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The Killer of Little Shepherds
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Review
'... so fascinating and beautifully written that it reads as much like a novel as a real-life account' --Sunday Express 20/3
More than just a true-crime blockbuster with a historical edge... Starr has created a book with every bit as much tension as a thriller, as much detail as a meticulous police procedural, and a court-room drama that's up there with the best. CSI Belle Epoque? It's not as crazy as it sounds. --Independent
Starr manages his material superbly and turns this study of the birth of forensic science into a gripping, sometimes horrific, sometimes funny page-turner. --Daily Telegraph
Douglas Starr describes in gory detail how Vacher killed his victims [and] uses this story as a hook to draw us into his main subject, which is the development of forensic science to track down criminals... a book which will appeal to viewers of CSI and Silent Witness. --Daily Mail
Starr conveys [the narrative] with such lucidity and urgency [and] allows readers to draw their own conclusions in his fine book. --The Spectator
Evokes what might otherwise be thought an idyllic rural France in all its ghastly 19th-Century Ignorance, suspicion, violence and fear.
--Guardian
More than just a true-crime blockbuster with a historical edge... Starr has created a book with every bit as much tension as a thriller, as much detail as a meticulous police procedural, and a court-room drama that's up there with the best. CSI Belle Epoque? It's not as crazy as it sounds. --Independent
Starr manages his material superbly and turns this study of the birth of forensic science into a gripping, sometimes horrific, sometimes funny page-turner. --Daily Telegraph
Douglas Starr describes in gory detail how Vacher killed his victims [and] uses this story as a hook to draw us into his main subject, which is the development of forensic science to track down criminals... a book which will appeal to viewers of CSI and Silent Witness. --Daily Mail
Starr conveys [the narrative] with such lucidity and urgency [and] allows readers to draw their own conclusions in his fine book. --The Spectator
Evokes what might otherwise be thought an idyllic rural France in all its ghastly 19th-Century Ignorance, suspicion, violence and fear.
--Guardian
Product Description
At the end of the nineteenth century, serial murderer Joseph Vacher, dubbed "The Killer of Little Shepherds," terrorized the French countryside. He eluded authorities for years-until he ran up against prosecutor Emile Fourquet and Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne, the era's most renowned criminologist. The two men typified the Belle Epoque, a period of immense scientific achievement and fascination with its promise to reveal the secrets of the human condition. With high drama and stunning detail, Douglas Starr recounts the infamous crime and punishment of Vacher, interweaving the story of how Lacassagne and his colleagues developed forensics as we know it. We see one of the earliest uses of criminal profiling, as Fourquet painstakingly collects eyewitness accounts, leading to Vacher's arrest. And we see the twists and turns of the celebrated trial: to disprove Vacher's defense by reason of insanity, Fourquet recruits Lacassagne, who had revolutionized criminal science: refining the use of blood spatter evidence, systematizing the autopsy and doing ground-breaking research in psychology. Lacassagne's forensic investigation ranks among the greatest of all time, and its denouement is gripping. An important contribution to the history of medicine and criminal justice, impressively researched and thrillingly told.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"The Killer of Little Shepherds," by Douglas Starr, has two extremely interesting stories to tell, that of Joseph Vacher, called "the killer of little shepherds." by the French press, and of Dr. Alexandre Lacassagne, the first, and surely the most honored, of forensic scientists. Lacassagne, among other breakthroughs, refined the use of blood spatter evidence, systematized the autopsy, and did groundbreaking work in psychology.
At the turn of the 20th century, known as the Belle Epoque in France, Vacher, a former soldier, then a vagrant, walked quickly over a stunning part of France. He terrorized the countryside as he went, committing a series of brutal murders - police think possibly twenty-five, though he ultimately confessed to ONLY eleven - of largely young people, of humble socio-economic status, of both sexes, whom he often raped, and tortured: he usually mutilated their bodies, as well. At the same time, Dr. Lacassagne, a long-lived, hardworking, highly productive man, was developing forensic science. The two came together in the same room when Vacher, finally arrested, was attempting to escape the Guillotine by showing himself to be insane. Lacassagne was called upon to look into the serial killer's pretensions.
This book, which includes twenty pages of pictures, has obviously been heavily researched, and is very informative. It tells us a great deal not only about Vacher's three year killing spree and the birth of forensic science, but also about France, most particularly its countryside, as it was in the period. Starr, who is codirector of the Center for Science and Medical Journalism and professor of journalism at Boston University, also writes very well, with great freshness and immediacy. His bookBlood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce won the 1998 Los Angeles Time Book Prize and was made into a PBS-TV documentary. Strongly recommended for those with an interest in true crime, criminology, courtroom drama, or French history, and strong stomachs.
At the turn of the 20th century, known as the Belle Epoque in France, Vacher, a former soldier, then a vagrant, walked quickly over a stunning part of France. He terrorized the countryside as he went, committing a series of brutal murders - police think possibly twenty-five, though he ultimately confessed to ONLY eleven - of largely young people, of humble socio-economic status, of both sexes, whom he often raped, and tortured: he usually mutilated their bodies, as well. At the same time, Dr. Lacassagne, a long-lived, hardworking, highly productive man, was developing forensic science. The two came together in the same room when Vacher, finally arrested, was attempting to escape the Guillotine by showing himself to be insane. Lacassagne was called upon to look into the serial killer's pretensions.
This book, which includes twenty pages of pictures, has obviously been heavily researched, and is very informative. It tells us a great deal not only about Vacher's three year killing spree and the birth of forensic science, but also about France, most particularly its countryside, as it was in the period. Starr, who is codirector of the Center for Science and Medical Journalism and professor of journalism at Boston University, also writes very well, with great freshness and immediacy. His bookBlood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce won the 1998 Los Angeles Time Book Prize and was made into a PBS-TV documentary. Strongly recommended for those with an interest in true crime, criminology, courtroom drama, or French history, and strong stomachs.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
The chapters of the first half of this book alternate between relating the life story of Vacher up his apprehension as a serial killer, and the development of forensic science in France towards the end of the 19th Century. The second half deals with his trial, conviction and sentence.
Unfortunately it seems that forensic science had little to do with solving the case of the French Ripper. Certainly the man most famously credited with the birth of forensics did give evidence at Vacher's trial, but with respect to his sanity and not to the science leading to his arrest. Which it seems was due much more to good old-fashioned detective work, a la Sherlock Holmes, rather than pure science.
It is all very interesting, but I was left with the feeling that whilst I had learnt all about Vacher's crimes, I was left short changed on forensics and the issue of legal insanity. Moderately well written, but the case of the French Ripper and the birth of Forensic Science are really not as interconnected as the book and its title imply. And that is finally a disappointment.
Unfortunately it seems that forensic science had little to do with solving the case of the French Ripper. Certainly the man most famously credited with the birth of forensics did give evidence at Vacher's trial, but with respect to his sanity and not to the science leading to his arrest. Which it seems was due much more to good old-fashioned detective work, a la Sherlock Holmes, rather than pure science.
It is all very interesting, but I was left with the feeling that whilst I had learnt all about Vacher's crimes, I was left short changed on forensics and the issue of legal insanity. Moderately well written, but the case of the French Ripper and the birth of Forensic Science are really not as interconnected as the book and its title imply. And that is finally a disappointment.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Bought for my daughter who is a forensic scientist. More a history of the criminal than a history of forensics per se. Excellent and gripping on the first count and interesting on the second but leaves one wishing for more information.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A bit rambling
This book tries to weave two stories together, that occurred at roughly the same time and same country. Read more
Published 3 months ago by John Keats
19th Century CSI
The Killer of Little Shepherds is the story of a serial killer and how he came to be detected and caught. Read more
Published 9 months ago by History Fan
Forensic science solves serial killer's crimes
This book explains how fornesic science was developing in France (and the western world in general) at the turn of the 19th century and how it's main advocate ((Alexandre... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Geoff Buck
Killer Read
Fantastic all round. Brilliant weaving of the history of forensics and the search for a serial killer in Nienteenth Century France. Reads like a crime novel - a really good one! Read more
Published 13 months ago by jessica grove
Great read
Fascinating. I especially liked the way the case study was interwoven with the development of early forensic scienca. Entertaining and informative.
Published 13 months ago by Metman
SOMETHING GOOD CAME OUT OF FRANCE
Amazing is the fact that something good has come out of France i.e. forensic science (what usually comes out of France is mouldy cheese and over-priced wine). Read more
Published 15 months ago by Rocke Harder
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