Body, Crime, Suspect: How a Murder Investigation Really Works

Dave Jenkinson is a professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Manitoba and the author of the “Portraits” section of Emergency Librarian.

McClintock, the winner of three Arthur Ellis awards for the best
Canadian juvenile mystery novels, here turns to nonfiction while still
remaining within the area of crime literature. Recognizing that many
Canadian middle-school students get their [mis]information about the
justice system from American television shows such as Law and Order,
McClintock provides, as the subtitle indicates, a most readable
explanation of “how a murder investigation [in Canada] really
works.”

Instead of just providing a dry factual recounting, McClintock brings
the process to life by employing the fictional characters of Chris, a
young teen, and his Uncle Joe, a member of a homicide squad, who are
snowbound in a remote cabin. While the pair await a snowplow’s
arrival, Chris questions Uncle Joe about a newspaper clipping reporting
the suspicious death of a famous children’s writer. Over a two-day
period, Joe walks Chris through the crime, explaining the roles played
by the many different players, such as the Forensic Identification Unit
and the coroner, as they contribute to successfully solving a murder.

Although the book ends with a jury’s finding of guilt, McClintock
does not carry the process to its ultimate conclusion—the sentencing
phase plus the possibility of appeals. Periodically she interjects
direct factual material into the narrative, usually in the form of
lists, such as the checklist a patrol officer needs to keep in mind when
first arriving at a crime scene. A few black-and-white illustrations
assist in providing visual explanations. Instead of homicides being
solved in 60 minutes, minus commercials, Body, Crime, Suspect reveals
that murder investigations are actually slow, methodical processes.
Highly recommended.