Overview

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.

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9781350029644

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This is textual analysis as astute psychology, wise, rational and humane. Olsson's account of his work makes for sometimes grim but compelling reading. Certainly a must-read for any crime writer looking for ideas. * The Sunday Times * If those working in linguistics are ever worried about student shortages, they might want to encourage potential applicants to take a look at John Olsson's intriguing book ... [It] features a series of compelling and sometimes horrifying cases. * Times Higher Education *

An excellent introduction to the field for the beginner or casual reader. * LINGUIST List * This is textual analysis as astute psychology, wise, rational and humane. Olsson's account of his work makes for sometimes grim but compelling reading. Certainly a must-read for any crime writer looking for ideas. * The Sunday Times * If those working in linguistics are ever worried about student shortages, they might want to encourage potential applicants to take a look at John Olsson's intriguing book ... [It] features a series of compelling and sometimes horrifying cases. * Times Higher Education *

This is textual analysis as astute psychology, wise, rational and humane. Olsson's account of his work makes for sometimes grim but compelling reading. Certainly a must-read for any crime writer looking for ideas. * The Sunday Times *

Author Information

John Olsson has operated a world-renowned forensic linguistics consultancy and training service at www.thetext.co.uk since 1996. He is an Adjunct Professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University, USA, where he teaches forensic linguistics online. He is also Visiting Professor of Forensic Linguistics at the International University of Novi Pazar in Serbia where he runs an annual summer school in Forensic Linguistics, and is a board member of the Language and Law Centre at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, where he is also a visiting Professor. He is the author of Forensic Linguistics: An Introduction (3e, 2013) and Wordcrime (2009),

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