Priceless Painting Pinched!

A suspicious new art teacher starts at Zac and Hannah’s school, just as the newspaper headlines announce that a famous painting has been stolen. But is this more than just a coincidence?

An exciting new series for 8-12 year olds that uses real forensics to solve fictional mysteries. An engrossing mystery is the vehicle for the presentation of the facts and actual science – along with diagrams, charts and photos – relevant to each case.

Two child detectives (11-year-old Zac and Hannah) lead the reader through the clues and help them piece together all the forensic science methods used, such as DNA, fingerprint plotting, ultraviolet light trails, ballistic identification, forensic anthropology (bones!), forensic phonetics (identifying criminals by their accents and words), and all the grisly stuff, such blood trails.

Each chapter will present a new piece of the mystery and accompanying forensic clues, all of which will be explained in more detail in breakout boxes.

There will also be activities to do at home or at school, such as making your own footprint cast, analysing hand writing, checking the impressions on note pads to discover the details of secret assignations, or forging your own historical documents by brewing paper in black tea.