Zakaria Erzinçlioğlu (1951–2002)

Dr. Zak, as his tongue-tied colleagues called him, was a foremost authority in the interpretation of insect evidence. Much like Gil Grissom on the original CSI, Dr. Zak can track the development of maggots to provide an approximate time of death, use his regional knowledge of insects to place a suspect at the scene of the crime, and discourse knowledgably on literature--Doyle's creation Sherlock Holmes, in particular. "Maggots" manages to be scholarly and chatty at the same time, as Dr. Zak show more discourses fluently on crime scenes, serial killers, facial reconstruction, and even archaeological investigations, like resolving the question of marine flies in a land-locked region (answer: the homesick Vikings imported sea kelp to their farms.) There is much human evil on display in this book, both in and out of the courtroom. The former tends to be just as disturbing, particularly when Zak details the blatant fabrication of "expert witnesses" for the opposting council. The self-described "maggotologist" died at 50 of a heart attack, but not before he left a legacy to science. show less

I have become interested in Forensic Science since I did a 7 week course at U3A (University of Third Age) last year. This book is and excellent followup, a revision and new facts. It is written in a very conversational, easy to read, style.
The author is obviously an expert and although the book was published a few years ago (1999/2004) it is still very relevant.

"The practice of Forensic science ... is the cultivation of a suspicious mind. ... followed up with sound reasoning. This mixture of show more suspicion and reason is the forensic scientist’s forte." p13

"Expect the unexpected." p30

"Forensic science is constantly developing, and any current tests must be looked upon as potentially fallible, a fact many forensic scientists, lawyers and police officers have difficulty accepting." p107 show less