Book review: 'The Girl With the Crooked Nose: A Tale of Murder, Obsession and Forensic Artistry'

Title: "The Girl With the Crooked Nose: A Tale of Murder, Obsession and Forensic Artistry"

Author: by Ted Botha

Publisher: Random House

Pages: 265

Price: $25

In a nutshell: Frank Bender is a gifted, self-taught artist who brings back the dead through a bizarre talent for sculpting busts out of skulls, creating the missing face.

His work has been the key to solving at least nine murders. In 2003, Mexican authorities asked him to observe decomposing bodies and help solve the most challenging case of all, the so-called feminicidios, the tragic murders of 400 young women of Juarez.

He named one of the busts "The Girl With the Crooked Nose." Because Bender and his wife, Jan, kept meticulous records of their work, Ted Botha was able to digest that material and interview the Benders at length to produce this fascinating study.