Terroist Bombing File: The Lockerbie Investigation

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

From England comes this "Crime Solvers" series for mystery addicts and fans of true crime shows. In eleven spreads, with photographs and maps, each book explores a specific case, describing the crime, the gathering of evidence, the hunt for perpetrators, and their consequent trials and sentencing. This volume details the terrifying case of Pan Am Flight 103's explosion over Scotland in 1988. All 259 passengers died; debris was scattered over parts of England and Scotland, and a fireball shooting into the air killed eleven more people. Each spread follows international crime solvers at work, with sidebars on various techniques used: in this case, straight-line searching, rebuilding the plane to detect explosives, and tracing scraps of clothing for clues to suspects. Of the two Libyan men arrested and charged (their notorious trial lasted nearly a year and cost 90 million dollars), one was convicted and one was released. One especially fascinating fact about the case is that a specific warning had been phoned to the American embassy in Helsinki two weeks before the explosion. A "Case Closed" section shows a flow chart of events, while a final chapter, "Crime Solving Up Close," provides more information on search techniques, collecting evidence of a bomb, and investigating an air crash. The series, with its no-nonsense style and abundance of color and black-and-white photos, should prove absorbing for young detectives, though parents and teachers may decide this tragic story is too disturbing for younger readers. The series consultant is a lecturer in forensic science at England's Staffordshire University. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft