Reviews for Body of Evidence

The average rating for Body of Evidence based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-04-20 00:00:00 Janet Crozier Another late shift so not in time home to watch a CSI double bill with my daughter who has a thing with Greg Sanders, Hodges and Morgan from the later series of the CSI TV show. Now that she knows I got a few CSI books downloaded on my e-reader I have to check my work bag every day for the E-reader to be in my possession. She is bound to nick it sooner rather than later as she is a college kid that is stuck at home with the Corona crisis. Like her dad she is a fairly quick read and she is a bigger CSI fan than I am, I even have the gall to favor CSI New York over the original CSI. Anyhow this already number 4 I am reading as written by Max Allan Collins, I have enjoyed before a few of his Mike Hammer continuations. The man can write a more than decent story. Once again like the formula on TV the CSI gets two cases one High profile case involving the Las Vegas Mayor who was involved with one his aides who disappeared without a trace and her body gets found rolled up in a carpet. This time the night-shift with Grissom will do their best to solve the crime. Nick and Catherine are called in to a situation that involves printouts of Child pornography in an Ad company and get on the trail of the person responsible for spreading this vile literature. They learn a lot about computer crime and how to cover it. The lesson in both cases is that you start from the beginning and the first person on the scene. Another well written and thought out CSI novel, fun reading these.

Review # 2 was written on 2019-02-16 00:00:00 Michael Hardesty This, I was surprised to note, is my fifth CSI novel, and my third by Max Allan Collins. I had no idea until I looked at my list, and would not be able to recall the story of any of them without looking at the summary on the binding. And that, I have a feeling, is what will happen with this book, too. Not that the story is bad, by any means - but it's not memorable. We have, as in the series, two crimes to solve. The lead assistant at an advertising agency comes into the office early on Monday and discovers child pornography has been printed and left on an executive's printer. Catherine and Nick must try to put their personal baggage aside while they laboriously search for the source of the criminal activity. At the other end of town, the mayor's missing assistant is finally located - dead, apparently having been tortured while held captive. With an election near, Grissom's usual difficulty in dealing with people is exacerbated by tensions amongst the opponents and their campaign managers. The advertising case involves tracing the source of the print job, therefore pulling every electronic device from the hard-working and protesting advertising company; there are rudimentary discussions of imaging, IP addresses, MAC addresses and other such oblique computer elements for our field agents. The murder case gives a bit more tension as Gus and team trot about examining additional evidence on an increasingly creepy path. Neither story is riveting, but the trail Catherine and Nick follow is interesting, particularly when they're wrong - my attention was held watching them work their way through the problem as the advertising firm personnel grew in abrasiveness. I found the murder a little less interesting - the storyline had shock/disgust value, but was very basic (and at times improbable). And I continue to be challenged by the descriptions of Grissom's character, which really came to a head for me with this book. Much as I'd like to, I just can't imagine him achieving a managerial position in any job setting, since he so clearly lacks the ability to get along with people. In real life, the Gus Grissom described in the book would be an essential senior level "lead" - enduring constant coaching about working well with others - while the managerial team all agree in private that he has no hope, ever, of making a move up (technical expertise is only worth so much). There's definitely some charisma that the character in the television series offers which has been lost in the books.