More Forensics and Fiction

D.P. Lyle was born and raised in Alabama, attended medical school in Texas, and for the past 30 years has practiced cardiology in Orange County, California. Along the way, Dr. Lyle became an expert on forensics in fiction.

Lyle has advised many novelists and consuled on television shows such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, Diagnosis Murder, Monk, Cold Case, House, Women's Murder Club and The Glades. He's also an in-demand speaker, giving talks on "Plotting the Perfect Murder" and "Understanding the Science of Crime."

His talks and consulting gigs prompted him to write several nonfiction books, including Howdunit: Forensics (part of the Writer's Digest series for authors) and Forensics for Dummies, an Edgar-nominee and Macavity winner in 2005. He also started a book series using questions from writers along with his answers. The first was Murder and Mayhem in 2003, followed by Forensics and Fiction in 2007. These two books were so well-received, it spawned a third book in the series, More Forensics and Fiction, due in bookstores on April 1st.

The latest book (subtitled "Crime Writers Morbidly Curious Questions Expertly Answered") is a collection of 180 new questions from novelists and screenwriters. As Dr. Lyle notes, "The hope with each of these books is that writers will find them educational and inspirational. I hope some of the questions and answers spark that little question What If? and from that new stories emerge. I think seeing what other writers are doing and what they are thinking and how they are going about constructing their stories sometimes offers that spark."

The questions are those you'd expect from a crime fiction writer, but not for the squeamish, such as "What does the victim of an arrow to the heart look like, and how would he die?", "What injuries can result from depleted uranium bullets?", "Will snake venom injected into fruit cause death?", and "What happens when someone swallows razor blades?" (We crime writers are a morbid lot...)

As author P. J. Parrish says in his praise of the book, it's a "must-have for any crime writer struggling to come up with an original and exciting way to commit murder."  I would add that it's a micro-forensics class in a book, with the author revealing such helpful tidbits as the 12-12-12 rigor mortis rule (i.e., rigor develops over 12 hours, stays 12 hours, then resolves over 12 hours).

Questions are divided into broad sections, beginning with Part I, Traumatic Injuries, Illnesses, Doctors and Hospitals. Part II includes Poisons, Toxins, Medications and Drugs; Part III covers The Police, the Crime Scene and the Crime Lab; Part IV involves questions about The Coroner, the Body and the Autopsy; and the final Part V covers Odds and Ends, Mostly Odds (quite a few vampires in this one).

The book and its predecessors are terrific reference books to have on hand if you're planning out and/or in the midst of writing a mystery or thriller. Dr. Lyle also has a Writer's Forensics Blog every writer should have bookmarked. If you have a question of your own you'd like answered (that could even appear in a future book), there's a contact form on Dr. Lyle's website.

Lyle is also the author of stories and novels on his own, including the Dub Walker Thriller series and Royal Pains media tie-in novels. Also due out this year is his book from the American Bar Association titled ABA Fundamentals: Understanding Forensic Science, a book written specifically for attorneys.