Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month for April 2019
Sue Black confronts death every day. As 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 what her 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.
Our own death will remain a great unknown. But as an expert witness from the final frontier,Sue Black is the wisest,most reassuring,most compelling of guides.
Publisher: Transworld Publishers LtdISBN: 9781784162818Number of pages: 368Weight: 256 gDimensions: 198 x 129 x 21 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'All That Remains provides a fascinating look at death - its causes,our attitudes toward it,the forensic scientist's way of analyzing it. A unique and thoroughly engaging book'- Kathy Reichs
'All That Remains feels like every episode of Silent Witness,pre-fictionalized. Except,you know,really good.'- Helen Rumbelow,The Times
'One might expect (this book) to be a grim read but it absolutely isn't. I found it invigorating!'- Andrew Marr
'Dame Sue Black writes about life and death with great tenderness but no nonsense,with impeccable science lucidly explained,and with moral depths humanely navigated,so that we can all feel better about the path we must all inevitably follow. I am genuinely glad I read this book.'- Lee Child
'An engrossing memoir...an affecting mix of the personal and professional.'- Erica Wagner,Financial Times
'This fascinating look by a world-leading forensic scientist at what the dead can tell us is a real eye-opener... part meditation,part popular science and part memoir...the book offers a close-up and startlingly clear view of a subject that makes most of us look away.'- James McConnachie,Sunday Times
'Heartening and anything but morbid... Leaves you thinking about what kind of human qualities you value,what kinds of people you actually want to be with.'- Rowan Williams,New Statesman
'Poignant and thoughtprovoking... it is the book's humanity which will connect with readers.'- Scottish Daily Mail
'Most of us are terrified of death,but Sue Black shows us that death is in fact a wondrous process,intimately tied with life itself. Written with warmth and humanity,All That Remains reveals her life among the dead,who can surely count her as their best friend.'- Tess Gerritsen
'Many crime readers delight in the disgusting,the dark and the dangerous. Black's reverence for human remains and her fearless intimacy with death in its many guises may well be a necessary antidote.'- Literary Review
'Compelling,brave and extremely accessible.. A must for anyone who thinks about the basics of living and dying. And there are jokes as well.'- Rachel Joyce
'Sue Black has been intimately involved with the aftermath of death for her whole professional career and in her book she weaves in details of her amazing and active life with her analysis of death in a narrative that is personal,touching,occasionally tragic but also instilled with her wonderful sense of humour.'- Dr Richard Shepherd,Consultant Forensic Pathologist
'This fascinating look by a world-leading forensic scientist at what the dead can tell us is a real eye-opener... part meditation,part popular science and part memoir...the book offers a close-up and startlingly clear view of a subject that makes most of us look away.'- Sunday Times
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