Forensics cover art

Forensics

The Anatomy of Crime

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Forensics

By: Val McDermid
Narrated by: Sarah Barron
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About this listen

The dead talk. To the right listener, they tell us all about themselves: how they lived, how they died--and who killed them.

Val McDermid uncovers the secrets of forensic medicine with groundbreaking research and her own experience. Along the way you’ll wonder at how maggots collected from a corpse can help determine time of death and how a DNA trace a millionth the size of a grain of salt can be used to convict a killer.

©2014 Val McDermid (P)2014 W.F. Howes Ltd Crime

Critic Reviews

"McDermid has the ruthless psychological scalpel that forms part of the equipment of all good novelists, whatever their genre. And, fortunately for us, she knows just how to use it." ( Guardian)
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Loved McDermid’s writing and the stories she presented, but the narrator was a bit hit and miss. Liked her British accents, and her narration voice itself was good, but her USA and Canadian accents were absolutely horrendous. They made me cringe every time. I’d listen to it over a few times probably if it wasn’t for the bad accents.

Love the content, narration okay...

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What made the experience of listening to Forensics the most enjoyable?

Using real stories to Illustrate forensic practices made it not only relevant but more meaningful.

What did you like best about this story?

The analysis of the stories

Crime Ahoy!

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found this very interesting to learn about the way forensic science has advance over the years I did enjoy learning how science works

different

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Delving into the different forms of forensic science and from many angles, real life scenarios presented with the structure it provided, was interesting.
It could have been a bit more engaging if presenter didn't sound so "monotone".
Overall, I really enjoyed it.

Informative

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this book is a perfect cross-section of forensics and all the ways it has worked over the years to support (or undermine) the pursuit of those who commit crimes by justice.

McDermid works her way through forensics from its earliest application to today's more advanced techniques, presenting the concepts in easy-to-understand bite-size pieces. The way that she builds on those concepts to discuss some pretty advanced processes and decisions is a masterstroke - I never felt left behind or like I was missing out on the information I needed to understand the content.

I particularly enjoyed the cross-section of early forensics and the swinging pendulum in public opinion and in the courtroom between acceptance of the some questionable concepts as irrefutable evidence and complete disregard for solid scientific foundation.

The book was a delight to listen to while travelling or going about my day; the concepts are explained so well and in detail. One word of warning however: I did have one or two occasions where I decided it may be best to stop eating for a few minutes while some of the more distasteful topics were discussed, but it never descended into full-blown gross-out mode.

a timeline of forensic advancement

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Narrator for some reason puts on accents if the person is from another country. It's terrible. You're a narrator, not an actor. Read the book in your own voice and accent. The accents add nothing the book. If you are talking about an FBI agent, we know he'll be American. If you're talking about an event in Ireland, we will assume the crime was investigated by the Irish. Ruins the book which is otherwise ok.

Don't.Do.Accents!

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well researched. interesting. fascinating. excellent structure. good narration. learnt new facts. a very good book

Fascinating. brilliant

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This book is amazing. It’s a must listen. The stories are so interesting and informative and the narration sucks you in, its like you’re listening to the expert that is telling their story. Love that the narrator is Scottish like the author and love the accents of the different characters.

Outstanding performance, great book

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the accents used are extremely annoying and not necessary to this production at all. t

great book normal accent fine

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great book, well written which should be expected by such an accomplished author. The narration was a wee bit distracting. The accents!!!!

twas good

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