The intriguing criminal cases of pioneer forensics expert John Vance, "Canada's Sherlock Holmes." During his forty-two-year-career he helped detectives in Vancouver, Victoria, and throughout BC solve hit-and-runs, safe-crackings, and some of the most sensational murder cases of the 20th century. Vance was constantly called to crime scenes and to testify in court because of his skills in serology, toxicology, and autopsy. When Vance was first called to a crime scene in 1914, forensics was in its infancy. Vancouver was the first police department in Canada to have a scientist on staff and one of the few police departments in North America to use forensics in investigations. Vance's knowledge of poisons helped solved a sensational death case, while his work in blood analysis allowed him to distinguish human from animal bloodand thereby send a murderer to the gallows. His work in firearms examination was leading-edge, and Vance was able to bring his expertise in trace evidence and explosives to solve dozens of robberies, earning him front-page headlines. Vance's skills and analytic abilities were so effective that in 1934 there were seven attempts on his life, and for a time, he and his family were under constant police guard from criminals afraid to go up against him in court.

Blood, Sweat, and Fear delves into some of the most notorious cases in BC's history while giving a sense of what life was like in Vancouver during the first half of the century. At the same time, it reveals the untold story of the personal struggle of John F.C.B. Vance, a scientist who never lost his moral compass in the midst of corruption that reached to the top of the police force and to City Hall.