死体につく虫が犯人を告げる [単行本]

   死体に卵を産みつけるハエや、それらを食べようとする虫など、置き去りにされた死体周辺に集まる昆虫を分析して、死亡時刻を推定する「法医昆虫学」。その第一人者が、殺人捜査の実例から法医昆虫学の手法を紹介し、また、法医昆虫学というジャンルが認められるようになるまでの過程を明らかにした。

   殺人現場における昆虫学者の基本的な仕事は、採取された昆虫の様子から、死後経過時間を決定することにある。しかし昆虫は、死んでから後に遺体を動かされたかどうかを知る重要な手がかりを与えることもある。また、生息場所が特徴的な昆虫が採取されると、犯行現場も推定できる。こういった調査の一部始終が非常に詳しく描かれているため、腐乱死体や、そこに群がるウジの様子など、文章から鮮明な絵を想像してしまい苦しめられることにもなりかねない。ただし、あちこちにちりばめられたユーモアあふれる表現やジョークが、陰うつになりがちな文章の救いになっているのも確かだ。

   犯罪に対する法医昆虫学の威力と、この学問誕生の経緯が本書のおもしろさである。特に、まるで推理小説の謎解きのように鮮やかな法医昆虫学者の証言は、新しいミステリージャンルの出現を思わせるような驚きがある。だが本書は、現実の殺人事件にのっとったノンフィクションであり、ミステリーではない。ユーモアに包まれた言葉からは、学者としての高揚感より、犯罪に対するやりきれない思いが伝わってくる。（朝倉真弓）

The forensic entomologist turns a dispassionate, analytic eye on scenes from which most people would recoil--human corpses in various stages of decay, usually the remains of people who have met a premature end through accident or mayhem. To Lee Goff and his fellow forensic entomologists, each body recovered at a crime scene is an ecosystem, a unique microenvironment colonized in succession by a diverse array of flies, beetles, mites, spiders, and other arthropods: some using the body to provision their young, some feeding directly on the tissues and by-products of decay, and still others preying on the scavengers.

Using actual cases on which he has consulted, Goff shows how knowledge of these insects and their habits allows forensic entomologists to furnish investigators with crucial evidence about crimes. Even when a body has been reduced to a skeleton, insect evidence can often provide the only available estimate of the postmortem interval, or time elapsed since death, as well as clues to whether the body has been moved from the original crime scene, and whether drugs have contributed to the death.

An experienced forensic investigator who regularly advises law enforcement agencies in the United States and abroad, Goff is uniquely qualified to tell the fascinating if unsettling story of the development and practice of forensic entomology.

(20001023) --このテキストは、 ペーパーバック 版に関連付けられています。

虫たちは決して殺人事件を見逃さない。驚くべき早さで死体を発見し、卵を産みつける。真の第一発見者である昆虫から手がかりを得るために、死体につく虫を丹念に集める昆虫学者がいる。彼らは現場から採集された標本を分析し、捜査官をも驚愕させる確度で死亡時刻を推定する。時には死後数年たった白骨死体であっても、昆虫の証拠から犯行の時期を推定できるのである。普通の昆虫学者だった著者が殺人現場へと乗り込み、「法医昆虫学」の第一人者となるまでに経験した数々の捜査を例に、このまったく新しい捜査法を紹介する。

変死体に卵を産みつける昆虫を分析することで、法医昆虫学者は捜査官をも驚愕させる確度で死亡時刻を推定し、殺人犯への手がかりを導く。法医昆虫学の第一人者が自らの体験を中心にこのまったく新しい捜査法を紹介する。

Almost every murder has literally millions of witnesses, but their only testimony is a maddening buzz. Speaking for the insects is forensic entomologist M. Lee Goff, who relates some of the secrets of his young profession in A Fly for the Prosecution. Equal parts scientific and true-crime journalism, the book reports unflinchingly on the development of this field as an important adjunct to traditional means of investigation. Based on our constantly improving knowledge of the reproduction and growth of carrion flies and beetles, an informed examiner can determine the time and location of death with great precision, often lending the final evidence needed to close a case. Goff has been at the forefront of forensic entomology and has worked closely with Hawaiian law enforcement for many years, yielding a rich assortment of crime stories to illustrate his research. Readers need a strong stomach to take the macabre details of some of the murders; fortunately for those at the borderline, all the excellent illustrations depict insects rather than their meals. Goff also explores how we came to the knowledge we have today, including the meticulous field research of the 19th century and the modern decomposition studies with pigs in a wide variety of environments and conditions. You might never need the knowledge, but reading A Fly for the Prosecution will at least satisfy your curiosity by telling you what the blowfly saw. --Rob Lightner
--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Almost every murder has literally millions of witnesses, but their only testimony is a maddening buzz. Speaking for the insects is forensic entomologist M Lee Goff who relates some of the secrets of his young profession in A Fly for the Prosecution. Equal parts scientific and true-crime journalism, the book reports unflinchingly on the development of this field as an important adjunct to traditional means of investigation. Based on our constantly-improving knowledge of the reproduction and growth of carrion flies and beetles, an informed examiner can determine the time and location of death with great precision, often lending the final evidence needed to close a case. Goff has been at the forefront of forensic entomology and has worked closely with Hawai'i law enforcement over many years, yielding a rich assortment of crime stories to illustrate his research. Readers need a strong stomach to take the macabre details of some of the murders; fortunately for those at the borderline, all of the excellent illustrations depict insects rather than their meals. Goff also explores how we came to the knowledge we have today, including the meticulous field research of the 19th century and the modern decomposition studies with pigs in a wide variety of environments and conditions. You might never need the knowledge, but reading A Fly for the Prosecution will at least satisfy your curiosity by telling you what the blowfly saw. --Rob Lightner --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

The forensic entomologist turns a dispassionate, analytic eye on scenes from which most people would recoil--human corpses in various stages of decay, usually the remains of people who have met a premature end through accident or mayhem. To Lee Goff and his fellow forensic entomologists, each body recovered at a crime scene is an ecosystem, a unique microenvironment colonized in succession by a diverse array of flies, beetles, mites, spiders, and other arthropods: some using the body to provision their young, some feeding directly on the tissues and by-products of decay, and still others preying on the scavengers. Using actual cases on which he has consulted, Goff shows how knowledge of these insects and their habits allows forensic entomologists to furnish investigators with crucial evidence about crimes. Even when a body has been reduced to a skeleton, insect evidence can often provide the only available estimate of the postmortem interval, or time elapsed since death, as well as clues to whether the body has been moved from the original crime scene, and whether drugs have contributed to the death. An experienced forensic investigator who regularly advises law enforcement agencies in the United States and abroad, Goff is uniquely qualified to tell the fascinating if unsettling story of the development and practice of forensic entomology.
--このテキストは、 ペーパーバック 版に関連付けられています。

The perfect gift for the hard-core crime fiction addict. (Seattle Times/ Post-Intelligencer 20001216)

[Forensic entomologists] remain a tiny fraternity--there are just 15 members of the American Board of Forensic Entomology--but their often grisly work is about to become a good deal better known, thanks to the deliciously disgusting new book, A Fly for the Prosecution.
--Vicki Croke (Boston Globe 20001201)

I planned to leaf through the book, then read it in earnest the next day. But the opening paragraph grabbed me: 'It was a perfect morning for shoreline fishing and throwing nets for crabs. The sun was shining brightly and the air was perfumed with the scent of plumeria when three fishermen set off for Pearl Harbor...Peering over the fence in the direction of the stench, one spotted a dead body lying on its back.' Goff had me hooked.
--Elaine Masters (Honolulu Advertiser )

Overall, Goff has written a good book about a fascinating and fairly new subject. Especially for crime buffs and science buffs, this book is quite engrossing--as long as you aren't grossed out by a few flies, maggots, beetles and other crawling critters.
--David Bloomberg (Springfield State Journal-Register )

'The suspect was convicted of second degree murder and the major witnesses were flies.' With these words entomologist Goff introduces his somewhat exotic specialty: forensic entomology...[which] assists criminal justice...by providing clues about how a body may have been moved after death, by placing a suspect at the scene of a crime, and by showing that drugs or toxins have contributed to a death. Goff...traces the development of his field from modest beginnings to its present wide acceptance as an adjunct of detective work and criminal trials. (Scientific American )

Seductive...Goff is a forensic entomologist, and he tells the story of what exactly that means and of how his field (which hardly existed before 1980) came to take a respected place in death investigations. Along the way, he provides a small hive of entomological tales...Goff, a marvelously vivid and clear explainer of his science...uses plenty of true-life (or rather true-death) cases to show how it's done. The tales can be riveting.
--Atul Gawande (New York Times Book Review )

Goff takes you into the world of the forensic entomologists: the intrepid band of insect experts around the world who turn their intimate knowledge of creepy crawlers to the service of police work...A fascinating read...Great, gory stuff. Goff seems like just the sort of gifted storyteller you'd want to have a drink with--but, perhaps, not dinner.
--John Schwartz (Washington Post Book World )

[Goff] is both well-versed on the topic and adept at presenting his findings…In sometimes gory but always riveting detail, Goff tells how maggots, flies, and beetles feasting on dead bodies can help forensic entomologists. (Science News )

There are actually people who use their vast knowledge of creepy crawlers to help police and other law enforcement agencies solve crimes! A fascinating book written by M. Lee Goff will give you plenty of information--maybe more than you want to know. (Publishers Weekly )

A new breed of forensic scientists has discovered that they can actually solve crimes by studying the insect demolition crew that dismantles the human body after death. While the fauna in this book might not be everyone's cup of tea, for others of us, A Fly for the Prosecution, by M. Lee Goff, is deliciously disgusting. You'll find out that maggots aren't alone--a veritable Cosa Nostra of creepy-crawlies gather at the scene of the crime, from hide beetles to wasps to ants, each with a special role to play as the body decomposes.
--Vicki Croke (Boston Globe )

A dead body is fertile ground for distinct waves of insect populations to inhabit...The succession of insect occupation of the body gives important clues to the post-mortem interval, and acts as a forensic clock which can provide often incriminating evidence in a murder case...The right sort of person to put together this unsavory combination of criminology and natural science is M. Lee Goff...[whose] book on the subject is the first of its kind. In it, Goff describes how insect evidence helps solve crimes and convict perpetrators...Behind each story is a lesson in forensic entomology...Goff is not your everyday academic. He is bohemian, alternative, bold; a true biologist, he is observant and involved...But he is also very human.
--Nasim Mavaddat (Times Literary Supplement )

Anyone interested in forensics will want to read [A Fly for the Prosecution]. Author M. Lee Goff has pioneered the use of entomology to assist in solving crimes. [His] book is easy to read and free of technical jargon...This is a great book for everyone to read. I recommend it especially to the professional entomologist and to anyone who uses insects in the classroom or who has an interest in forensics.
--Susan Y. Nichols (Science Books & Films )

A murder mystery, set in Hawaii, starring an entomologist? Sounds too good to be true, but open A Fly for the Prosecution and ready yourself for finding out which flies land on corpses within 10 minutes of death, and how many days it takes their larvae to pupate. M. Lee Goff, one of the world's handful of forensic entomologists, helps to solve crimes by fixing--with remarkable accuracy--times of death. An entertaining tale of blowflies and blister beetles. (New Scientist )

Although forensic entomology has a certain fascination for the public, any forensic pathologist will tell you that it is much more entertaining to read about cases than to collect live arthropods from decaying human corpses. This is where Goff's book comes in--[it's a] colourful collection of forensic entomology research and cases (mostly in his own Hawaii), along with personal thoughts about how to deal with violent death and decay.
--Mark Benecke (Nature )

Goff, a pioneer in the field [of forensic entomology], says he learned to avoid jargon when testifying in court, and in his maximally informative, minimally rebarbative professional memoir, he treats readers as if they were jurors. His tales of analyzing the species found on a corpse...should prove riveting to anyone interested in insects or crimimal procedure.
--Ray Olson (Booklist )

[A] lively and informative firsthand account of forensic entomology in the United States. A consultant to the Medical Examiner of Honolulu, [Goff] is especially well qualified to write this book because of his involvement in many criminal investigations and his leadership in a profession that has come into its own within the past two decades...This book is not for the squeamish, owing to the descriptions of corpses at the scene of death, in the morgue, and in varies states of decay, [but] Goff also writes about coping with murder scenes, testifying in court, and publicizing his profession. This book should appeal to a wide audience, owing to its readability and novel subject matter.
--William H. Wiese (Library Journal )

[This] book is witty, well-written, scientifically lucid, and packed with case histories, amusing anecdotes, and practical information. Anyone with a genuine interest in the subject--whether professional or general--can hardly fail to be impressed and enlightened.
--John A. Lee (Biologist )

Despite the disturbing subject of this book, Goff…does an excellent job of clearly presenting the historical development and the scientific basis for the practice of forensic entomology. (Choice )

Dr. Goff's incisive, detailed and often humorous description of forensic entomology will be a popular addition to any library…Dr. Goff describes in great detail the use of insects in criminal investigations, liberally illustrating his information with detailed case histories. He clearly illustrates how insects are used in death investigations, to determine time of death, as well as aiding in many other facets of the investigations.
--Gail Anderson (Entomological Society of Canada )

Lee Goff leads us through his exciting and, at the same time, entertaining world that strongly depends on silent crime scene assistants: maggots, adult flies, beetles and, occasionally, a grasshopper.
--Mark Benecke (Quarterly Review of Biology ) --このテキストは、 ペーパーバック 版に関連付けられています。

M. Lee Goff is the Coordinator of the Forensic Sciences Program and Professor of Forensic Sciences at Chaminade University of Honolulu. --このテキストは、 ペーパーバック 版に関連付けられています。

ゴフ,マディソン・リー
1944年生まれ。ハワイ大学マノア校昆虫学教授。ホノルル市・郡監察医局の法医昆虫学顧問も務める。新しい犯罪捜査法である法医昆虫学の草創期から研究にたずさわるほか、FBIアカデミーで法医昆虫学の訓練セッションを担当するなど、手法の普及にもつとめてきた。アメリカ法医昆虫学評議会の設立メンバーの一人

垂水 雄二
1942年大阪生まれ。京都大学大学院理学研究科博士課程修了。科学ジャーナリスト(本データはこの書籍が刊行された当時に掲載されていたものです)