Who Killed Mr. Chippendale? by Mel Glenn

Ever read a novel in poetry form?

Free-form poems tell the story of what happened to Mr. Chippendale, an English teacher at Tower High School. Early one morning, as Mr. Chippendale is preparing for his regular run on the track, he is shot and killed from behind by an unknown assailant.

By the us of alternating poems, the individuals share their opinions about Mr. Chippendale; some liked him, some hated him, and one person, the school counselor loved him. One person just thought it was cool he was shot---"will i make the nightly news?" Twins share diametrically opposed views of him—greatest teacher I ever had vs. the worst teacher ever. The police question individuals; eventually, the killer is discovered.

What will people remember about you when you are gone?

The epilogue tells where individuals are thirteen years later. Some successful, some retired and one out of prison after serving five years.

Double Helix by Nancy Werlin

This book's story could be taken from the headlines of just about any newspaper.

Eli’s mother is dying with Huntington’s chorea. This dreadful genetic disease causes progressive neural and muscular deterioration; there is no treatment or cure.

Does Elli have this defective gene? Worried about his mother and unable to communicate with his emotionally distant dad, he decides to take a "gap year" and work before attending college.
Aware of some mysterious family connection with Dr. Wyatt at Wyatt Transgenics, he applies and is hired as a lab assistant there. Eli’s girlfriend, Viv, is his one lifeline during this time. Bits and pieces of the mystery unfold as Eli discovers he is in fact not carrying this gene because his mother has participated in genetic engineering experimentation. At what cost?

Lots of ethical questions here in a powerful suspense story.

Click on the title to go to the author's website for information on her other books.

Bone Detective: the Story of Forensic Anthropologist Diane France

CIS and Bones fans will enjoy this book by Lorraine Jean Hopping about a real-life forensic anthropologist.

Diane France, daughter of a small-town doctor in Colorado, became interested in physical anthropology during her second semester at Colorado State University. She decided to further specialize and become a forensic anthropologist (one who analyzes bones as evidence in an investigation). In exciting though at times grisly cases, she has helped determine cause of death and identify victims. Some of her most famous cases involved identification of various remains: bodies of the assassinated Romanovs of Russia; Jesse James; and victims of the 9-11 attack in New York. She has organized NecroSearch, a volunteer group trained to find missing victims often buried in secreted graves.

Other related books:

Jackson, Donna M. (1996) The bone detectives: how forensic anthropologists solve crimes and uncover mysteries of the dead. New York: Little Brown & Co.
Explores the world of forensic anthropology and its applications in solving crimes.

Maples, William R. (1994) Dead men do tell tales. New York: Doubleday.
The memoirs of a noted forensic scientist who has helped to unravel numerous investigative mysteries