John Olsson

Tell kids not to worry. sorting my life out. be in touch to get some things. Instead of being a simple sms message, this text turned out to be crucial and chilling evidence in convicting the deceptive killer of a mother of two. Sent from her phone, after her death, tell tale signs announce themselves to a forensic linguist. Rarely is a crime committed without there being some evidence in the form of language. Wordcrime features a series of chapters where gripping cases are described - involving murder, sexual assault, hate mail, suspicious death, code deciphering, arson and even genocide. Olsson describes the evidence he gave in each one. In approachable and clear prose, he details how forensic linguistics helps the law beat the criminals. This is fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crime, in modern, cutting-edge criminology and also where the study of language meets the law.

Solving Crime Through Forensic Linguistics

Wordcrime

Murders, cover-ups, infidelities, financial and political skulduggery: Dr. John Olsson has seen it all in his decades as one of the world's top forensic linguists specialising in authorship. Working on cases that range from accusations of genocide to domestic disputes gone bad to allegations of university plagiarism, Olsson turns the same tools to the task – the power, depth and precision of forensic linguistics. Grammatical curiosities, lexical quirks, typographic stylings and patterns of use can all give away even the most hard-bitten and careful of criminals. And Olsson doesn't stop there. From the giveaway compound nouns of heavy-handed police statements to the startling similarities displayed in what should be individual office accounts, officials in high places are given a run for their money too. Wordcrime is easy to commit – and hard to escape. More Wordcrime features a series of gripping cases involving murder, sexual assault, hate mail, suspicious death and criminal damage. In approachable and clear prose, Dr Olsson details how forensic linguistics helps the law beat criminals, and how even those in power can be held to account. This is fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crime, in modern, cutting-edge criminology and also where the study of language meets the law.

Solving Crime With Linguistics

More Wordcrime

June Luchjenbroers

Now in its third edition, John Olsson's practical introduction to forensic linguistics is required reading for students of language and the law. This third edition has been revised, expanded and updated throughout, and includes new chapters on identifying forensic texts and important interactional aspects of the language used in legal contexts. There is also a substantial chapter on forensic phonetics by Harry Hollien, a world renowned forensic phonetician. The book includes an appendix of forensic texts for student study, and even more exercises and suggestions for further reading. This practical introduction to forensic linguistics is based on Olsson's extensive experience as a practising forensic linguist and as lecturer on dozens of courses worldwide. Olsson's work has been successfully combined with Luchjenbroers' research into the language used to and by criminals, witnesses and legal professionals, to become essential reading for students, and researchers encountering this branch of applied linguistics for the first time.

Forensic Linguistics

Fascinating reading for anyone interested in true crime, modern, cutting-edge criminology and also where language meets the law. Now in paperback!

John Olsson

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