Pg. 99: D.P. Lyle's "Forensics and Fiction"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: D.P. Lyle's Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Intriguing, and Downright Odd Questions from Crime Writers.

About the book, from the publisher:

How long can someone survive in a cold, damp cave without food or water? How was diphtheria treated in 1886? Can Botox kill? Can DNA be found on a knife years later? How are mummified corpses identified? How long does it take blood to clot when spilled on a tile floor? What happens in death from electrocution?

As a consultant to many novelists around the world and to the writers of such popular TV shows as Monk, Law & Order, House, and CSI: Miami, D. P. Lyle, M.D., has answered many cool, clever, and oddball questions over the years. Forensics and Fiction: Clever, Intriguing, and Downright Odd Questions from Crime Writers is a collection of the best of these questions. The answers are provided in a concise and entertaining fashion that will keep you wide awake so you can read “just one more.”

Among the praise for Forensics and Fiction:

“Indispensable ... Don’t even think of writing a medical mystery without the wise counsel of Dr. D. P. Lyle.”
--Lee Goldberg, author of the Diagnosis Murder and Monk novels

“A terrific resource for crime writers and anyone interested in forensics ... will jump-start your imagination about all kinds of ingenious crimes, crime-solving techniques, and plot twists.”
--Matt Witten, supervising producer of the Fox TV show House

“Every crime-fiction author’s best friend ... as essential to my library as my Strunk and White.”
--Hallie Ephron, author of Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel

“There’s damn good reason why Dr. Doug Lyle’s e-mail is in every crime writer’s address book and why his reference books belong on every aspiring writer’s book shelf: His advice comes from the head of a medical expert but also from the heart and imagination of a writer. Whenever I paint myself into a forensic corner, Dr. Doug is always there to rescue me.”
--P. J. Parrish, author of An Unquiet Grave

Read an excerpt from Forensics and Fiction.

D. P. Lyle, MD is the Macavity Award winning and Edgar Award nominated author of the non-fiction books Murder and Mayhem: A Doctor Answers Medical and Forensic Questions for Mystery Writers, a compilation of the most interesting questions he has received over the years, and Forensics For Dummies, an in depth look into the world of forensic science. His published fiction includes the thrillers Devil’s Playground and Double Blind.

The Page 99 Test: Forensics and Fiction.

--Marshal Zeringue