POINTING FROM THE GRAVE

After a comprehensive explanation of DNA and Mendelian genetics, Samantha Wienberg recounts the life and death of British scientist Helena Greenwood. In 1985, David Paul Frediani is arrested for the home invasion and sexual assault of Greenwood. Months later, Greenwood is murdered, strangled in her own garden. No evidence links prime suspect Frediani to the murder, but he is convicted of the assault. The murder case remains open, and Greenwood’s bloody clothes and fingernail parings are stored. As advances in forensic DNA occur, the fifteen-year old murder is finally solved. Narrator Nadia May keeps the overly long tale absorbing. May handles Weinberg’s interviews with Frediani, his family, Greenwood’s family, and numerous genetic scientists with tact and taste. Her performance makes this carefully researched true-crime drama as fascinating as crime fiction. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 03]