Just Finished Reading: Forensics – The Anatomy of Crime by Val McDermid (FP: 2014) [295pp] 

There’re two main reasons I enjoy reading Crime novels – trying to figure out ‘Who Dunnit’ (hopefully before all in revealed) and the enjoyment of the process of finding out the ‘How Dunnit’ and maybe even the ‘Why Dunnit’ using the science of forensics. I always enjoy the detective or police officer piecing together clues from blood, hair and other items left at the scene – as Morse often said in the TV series (at least I *think* he said it) the murderer always takes something with him and always leaves something behind. More pithily “every contact leaves a trace”. 

As with all science based/related books this has slightly aged since its publication around 10 years ago. However, this is only really noticeable in the chapters on DNA evidence and the still interesting, if notably aged, section on digital forensics. Despite this inevitable result of waiting 10 years to finally read this (typical of me I’m afraid!) I still managed to learn (or re-learn) a great deal – over and above what I’d already managed to glean from movies and TV shows, which to be honest are known more for their exaggerated capabilities than their grasp of forensic reality (much to the annoyance of REAL cops). 

The flow of the book is from crime scene to courtroom starting with the basics and working through the various elements in the forensic toolkit. There is a scattering of US and other countries crimes used to illustrate various points and breakthroughs in forensic science, but this book largely focuses on crimes, techniques and legal angles particular to the UK (with Scottish law being notably different from English law at times).  

The first dive into the science looks at investigations of fire – either just straight arson or fire used in an attempt to cover up other crimes – LOTS of interesting stuff there. I did find it somewhat surprising at the kind of things survive a fire (including human remains) as well as the random nature of fire itself (it doesn’t always go where the criminal wants it to go). There’s an interesting section on bugs and how they help to determine time of death (NEVER as clear cut as TV shows would have you believe!) but I was largely aware of that from other reading. Likewise, the history of fingerprinting (it's amazing what can produce prints these days!) was a nice refresher but didn’t push my knowledge too much further. The section on Toxicology was fascinating especially how the scientists slowly developed tests for various toxic substances – sadly involving the deaths of LOTS of animals. I was particularly interested in the cosmetic use of radium in face powder and lipstick! Radium was considered a boon to health and was actually sold as a DRINK. I can’t help but wonder how many of its users rather oddly developed various forms of cancer...! 

Written by a best-selling crime novelist this was a quality look behind the scenes of her books. I particularly liked the scattering of interviews with the real-life forensic scientists who discussed their work including breakthroughs and the stress of cross-examination in court. Being the subject it is, there’s a fair amount of yuck factor throughout although no doubt much toned down from the harsh reality of death and destruction – so be BEWARE. But if you have a reasonably robust stomach and have an interest in the darker side of humanity, I think you’ll find this as interesting and informative as I did. Recommended.