SHOW NOTES: https://www.dplylemd.com/post/criminal-mischief-episode-55-victimology PAST SHOWS: https://www.dplylemd.com/podcasts THIS IS A COPYRIGHTED PODCAST SOLELY OWNED BY THE AUTHORS ON THE AIR GLOBAL RADIO NETWORK

SHOW NOTES: https://www.dplylemd.com/post/new-on-criminal-mischief-episode-54-15th-century-blood-transfusions

SHOW NOTES: https://www.dplylemd.com/post/criminal-mischief-episode-53-forensic-science-for-crime-writers-trace-evidence

An autopsy is a scientific procedure. Its purpose is to examine the corpse for evidence of the cause and manner of death. This is done through a gross and microscopic examination of the body as well as toxicological (drugs and poisons), serology (blood), and any other ancillary testing the ME deems necessary. SHOW NOTES: https://www.dplylemd.com/po…

SHOW NOTES: https://www.dplylemd.com/post/criminal-mischief-episode-51-forensic-science-for-crime-writers-evidence PAST SHOWS: https://www.dplylemd.com/podcasts Criminal Mischief on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Criminal-Mischief-The-Art-and-Science-of-Crime-Fiction-1796016797142678/ THIS IS A COPYRIGHTED PODCAST SOLELY OWNED BY THE AUTHORS ON…

This is a new series of podcasts that I’ve titled Forensics For Crime Writers. In it I will talk about various aspects of forensic science and how it might be used in crime fiction. The first episode deals with the coroner. Hope you find it useful. SHOW NOTES: https://www.dplylemd.com/post/criminal-mischief-episode-50-forensics-for-crime-writers-co…

SHOW NOTES: GOLDEN STATE KILLER: CBS News (4-22-17): https://www.cbsnews.com/news/golden-state-killer-connecting-the-dots-in-the-search-for-a-serial-predator/ Richmond University: https://jolt.richmond.edu/2019/10/30/familial-dna-testing-the-golden-state-killer-and-how-it-affects-you/ The Golden State Killer and DNA: https://dna-explained.com/2018/…

Poisons and drugs have been used as murder weapons for many centuries. Sometimes the poison itself does the killing and other times it simply facilities the use of another method. Here are three famous cases involving poisons and drugs. SHOW NOTES: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief-notes/48-3-famous-poisoning-cases.html…

Amnesia has been a part of fiction for many years. Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity is a classic example. The character was apparently based on the real-life case of Ansel Bourne, who in 1887 was likely the first documented case of amnesia. Even Agatha Christie suffered her own brush with amnesia—or maybe not. This one has been the source of arg…

Your opening scene carries a heavy load. It must hook the reader, introduce the story question—and often the protagonist/antagonist—-reveal the setting/story world, evoke emotion in the reader, and reveal the voice and tone of the story. That’s a lot of work, and pressure on the writer. Show Notes: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief-notes/46…

SHOW NOTES:http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief-notes/45-carbon-monoxide.html PAST SHOWS: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief.html From FORENSICS FOR DUMMIES: That Sneaky Carbon Monoxide Carbon monoxide is sneaky and deadly. When authorities find a suicide victim in her garage, sitting in a car with the engine running, they can usually c…

PAST SHOWS: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief.html SHOW NOTES: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief-notes/44-setting-as-character.html Can a story be set just anywhere? Some can, but most rely on the location and time period to underpin and amplify the story. In the best stories, setting becomes an essential character. Can you imagine …

In the criminal investigation or injuries or deaths from gunshot wounds (GWSs), the anatomy of the entry and exit wounds, particularly the former, can reveal the nature of the weapon, the bullet size and characteristics, and of great importance, the distance between the muzzle and the entry wound. This distance can be a game changer when distinguis…

“Prior bad acts predict future bad acts.”—Harper McCoy Fear grips an isolated mountain town after drug dealer Dalton Southwell kills a rogue dealer and his entire family. Score settled, message delivered. But, Dalton’s best-laid plans go awry when his brother Dennie takes a bullet in the gut. In a panic, Dr. Buck Buckner is kidnaped from the local …

My dear friend Gayle Lynds recently posted an excellent article on the Rogue Women Writers blog titled “10 Rules For Writing A Best-selling Thriller.” Gayle offers many useful insights every writer should take to heart. In this show I want to expand and offer my views on a few of her points. 10 Rules For Writing A Best-selling Thriller by Gayle Lyn…

Crime writers love poisons. Even those who write the more cozy variety. I mean, arsenic and old lace? Arsenic, the queen of poisons, is often used as are the opioids and amphetamines and a few others. But maybe you want to explore more uncommon, and deadly, options for your story. Some are easy to come by, others a bit more difficult but all have b…

Do Series Characters Change? A better question might be: Should series characters change? Go through some upheaval that arcs their life into uncharted waters? What is a character arc? Where does it come from? How do you create this in your fictional stories? More importantly, do you even need one?

Cops are cool, and memorable fictional characters, but P.I.s seem to come in more variable and quirkier flavors. From ex-military types to everyday folks with a knack for sniffing out wrongdoing to little old ladies with cats. The latter tend to be the smartest and toughest. This wide variety is what makes reading P.I. stories fun. Private investig…

Jake Longly is the protagonist of my series of comedic thrillers (DEEP SIX, A-LIST, SUNSHINE STATE, RIGGED).He’s an ex-professional baseball player. Pitcher for the Texas Rangers with an overpowering fastball. Until his rotator cuff injury ended his career. Then he purchased Captain Rocky’s, a bar/restaurant on the sand in Gulf Shores, Alabama. His…

Identifying skeletal remains is no easy task for the ME and the forensic anthropologist. SHOW NOTES: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief-notes/36-identifying-skeletal.html PAST SHOWS: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief.html

Most corpses that are the victims of foul play are easily identified because they’re found in familiar places and reported by folks who knew them. But those found in remote or odd places with no ID create problems for investigators. In these cases, identifying the corpse is a critical step in solving the case. SHOW NOTES: http://www.dplylemd.com/cr…

In the remote past, most poisoners favored botanical products such as hemlock, oleander, deadly nightshade, foxglove, hellebore, monkshood, opium, and many others. These were easily available and untraceable. More recently, various chemicals have been added to this long list of plant-based poisons, which has made the work of the toxicologist that m…

The biggest problem facing the toxicologist is that there are literally thousands of drugs and chemicals that are harmful, addictive, or lethal if ingested, injected, or inhaled. Some even absorb directly through the skin. Toxicological testing is time-consuming and expensive, and few, if any, labs can afford to perform such testing on every case. …

This is the first in a 3-part series on Forensic Toxicology LISTEN/SHOW NOTES: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief-notes/32-toxicology-part-1.html Past Shows: http://www.dplylemd.com/criminal-mischief.html

Some criminals attempt to destroy corpses, the primary pieces of evidence in homicides. They think that if the police never find the body, they can’t be convicted. This isn’t true, since convictions have in many cases been obtained when no body is found. And destroying a body is no easy task.

If Locard’s Exchange Principle is the cornerstone of forensic science, evidence is the heart and soul of the crime lab. Indeed, evidence is the sole reason it exists. Without evidence, what would the lab do? Evidence is used to determine if a crime has been committed, to link a suspect to a scene, to corroborate or refute an alibi or statement, to …

SKIN IN THE GAME is the first story in my new Cain/Harper thriller series: Raised as siblings by an itinerant “gypsy” family, knife expert Bobby Cain, trained by the US military in the lethal art of covert eliminations, and Harper McCoy, nurtured by the US Navy and the CIA to run black ops and wage psychological warfare, are now civilians. Of a sor…

What is a MacGuffin? Since Alfred Hitchcock coined the term, his definition—such as it is—might be best: “The main thing I’ve learned over the years is that the MacGuffin is nothing. I’m convinced of this, but I find it difficult to prove it to others.”

By simply typing the blood at a crime scene, investigators narrow their suspect list and completely exonerate some suspects by using the population distribution information for the four ABO blood types.

Here’s the thing about the South—if you can’t tell a story, they won’t feed you. They’ll simply deposit you behind the barn and let you wither away. That doesn’t happen often because everyone down there can spin a yarn. Some better than others, but a story is a story. This is a rich tradition and congers up names like William Faulkner, James Dickey…

Let's take a stroll through the history of forensic science

Writers, particularly early in their careers, make mistakes. Often the same ones over and over. Here are a few pitfalls to avoid.

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 50 years. Exactly 50 years. This show has nothing to do with crime writing or the science of crime. It is rather a step back in world history. And in my personal history. Yes, I was there. Inside the gates of the Cape Canaveral Space Center. July 16, 1969, 9:32 a.m. I remember it like it was yesterday. Please ind…

Too often, fiction writers commit medical malpractice in their stories. Unfortunately, these mistakes can sink an otherwise well-written story.

THE TERMINATOR just might be the perfect thriller. Here it is dissected scene by scene to see why.

What elements make a great thriller? Let's explore them.

From Publishers Weekly: In Lyle’s ingenious third mystery featuring retired major league pitcher Jake Longly (after 2017’s A-List), Jake, who runs a restaurant in Gulf Shores, Ala., is again roped into working for his father Ray’s PI firm. An attorney has contacted Ray on behalf of Billy Wayne Baker, a convicted serial killer. Though Baker pleaded …

Gunshot wounds (GSWs) come in many flavors and those to the chest can be particularly dicey. Yet, a chest GSW can be a minor flesh wound, a major traumatic event with significant damage, or deadly. If you have a character who suffers such an injury, this podcast is for you.

For years it was felt that the DNA of identical twins was indeed identical. Since they come from a single fertilized egg, this would seem intuitive. But, nature likes to throw curve balls—and the occasional slider. After that first division of the fertilized, and after the two daughter cells go their way toward producing identical humans, things ch…

Toxicology is a relatively new science that stands on the shoulders of its predecessors: anatomy, physiology, chemistry, and medicine. Our knowledge in these sciences had to reach a certain level of sophistication before toxicology could become a reality. It slowly evolved over more than two hundred years of testing, starting with tests for arsenic…

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The same is true for your fictional characters. So, make them vivid and memorial. How do you do this? There are many ways. Let’s explore a few of them.

There are many "Rules" in writing. Fortunately, most are like STOP signs in Italy--merely suggestions.

One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small And the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall White Rabbit, The Jefferson Airplane

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is as much as 300 times more powerful than morphine sulfate. It can be injected, ingested, inhaled, and will even penetrate the skin. It is used in medical situations frequently for pain management, sedation, and for twilight-anesthesia for things such as colonoscopies. Fentanyl is the number one cause of drug OD…

Here in the 21st century we know a great deal about infectious diseases. We can treat bacterial infections with antibiotics, immunize people against numerous diseases, understand how viruses work, and have a huge fund of knowledge about surgical sterility and disease prevention. This was not always the case. In fact, in the history of medicine, all…

All sorts of weapons are used for committing murder. Guns, knives, poisons, explosives, ligatures, drownings, and gentle pushes off buildings or cliffs. Oh, don't forget rattlesnakes.

The physical and psychological corners of the brain can malfunction and create an array of character problems

Setting the mood and tone in crime fiction should be done up front. The opening passages tell the reader the type of world they are entering and what they can expect. The opening might give character insights, setting, and the basics of the crime—and reveal the voice. What’s the difference between mood and tone? Tone is the author’s attitude Mood i…

The history of forensic DNA analysis has involved some fascinating cases

Do modern forensic science and police investigative techniques make creating compelling crime fiction more difficult? Are there simply too many balls to keep in the air? Too much to consider? Or is now little different from then?