Forensic science is big these days, thanks to all those CSI-ish cop shows. That should help sales of Douglas Starr’s new book, The Killer of Little Shepherds (Knopf).

The Boston University journalism program web site offers a Q&A with Professor Starr.

The book "a nonfiction historical narrative, tells the story of the doctors who pioneered forensic science interwoven with that of a notorious serial killer who was apprehended and convicted with their techniques. The story takes place in France in the 1890s, a center of scientific achievement. In an early review, Publishers Weekly describes the book as an “eloquently” written story that “creates tension worthy of a thriller.” More than a crime story, the book documents the earliest scientific attempts to explore questions of good and evil in the human condition—questions that remain with us to this day.

Professor Starr is co-director of the Center for Science & Medical Journalism. His previous book, BLOOD: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce, tells the four-century saga of how human blood become a commodity—from the first experimental transfusions in the 17th century, through the collection and mobilization of blood in modern wars, to a tragic denouement during the AIDS epidemic.

He’ll be reading from the book on October 7, 7:00pm at Brookline Booksmith , 279 Harvard Street Brookline.