Shop Books – Essential Forensic Investigator Resources

Wigmore on Carbon Monoxide offers a compelling and thorough exploration of carbon monoxide’s historical, scientific, and legal significance—humanity’s oldest and stealthiest killer. This colorless, scentless, and undetectable gas has been fatal since the dawn of fire, with unexplained deaths historically attributed to supernatural causes before the science of ventilation and combustion was understood.

Even today, carbon monoxide remains a pervasive threat, lurking in common household sources like gas appliances, water heaters, charcoal grills, portable heaters, diesel equipment, and even indoor ice-resurfacing machines. In this meticulously researched work, forensic toxicologist James G. Wigmore synthesizes insights from over 600 scientific studies to demystify CO’s dangers in a concise, reader-friendly format.

Tailored for legal, medical, and investigative professionals—including attorneys, judiciary members, coroners, forensic specialists, and students—Wigmore on Carbon Monoxide stands as the definitive guide for cases involving unexplained fatalities or medicolegal inquiries related to this lethal gas.

These publications provide concrete assistance with blood alcohol calculations, helping investigators determine BAC at critical times, assess impairment levels, and establish potential overserving liability. The sections on THC analysis offer crucial guidance on detection windows, impairment indicators, and the compounded effects of alcohol and cannabis use together.

For carbon monoxide death investigations, the resources help investigators identify common exposure sources that might otherwise be overlooked. They provide frameworks for interpreting toxicology reports and presenting findings effectively in legal contexts, whether in courtrooms or coroner’s inquests.

For forensic investigators working with toxic substances, these publications offer critical scientific and legal insights. They provide rigorously validated methods for substance analysis that stand up to courtroom scrutiny, along with clear explanations of complex toxicological processes. The historical context included helps investigators understand how substance effects have been interpreted over time, while the medicolegal frameworks offer practical guidance for interpreting findings in legal contexts.

With nearly three decades of experience at Toronto’s Centre of Forensic Sciences, Jim Wigmore brings unparalleled expertise to these publications. His extensive courtroom experience includes testimony in over 700 criminal cases across Canada, giving him unique insight into what forensic investigators need from reference materials. His academic contributions include more than 70 published scientific articles in forensic toxicology, recognition with the prestigious Derome Award, and service on Health Canada’s expert panel for cannabis information.

Wigmore’s specialized focus on alcohol and THC – the substances most frequently encountered in forensic cases – makes these resources particularly valuable. The books draw directly from his experience with DUI investigations, workplace impairment cases, suspicious death inquiries, and civil litigation involving substance use.