Today I'm taking the time to interview one of the authors who will be attending the Morecambe & Vice Crime Writing Festival, Sue Black, the author of All That Remains: A Life in Death.
1: What led you to the career that you are in now?
I studied human anatomy at university and it was a natural step from my research into identification from the skeleton into forensic anthropology.
2: Through your work you have obviously seen some horrific things. How do you shut off from your work?
I try to keep a sterile corridor between work and home. I have a mental picture of a clinical space in my head where all my work is done and when I am finished at the end of the day, I leave the space and mentally shut and lock the door.
3: What sort of crime books and authors did you enjoy reading when growing up?
I have never been a crime reader I am afraid. I like historical novels and the more detailed they are the better. So books like the Quincunx by Charles Palliser or classics such as the Lord of the Rings or the tomes by Ken Follett, are my kind of thing.
4: What is your typical working day like?
It is unpredictable. I may be sitting in university meetings, I might be meeting with partners on exciting new developments, I might be in a mortuary or at a crime scene, I may be writing reports on child sexual abuse cases, I may be at a book festival but it is never boring and it is never empty.
5: Do you have any advice for anyone interested in becoming a forensic anthropologist?
You have to be a scientist first. The case work is all well and good and comes across as the ‘exciting’ stuff but the real value to justice comes from curiosity driven research where science can be best placed to work to serve truth.
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| Amazon UK |
Shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger for Non-fiction 2019, this incredible memoir from the Sunday Times Bestseller. Professor Sue Black breathes new life into the subject of death.
Sue Black confronts death every day. As a Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, she focuses on mortal remains in her lab, at burial sites, at scenes of violence, murder and criminal dismemberment, and when investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident or natural disaster. In All That Remains she reveals the many faces of death she has come to know, using key cases to explore how forensic science has developed, and examining what her life and work has taught her.
Do we expect a book about death to be sad? Macabre? Sue's book is neither. There is tragedy, but there is also humour in stories as gripping as the best crime novel.
Part memoir, part science, part meditation on death, her book is compassionate, surprisingly funny, and it will make you think about death in a new light.
About the author
Professor Dame Sue Black is one of the world’s leading anatomists and forensic anthropologists. Her expertise has been crucial to many high-profile criminal cases, and in 1999 she was the lead anthropologist for the British Forensic Team’s work in the war crimes investigations in Kosovo. She was one of the first forensic scientists to travel to Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 to provide assistance in identifying the dead.
Sue is a familiar face in the media where documentaries have been filmed about her work and she led the highly successful BBC 2 series - History Cold Case. In 2015 she was interviewed on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs and has also been a guest on BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific. Most recently she stunned over 300,000 Outlander followers where she announced that Lord Lovat, Simon Fraser, was not residing in a coffin built for him at the Wardlaw Mausoleum.
She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to forensic anthropology.
To find out about some of the other authors appearing at this festival, please do follow along with this tour
Sat 28th & Sun 29th Sept 2019
The Midland Hotel, Morecambe
If you are free next weekend and fancy travelling to Morecambe, then take a look at the details of this festival on their website. There is an impressive line up of authors attending, and tickets are still on sake.
And check out this programme of events for the weekend, Looks like there are some really appealing things happening, for any crime fan.
Thanks so much for being on the blog tour today Rachel x
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