An Expert Witness

From Britain's best-known forensic scientist, a book that explains what forensic science is, how it evolved and, through a series of landmark cases, the shocking truth about where it is headed.

The relationship between law enforcement, science and the legal system is a complicated one. When it works well, it makes compelling television. Equally, when it does not work well, it makes for compelling and explosive news headlines.

In The Life and Death of Forensic Science, pioneering forensic scientist, anatomist and forensic anthropologist Sue Black puts the relationship between these different institutions, and how they are all impacted by the role of the expert witness, under the microscope.

Through shocking landmark cases that expose both the strengths and weaknesses of the interconnection between the three key players in this act - the investigator, the scientist and the lawyer - she probes: In which cases did we get it right? In which did we get it wrong? And if we had done it differently, might the pendulum of justice have swung another way?

Incisive and compelling, following the impact of advances in technology to changes in funding and the effect of our gladiatorial system, Professor Dame Sue Black tracks the journey of this most intriguing of sciences through to its inevitable conclusion - and the toll it may take not only on experts but ultimately how justice plays out.