Endeavour bags untold story of forensics pioneer Lee

Octopus imprint Endeavour has bagged the untold story of forensics pioneer Frances Glessner Lee by investigator Bruce Goldfarb.

Publishing director Claudia Connal acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Laura West at David Higham Associates on behalf of Tamar Rydzinski, before Rydzinski left the Laura Dail Literary Agency for Context Literary Agency. 18 Tiny Deaths: The Untold Story of Frances Glessner Lee and the Invention of Modern Forensics will be published in April 2020.

The synopsis explains: “Frances Glessner Lee (1878‐1962), born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family, was never meant to have a career, let alone one steeped in death and depravity. Yet she became the mother of modern forensics and was instrumental in elevating homicide investigation to a scientific discipline. Her mission in life was to train detectives to ‘convict the guilty, clear the innocent and find the truth in a nutshell’.

Goldfarb, executive assistant to the chief medical examiner for the state of Maryland and a trained forensic investigator, said: “I'm pleased that Endeavor is publishing 18 Tiny Deaths. Frances Glessner Lee influenced forensic science and popular culture in America and around the world. It's very exciting to partner with Endeavor to bring this book about a singularly remarkable woman to readers in the UK and the Commonwealth.”

Connal added: “We are thrilled to be publishing 18 Tiny Deaths. Frances Glessner Lee was a remarkable woman who bucked the expectations of the time to make an incredible contribution. She believed in justice for all and made that mission her life’s work. As curator of the Nutshells, Bruce is the perfect person to tell her story.”