In my mind, the CSI techniques of a hundred years ago would have been rudimentary at best but this narrative nonfiction book seeks to show that the 1930s in America was actually where CSI was born. I would argue that it made great strides under Edward Oscar Heinrich (mostly because I've read other books on how CSI started in the 1800s-- but the subtitle does say of American CSI.)The writing is generally very readable but, wow, did the author gloss over some things about EOH that the modern reader might not like about him. For instance, there's one sentence where she mentions that he at one point "blamed the modern woman for America's crime wave." Um, what now? This and other little notes make it pretty clear that the dude wasn't quite the all-right guy that is being portrayed in most of the book. I generally like nonfiction books where the author is a little removed and this author obviously wasn't.
Three stars
This book came out February 11th
ARC kindly provided by Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley
Opinions are my own
