Crime-fighting

Ian Graham's 1995 nonfiction entry in the Science Spotlight series does a tidy job of making forensic science accessible to young readers. Fingerprints, bite marks, bloodstain patterns, ballistics, arson chemistry — the topics genuinely fascinate this age group, and Graham keeps the treatment educational and clinical rather than graphic or scary. For a child with a budding interest in science and how crimes get solved, this delivers real content in an organized package. The main limitation is age: forensic science has advanced enormously since 1995, and some of the methods described are now outdated or supplemented by DNA technology the book never covers. It reads more like a reference text than a narrative, which may limit its hold on reluctant readers. Useful as a starting point, but contemporary titles on the same subject would serve better.