The author uses the great adventures of the great detective as a springboard into the real world of forensic science and cases that inspired the great Sherlock Holmes stories. In the book you will learn about famous scientists, researchers and forensic experts, such as Eugene Vidocq of the Parisian detective police force, the relentless detective from London Henry Goddard, fingerprint specialist Sir Francis Galton and the brilliant, if somewhat self-confident pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury. You will get acquainted with ancient myths and bizarre folklore legends that the developing science of forensic medicine had to debunk. Reading this book will be as exciting as any of the stories about Sherlock Holmes.

(back cover)This book is like riding in a cozy cab along the road built by Sherlock Holmes. This road will take you through the jungle of medicine, law, pathological anatomy, hematology and the dangers that awaited forensic medicine in real life in the 19th and 20th centuries. From the dark stain of blood on a white wall in the story "The Norwood Contractor" to the trajectory and impact of a bullet in the story The Reigate Squires - Author E. J. Wagner uses the amazing adventures of the Great Detective as a springboard into the real world of forensic science and the cases that inspired these remarkable stories. You will learn about famous scientists, explorers and forensic experts , such as Eugene Vidocq of the Parisian detective police force, the relentless London detective Henry Goddard, fingerprint specialist Sir Francis Galton and the brilliant, if somewhat self-confident pathologist Sir Bernard Spilsbury. You will get acquainted with ancient myths and bizarre folklore legends that the developing science of forensic medicine had to debunk. The most characteristic of them are the theory that hair and nails continue to grow after death, as well as the ideas of phrenology - the pseudoscientific doctrine that a person’s personal qualities are determined by the shape and size of his skull. You'll also learn how meningitis, the Black Death, and vampires played a role in forensic history. This book is filled with real-life mysteries like those Sherlock Holmes had to investigate. What happened to Dr. George Parkman, the wealthy physician and philanthropist last seen at Harvard Medical School in 1949? During the investigation of this case, a handwriting examination was carried out for the first time, an analogue of which was also carried out by Sherlock Holmes in the story “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, examining a letter compiled from newspaper clippings: “But this is my strong point! The difference between the two is quite obvious." Reading this book, you find yourself turning over its pages with the same tension as any of the stories about Sherlock Holmes.