forensic criminology is admirable, and his presentation of this potentially obscure material is lucid and informative. The episodic format could even be considered an advantage, in that it allows for casual reading, while the volumes full index facilitates more earnest research. Of interest to crime writers and hard-core criminology buffs, regardless of its narrative shortcomings. (16 pages b&w photos) -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.


Review
"There is not a dull case among the 16, and some of them with their airtight alibis, red herrings and maddening paradoxes, are pure Agatha Christie." --Publishers Weekly



Book Description
The victim was shot through the heart--but no bullet was ever found.
In a case full of baffling twists, a gunshot wound to the heart leads to a brilliant investigator to one conclusion: a bullet designed to disappear...

The skin was peeled from the victim's hands
A beautiful woman almost gets away with murder because her victim cannot be identified. Then a forensic scientist leads police to the peeled skin from two boiled hands--and the fingerprints that will crack the case.

The murder weapon was smashed to smithereens
A man was killed by a blow from a bottle. Now, determined investigator carefully puts the pieces of glass back together to catch a kiler--and to carry out a crime of his own...

What the corpse revealed
Once detectives solved crimes with shoe leather and a gun. Now they use DNA samples, blood splatters, microbes and psychological profilings. This extraordinary book, through details drawn from some of the most baffling cases of the last fifty years, shows how a new generation fo real-life crime busters is catching stalkers, poisoners, mass murderers, and assassins--through the astounding art of forensic science.




From the Publisher
In vivid detail, What the Corpse Revealed demonstrates the techniques used to solve sixteen real-life cases drawn from the files of forensic scientists all over the world. -In a room with no windows, the door locked from the inside, a business tycoon and his wife are found shot to death. No trace of the bullets can be found. The murderer is playing games with the police, but can a smart young forensic scientist outwit him? -A little boy disappears from a playground while his father reads a newspaper nearby. Police are baffled by the disappearance, until the forensic team sweeps the boy's home and finds evidence that will uncover a hideous and almost unbelievable crime. -A retired TV star receives a series of poisoned pen letters in his luxurious Bel Air mansion. Mysterious attempts on his life follow. Forensic scientists match the fingerprints on the letters to those of his brother. Yet his brother died in a house fire more than ten years ago....

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Presented here in dramatic detail are sixteen real-life criminal cases taken from the files of forensic scientists all over the world. In What the Corpse Revealed, author and forensic expert Hugh Miller collects these true-crime stories that confounded traditional police detection. Including only those cases solved on the basis of scientific investigation, Miller takes us through each one from the viewpoint of the key actors, and in detailed procedural stages shows how the perpetrators of the crime were found.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Miller, a British writer on forensic science, has put together a highly informative collection of true-life criminal cases solved chiefly through the efforts of forensic experts. There is not a dull case among the 16, and some of them, with their airtight alibis, red herrings and maddening paradoxes, are pure Agatha Christie. An American engineer in Buenos Aires, who conceals his secret life as an obsessive gambler and philanderer, dies in his home of carbon monoxide poisoning, though no CO-producing source is evident. A house maid in the Hamptons rubs out her employers--a millionaire barbecue manufacturer and his wife--in revenge for her brother's accidental death, using bullets made of pork that fragment and dissolve into her victims' bodies. Miller, a British master of the forensic procedural, deftly interweaves just enough detail on DNA analysis, chemistry, ballistics and other tricks of the trade for readers to come away with a keen appreciation of the uncanny, scientifically grounded sleuthing of forensic investigators who prove that where there's a crime, there's a clue. International in scope, this highly entertaining compendium hops from the murder of a Yorkshire constable's unfaithful wife to the arson of an L.A. retirement home for silent-film performers to cases from Spain, Italy and Hungary. Miller is a wry observer of the vagaries of justice and family psychodynamics, the thirst for redress and even vengeance. Photos. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Every crime has a story. Finding the story is done with the help of forensic science. Miller, an expert on forensic medicine and the author of forensic mystery novels such as Skin Deep (St. Martins, 1992), provides the reader with 15 cases in which forensic medicine helped solve the crime. These true cases are from Europe and the United States. With the exception of one, they each tell a fascinating but sad story of how the victim died and how the killer was caught. The lone exception is a foiled attempt on the life of a famous actor, a case that was solved before the perpetrator succeeded. This well-written book holds the readers attention through all the background and methods of forensic detection. The reader will be amazed how far forensic science has come in helping to finish the story. Highly recommended for all crime collections.Michael Sawyer, Northwestern Regional Lib., Elkin, NC

Kirkus Reviews

Veteran crime writer Miller (Proclaimed by Blood, not reviewed, etc.) offers his second collection of mysteries solved chiefly through the efforts of forensic scientists. Though the many strange cases here are certainly engrossing, chockablock with the sort of fascinating procedures thirsted for by the readers of Patricia Cornwell et al., Miller's use of an episodic format dampens the book's impact. He recounts 16 killings from various countries (mostly European) that initially baffle conventional detectives, including the proverbial shooting in a sealed room, revenge murders, and the poisonings of hedonistic beach teens. Only the forensic scientists, inevitably appearing in the investigations as zany, tousled outsiders, manage to identify the murderer. The methods examined by Miller (and the chatty scientists who are his protagonists) include the toxicological analysis of liver samples from supposedly unrelated accidental deaths to confirm multiple poisonings; crime reconstruction based on such grim specifics as coup or contre-coup wounds; and reading the inherently revealing patterns of blood spatter. Then again, sometimes the scientists score in simpler ways, such as finding hidden compartments in a suspect's luggage that the cops missed. Stylistically, Miller is that peculiar sort of British crime writer who rocks the reader gently to sleep even while weltering in gore. Without an overall narrative to unify it, the book is less than hypnotic. That said, it must be noted that Miller's mastery of the alternately grisly and frustratingly arcane science of forensic criminology is admirable, and his presentation of this potentially obscure material is lucid and informative. The episodicformat could even be considered an advantage, in that it allows for casual reading, while the volume's full index facilitates more earnest research. Of interest to crime writers and hard-core criminology buffs, regardless of its narrative shortcomings. (16 pages b&w photos)