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A review by liseyp
How to Solve a Murder: True Stories from a Life in Forensic Medicine by Pauline Tremain, Derek Tremain
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Thanks to the publishers, authors and NetGalley UK for the opportunity to read this memoir from two people who have worked through the development of some forms of modern forensic science.
Derek and Pauline Tremain met when they both worked at St Guy’s in forensic sciences. Derek has started as a 15-year-old technician, building his skills and interests particularly in drowning analysis of weapon/injury overlay. Pauline worked on the administrative side, but was never far from the real life guts and gore as she took dictation from pathologists on site as they explored the dead bodies (or parts of bodies in front of them.
Unfortunately this book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. In parts it’s anecdote based, taking a similar format to books like This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay (although nowhere near as darkly funny or shocking as Adam’s book). However, these anecdotes are largely surface level, lacking the depth to be really engaging.
The bits that really got my attention were Derek’s chapters on developing his expertise in drowning analysis. The detail of the difference between a wet and a dry drowning and how to analyse samples from the body to confirm a wet drowning were detailed enough to be interesting without throwing too many technical terms at a lay reader to be off putting. Likewise his stories of working in the emerging fields of weapon/injury overlay and body mapping were fascinating. A book focussed on this rather than a mishmash of anecdotes would have made this a much stronger recommendation. Still there’s much in here to appeal to anyone intrigued by the world of forensics and who wants an easily accessible laypersons read into how the real world labs differ from the glamour of the TV and movie versions.
Derek and Pauline Tremain met when they both worked at St Guy’s in forensic sciences. Derek has started as a 15-year-old technician, building his skills and interests particularly in drowning analysis of weapon/injury overlay. Pauline worked on the administrative side, but was never far from the real life guts and gore as she took dictation from pathologists on site as they explored the dead bodies (or parts of bodies in front of them.
Unfortunately this book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. In parts it’s anecdote based, taking a similar format to books like This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay (although nowhere near as darkly funny or shocking as Adam’s book). However, these anecdotes are largely surface level, lacking the depth to be really engaging.
The bits that really got my attention were Derek’s chapters on developing his expertise in drowning analysis. The detail of the difference between a wet and a dry drowning and how to analyse samples from the body to confirm a wet drowning were detailed enough to be interesting without throwing too many technical terms at a lay reader to be off putting. Likewise his stories of working in the emerging fields of weapon/injury overlay and body mapping were fascinating. A book focussed on this rather than a mishmash of anecdotes would have made this a much stronger recommendation. Still there’s much in here to appeal to anyone intrigued by the world of forensics and who wants an easily accessible laypersons read into how the real world labs differ from the glamour of the TV and movie versions.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Suicide, Gun violence, and Gore