18 Tiny Deaths, Bruce Goldfarb
18 Tiny Deaths, Bruce Goldfarb
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18 Tiny Deaths
The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics

Author: Bruce Goldfarb, Judy Melinek

Narrator: Nan McNamara

Unabridged: 8 hr 35 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Recorded Books

Published: 02/04/2020


Synopsis

The story of a woman whose ambition and accomplishments far exceeded the expectations of her time, 18 Tiny Deaths follows the transformation of a young, wealthy socialite into the mother of modern forensics...

Frances Glessner Lee, born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family in the 1870s, was never meant to have a career, let alone one steeped in death and depravity.

Yet she developed a fascination with the investigation of violent crimes, and made it her life's work. Best known for creating the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, a series of dollhouses that appear charming?until you notice the macabre little details: an overturned chair, or a blood-spattered comforter. And then, of course, there are the bodies?splayed out on the floor, draped over chairs?clothed in garments that Lee lovingly knit with sewing pins.

18 Tiny Deaths, by official biographer Bruce Goldfarb, delves into Lee's journey from grandmother without a college degree to leading the scientific investigation of unexpected death out of the dark confines of centuries-old techniques and into the light of the modern day.

Lee developed a system that used the Nutshells dioramas to train law enforcement officers to investigate violent crimes, and her methods are still used today.

18 Tiny Deaths transports the reader back in time and tells the story of how one woman, who should never have even been allowed into the classrooms she ended up teaching in, changed the face of science forever.

About Bruce Goldfarb

A former EMT/paramedic and a nursing school dropout, Bruce Goldfarb has written for national and local newspapers, magazines, and web publications. He also wrote and edited several medical texts and reference books. He is the author of 18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of the Woman Who Invented Modern Forensics and served from 2012 to 2022 as the executive assistant to the chief of OCME Maryland. He lives in Baltimore.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jim on April 27, 2025

The 18 Tiny Deaths of the title refer to 18 tiny rooms called the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death. Each room contained a crime scene in miniature, to be used for the training of students in forensics. But in this book, there's really very little about the tiny rooms and certainly nothing about......more

Goodreads review by Shaelene on February 11, 2020

This was one of my most anticipated books for 2020, forensics is something I’ve always had a strong interest in. So I was thrilled when I got approved for this arc. Frances Lee Glessner was born into a very wealthy family in Chicago and incredibly well educated. She always had a strong fascination w......more

Goodreads review by Don on February 04, 2020

I had never heard of Frances Glessner Lee before reading this book, and I thoroughly enjoyed author Bruce Goldfarb’s book. There are many elements contained within its pages. Readers are permitted an intimate look at Ms. Lee’s ancestors as well as the events of her earlier life (before the main focu......more

Goodreads review by Ed on July 20, 2022

I liked reading this biography. The subject is a wealthy old lady who constructed "dioramas" of the different types of crime scenes as a teaching aid in modern forensics at Harvard University. Her dioramas are still in use today. In a male-dominated profession, few men took her too seriously. Harvar......more