National Network for Equitable Library Service

The intriguing criminal cases of pioneer forensics expert John Vance, "Canada's Sherlock Holmes." Heralded internationally as "Canada's Sherlock Holmes," John F.C.B. Vance (1884-1964) was Vancouver's, and British Columbia's, first forensic investigator. Despite his innocuous demeanour, during his forty-two-year career Vance helped police detectives to determine murder from suicide as well as solve hit-and-runs, safe-crackings, and some of the most sensational murder cases of the twentieth century. As the City Analyst, first for Vancouver (beginning in 1907) and then for the Province and later the Dominion, Vance was constantly called upon to use his skills in serology, toxicology, firearms, arson, trace evidence, document analysis, and autopsy to solve crime. His skills and analytic abilities were so effective that in 1934 there were seven attempts on his life, and for a time, he and his family were under constant police guard from criminals afraid to go up against him in court. Vance was on the forefront of forensics, often inventing his own equipment when none was available. In the 1930s he received worldwide press coverage for inventing an ultra-violet ray machine used to detect counterfeit money, drugs, and bodily fluids, and also spent years developing "the Robot Nose," a mechanical bloodhound that traced criminals by their scent. Blood, Sweat, and Fear delves into many of Vance's most notorious cases, his groundbreaking forensic techniques, and his personal struggle against his growing list of enemies: a must-read for true crime and history buffs alike.