Forensic criminology / psychology books for 15 year old

[MustBeNapTime]

My daughter has decided she would like to go into forensic criminology and / or psychology. They had a careers day last year and someone in that field came in and she talked to them and has been getting more and more interested in it as time has gone on and has now decided that is something she is interested in pursuing. She reads a lot and has always loved a good psychological murder and has read loads of teenage appropriate books and is now starting to get onto adult authors.

I used to read all those kind of books years ago and still do on occasion (usually when I'm exercising on Audible these days!). So for Christmas I wanted to start her on a couple of fictional series.

So far I have thought of:
Kathy Reichs (the "Bones" books are different from the series so not sure whether that's a good or bad thing? I read them before I watched the TV series and we have now watched all of those together as well).
Karin Slaughter - Sarah Linton / Will Trent series.
Alex Kava - Ryder Creed series. Have read most of them and absolutely loved series.
Tess Gerritson - Rizzoli and Isles. I know that's a TV series now but I haven't watched it.

I know they are all American and more importantly fiction and she knows that it's not going to be like that even if she does study and go into that field, but this would literally be reading for pleasure in a vaguely related, if jacked up, subject and I think most of the authors have some kind of authority in the field if I remember correctly.

Can anyone recommend any more series, or even stand alone books?

Or to be fair, any non-fictional books that might be interesting for a 15 year old that aren't too text-booky? She does have one but I can't remember what it's called.

Thanks very much for any suggestions!

Patricia Cornwell

@CarInsuranceIssue
Thanks for the suggestion.
Is she good then? Is there a particular series of hers that you would recommend? Bizarrely, I don't think I've ever read one of her books. And I don't know why...🤔

Beyond the body farm by Bill Bass is a brilliant read. He basically pioneered the body farm idea, the book is really engaging and oddly funny in parts but goes into his career. He's also co-authored some fiction

encourage her to widen her interests and ambitions. Everybody wants forensics and psychology at this age, but a psychology degree is virtually useless, and forensics is grim. Think wading through three day old vomit to find evidence or oral sex etc. My friends in forensics just sit in a lab doing the same tests over and over and over again for weeks, and never know anything at all about the case, the suspects or anything. Occasionally make statements in court, but even then know nothing about the case or the outcome. One specialises in telling dog hair from cat hair, with the occasional horse hair thrown in. One can identify fly eggs. Both have to do an annual stint of a month or so in the vomit corner.

As for psychology, when my sons were at university, 90% of the girls they met were psychology students, and none found their degrees of any use - so common, and so easy.

My children all did science degrees, but it was very well known that if you were really struggling with a particular module ( quantum physics comes to mind) then you could use a psychology module as a "patch" to fill up with extra credits easily - no need to attend the lectures even, just sit down for the weekend with the assignment and a computer or text book

By all means give her fiction she enjoys, but make sure she understands it is fiction, and not something to base a life plan on

O yes, just remembered what my other friend in forensics does - matches shards of glass to manufacturers - all day every day, He graduated in forensics, but just carries on because he has a management position, supervising other glass fragment analysers, and wont get another management position if he looks for another career.

His management role involves sending "known" samples in with the evidence from crime scenes, and assessing how quickly and accurately the workers identify the manufacturer, and recording the results on a spread sheet - any one not quick or accurate enough is given notice.

She’s a psychotherapist rather than a psychologist, but Dr Gwen Adshead's The Devil You Know was an interesting read, @MustBeNapTime.

There are several books by the forensic psychologist Kerry Daynes about her work (one of them also called The Devil You Know: what are the chances?!) that seem to have good reviews, but I haven’t read any so can’t vouch for those - might be worth checking out, though?

o the one that does dog hair used to be a crime scene investigator but got fed up of getting body fluid in her shoes

Professor Sue Black's All that Remains and Written in Bone would be the first thing I’d recommend for anyone who wants to do hands-on forensics; she’s a fascinating writer (and a highly distinguished forensic anthropologist). Her Royal Institution Christmas Lectures from last year are online - did your DD see those, @MustBeNapTime? She basically restaged crime scenes then did forensic investigations of them for (and with) her young audience.

I teach criminology and we use this book - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Introduction-Criminology-Pamela-Davies/dp/1526486857?ref=d6k_applink_bb_dls&dplnkId=eb62aa64-5386-424f-b2af-106693207456

If you can find a second hand copy, your dd may find it interesting.

@CableTidy and @Terpsichore
Thanks so much for the suggestions. I'll have a look at those.

@lesserspotted
Thanks for the insight, very interesting. But as I said, these books are just for pleasure in a vaguely related field. And to be fair, the guy she spoke to was under no illusions to explain it's not a glamorous profession. She's ND and will never be a rocket scientist but she's a bit like me (and her dad) in the fact we are really good at really repetitive, boring, mundane tasks and it's an important job that someone has to do, right? It's also the first thing that has really sparked a prolonged interest so we'll go with it for now. She has chosen three broad-ish A-levels so can easily change her mind in the next couple of years.

Due to one of my previous jobs, I used to know several SOCO's who loved their job, bodily fluids and all, so not worried about that aspect of things. I also have a friend that's a lab tech who pretty much does the same test over and over and has done for years, and she does find it a bit boring at times, but it's literally a life-saving job, so she gets a lot of satisfaction out of it.

And how strange, not one of her peers wants to go into forensics, they all think she's a weirdo! 😂

@Terpsichore
Just seen your second post. That sounds brilliant, I'll look those up and we can watch at half term!

@SuperLoudPoppingAction
Thank you, that could be a really good starting point for her!

MR Hall who wrote keeping Faith also writes about a coroner based in Bristol. They Americanised and turned into tv but I remember it being quite forensic

Criminology is the new beauty therapy type course for less academic girls. Wouldn’t be encouraging it sorry.

i've just finished the seven ages of death by Dr Richard Shepherd he's a forensic pathologist and talks through some of the cases he's worked on. i listened to the audiobook on audible and it was very interesting.

Dr Marie Cassidy, the former Irish state pathologist has written a book,I don't know its name

The Will Trent Karin Slaughter books are horrific, I won't say why because I'd need a number of trigger warnings.
I've read some but they turned my stomach. So vet them before you give them to her.

Sorry,what!
Please
Explain.

@midlifemelancholy and @ememem84 Thank you so much for those, will have a look!

@LizardOfOz I've read the Will Trent series, a while ago now though and you are right, they are very hard reading due to his personal circumstances, some of which I can relate to. So actually, thanks for the reminder, I think I might not get her those for a few years... I'll have a look for the other book you mention.

The Jigsaw Man by Paul Britton

Erm... Thaaanks? 😬

Not really relevant to my question but hey ho, this is a public forum so you crack on, and since you are commenting, may I ask what exactly is wrong with a beauty therapy course? Have you (or anyone else you know) never had a massage? A facial? Your nails painted? Given that my daughter is ND, I'll encourage her to do anything that catches her attention and she wishes to study whether you deem it worthy or not. I'm not a job snob.

@SuperLoudPoppingAction Perhaps you could confirm what kind of people you are teaching? Are they only people who couldn't get on the beauty therapy course...? I suspect not but what do I know?! 😂

I really enjoy the Tess Gerristen books. There are a few stand alone novels not part of the Rizzoli and Isles series that are good. There's one called Harvest and one called Bloodstream that I really enjoyed.
@TheaBrandt that's the most bizarre thing I have read on Mumsnet for a while. What a snobby and rude thing to say.

@Needmorelego Thanks for that, will look for those standalone ones too!

I'd actually forgotten about Will's personal life! I meant the crimes. There was one series of killings involving a funeral director/pathologist (?) that has stuck with me - in a bad way
Another about women being kept in a basement....

I don't think beauty therapy is in any danger of dying out - it's very popular in colleges - so I'm not entirely sure there needs to be some kind of back-up course for anyone "less academic", whatever that means.

I mostly teach police officers on the degree apprenticeship so quite a few of them might not have considered a degree, but they have to engage critically with theories, with evidence to justify their policies and procedures etc.
I've taught across various different disciplines - education, health, sociology etc and I tend to find a mix of people who are very keen and/or very able, and people who seem to be less able to get to grips with the content and assignments (I suspect mainly because today's economic situation means many of them are working full time and just don't have the headspace).

I'm a sociology person myself and I might encourage either sociology or psychology as things to look into instead of criminology, to make sure you're making the right choice for you. The reason I teach criminology is I have a background in the women's sector and used to train police in that capacity.
I saw Jo phoenix speak at filia and she was very inspiring. Criminology can be really impactful and worth looking into, at least.

That’s absolute rubbish, and I say that as someone who has a MSc in Criminology with Forensic Psychology. I have gone on to have a satisfying and directly related career.

Cambridge include criminology modules in their HSPS degree course.....