The Dollhouse Murders: A Forensic Expert Investigates 6 Little Crimes

The photos in this book are wonderful sharp. Each murder scene has a full photo of the room in which the murder took place with plenty of photos of clues. The format for each model contains a "story line" and goes into detail re the clues & evidence with accompanying details. I enjoy the story lines as they make the scenes more real - kind of like CSI but without finding out who-dun-it. The dioramas were made by the author as a teaching device for crime lab students. Because the aim of these dioramas is help his students "peel" a crime scene, the stories do not contain the answers to the mysteries.

The epidemic of doll-on-doll crime is a fading memory, as real in America's collective memory as the crack epidemic and the O.J. Simpson trials, and all that's left is for the books to come out, letting us look back at those terrible tragedies that riveted the nation. Books like Ann Rule's "The Vinyl-Coated Killer" and Joe McGinnis' "How, Now, Mistress Doll" were excellent contributions to the genre. Now, "The Dollhouse Murders" adds a different perspective by telling the story of six deaths through the eyes of the investigators.Author Thomas P. Mauriello has taken pains to disguise the names and locations of these crimes, to the point of changing the detective's name to "the Detective." But no matter, these stories retain their dark edge of madness and tragedy, and the plethora of crime-scene photos adds a visceral kick in the gut to even the most jaded true-crime aficionado. Doll-on-doll crime may occur on a smaller scale, but that doesn't make them any less horrific. There's the attempted robbery at the family store. Amid the cash register and grocery shelves, two men lay dead. We follow the detective as he works the scene, attempting to deduce the chain of events that led to the tragedy: a cracked pane in the pastry case; the pattern of money thrown from the till; the splatter of blood-like paint by the corpses. These are the red threads that must be knitted together to create a satisfying narrative.Readers interested in learning step-by-step how a scene is "processed" will see that there is no one right method of working, and explains why some crimes don't get solved, how guilt cannot be proven. Clues are gathered using observation, intuition and an intimate knowledge of forensics, such as the way blood gathers where the body meets the floor, or what the size of the entry wound implies. Miss a clue, and the narrative will still be created, but it won't be accurate. Fail to look around at the right time, or fail to keep an open mind as to suspects, and you have another JonBenet Ramsey case on your hand.Murder freezes a moment in time and the detective is its archivist. "The Dollhouse Murders" opens a window into the lives of dolls, seeing them at work and at home, in places we never see. By placing their deaths in the context of their lives, Mauriello is also issuing a plea for empathy and tolerance, in effect, putting a human face on the vinyl victims. But even more, these are taut, grim tales of violence and death, told with an eye for observation and an ear for detail that recall the best of Joseph Waumbaugh, Ed McBain and Elmore Leonard. These stories pack a punch. And Judy.

In light of the recent trend on televison and in movies to whet our appetite for crime scene investigation methods, I found "The Dollhouse Murders" to be just what the M.E. ordered. I discovered there's still much to be learned, and the dollhouse scenarios, so cleverly contrived, are full of details which the other mediums of delivery simply don't have time to explore. Mr. Mauriello and Miss Darby have wedded their talents admirably and with seamless success.A great read!