Boston's Victorian Murder that Launched Forensic Science and Stunned the World

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This January, Smithsonian/HarperCollins will publish "The Gentleman in the Purple Waistcoat," a unique, in-depth examination of the infamous 1849/1850 Webster-Parkman Murder Case.

It is the true story of the dismemberment of Doctor George Parkman, the subsequent landmark criminal trial, and the execution of an accused Harvard Medical College professor.

In two years of hard digging, authors James and Lois Cowan poured through archives and evidence; taking special note, as medical experts themselves, of the trial's historic, first-ever presentation of forensic science in a US courtroom.

The result is a nonfiction book that reads like the best whodunit ... and introduces a fresh theory of the crime.

Much more information, author profiles and a tantalizing taste, are available at: Who Killed Parkman.