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The current vogue for forensic television shows has convinced Professor Mauriello (Criminalistics and Criminal Justice, University of Maryland) to capitalize on both the subject's popularity and correct common misconceptions. Accordingly, he allows the public to audit his Introduction to Criminalistics course via Ann Darby's popular rewrite of his materials. What makes THE DOLLHOUSE MURDERS so fascinating is that it isn't a warmed-over textbook. That's not how the class is taught. Instead, Mauriello points his students at gruesomely accurate dollhouse dioramas and leads them through the steps of investigating each case. They have to puzzle their way through on their own, but the readers get to look through the eyes of The Detective, a methodical, experienced, just-the-facts-ma'am Jack Webb type, who puzzles through each scenario with relentless logic, often countering his more impulsive partner. Along the way, he corrects several TV-inspired beliefs. "Forensic science as depicted on television can give the impression that everything done in an investigation . . . is done by one group of players, who happen to be the stars of the television show. This is an unrealistic view of a process that requires many different teams and kinds of professionals," Mauriello points out, burdening his nameless protagonist with a rotating cast of technicians and police, ranging from the absent-minded Medical Examiner to the wise-cracking policewoman. Mauriello also points out that only on TV do 2 and 2 add neatly to 4, when the reality is that the criminalists cannot always find two 2s, much less add them into a tidy resolution. Six cases are presented: two robberies (one at home, one at a store), two rapes (campus date rape and a rape/murder), and two of what CSI refers to as DFOs, meaning a couple of people "done fell over" dead. Each case is lavishly photographed, starting with a wide shot of the crime scene and with detail shots peppered throughout the narrative. The one-inch-to-one-foot scale means that the settings look somewhat unrealistic. Blood is obviously thin paint; the 'dead' dog is a toy of a walking dog knocked on its side. It also means that some details, such as fingerprints, are referred to instead of shown. Despite these limitations, the scenes are as accurate as possible, from blood splatter on the walls to the photos matching tiny weapons to tinier wounds. Because each case is treated separately, the basic steps of each investigation are repeated. This can be a little monotonous, but no one can complaint that it isn't accurate. (I do quibble, though, that postmortem lividity is explained in detail for the first time in case number four, although the illustrating photographs are only in cases one and two.) That's a very minor complaint, though. What DOLLHOUSE MURDERS lacks in page-turning excitement -- we never really know how any case ends, since that's not part of the investigation -- it more than makes up for in realism and puzzle-solving. We're all invited to agree or disagree with The Detective, to figure out what happened. This is a worthy read for anyone interested in puzzles or the science of crime, plus a great present for any CSI fans you might know.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, August 2004
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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