JAKE SCHMUCKER AND BUBBA THE TALKING DOG

About the Book

Despite it’s title, this is not a children’s’ book. Actually, it’s a lighthearted romp through murder, spurned lovers, slimy lawyers, oh, and a technical quirk that allows a very smart pooch to “talk.” OK, those scenes are just a stage for our hero (Jake) to show off his considerable forensic chops. Jake is not Columbo, bumping into solutions, but he is unassuming and perhaps a bit tentative; always pleased to accept help from those around him, even canines. It’s great fun to read a work of fiction by an author who has considerable gravitas in the field of criminalistics. Morris Grodsky was a long-time CAC member and the first criminalist in San Mateo, CA. His real-life resume is packed with decades of teaching forensic science to Latin American governmentsThrough all of those years he never lost his sense of humor, and here he mixes equal portions of tongue-incheek characterizations and actual scientific procedures. The result is a positively Thurber-esque story with unforgettable scenes of improbability. The book is generously illustrated by an acclaimed Colombian caricaturist, Jarape, whose drawings also call James Thurber to mind with their whimsy.

This book is not for the student who only has room on his or her shelf for reference works, but for the criminalist who has daydreamed about being the only forensic scientist on a cruise ship solving a murder with nothing more than his or her own wits.


WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

Forensic Bookshelf

And For Dessert . . .

Review by John Houde

“Jake Schmucker and Bubba the Talking Dog”

By Morris Grodsky

Illustrations by Jarape

Xlibris, Inc.

169pp, ISBN1-4257-2743-3... Price.....

Fiction is not a dream, nor is it guesswork. It is imagining based on facts, and the facts must be accurate or the work of imagining will not stand up.

—Margaret Culkin Banning