During my teaching career when I taught Forensic Science, and now in my lecture series, I have dealt with and do treat topics in forensic science. Forensic science is any branch of science or area of expertise in that branch that can be used to analyze evidence for presentation in court cases, civil or criminal.

There were a few topics that really caught my interest, and became the inspiration for some of the plots in my Annie Tillery Mysteries. I’d like to share with you in this, my Forensic Trivia blogs, some facts and ideas that I think may interest you.

What is the significance of art crime?

Art crime including theft, destruction and forgeries account for about six billion dollars worth of loss and damages, not to mention the loss of irreplaceable archaeological sites and artifacts by terrorist groups in the Mid-East. Art pieces are stolen from museums, dealers and private collections to be used as collateral, funding drug trafficking, illegal arms trafficking and terrorism.

Art crime is the fourth largest transnational crime, made all the more possible in modern times by the Internet, ease of shipping, open borders and relaxed customs regulations. That is not to say that art crime is new. It has been going on since art was valued. It is estimated that about 20% of what is in museums and collections are fakes.


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