Dead Men Talk

The telltale fingerprint. The DNA traced from a hair. Autopsies to establish cause and time of death. Ballistics to discover what gun was used. Tyre prints, dentals records, body fluids, maggots . . . It’s all the stuff of the modern police drama, of CSI, of twenty-first-century TV private eyes. But forensics is a very real and vital part of solving any crime. And with modern technologies, the science of forensics has never been more relevant. 

Sandra Mara delves into the fascinating world of the forensics investigator. She describes how the Garda’s Forensic Science Laboratory has cracked some of Ireland’s most notorious crimes, and she also looks at the forensics behind some of the most notorious crimes in the UK and US, such as cases like the Yorkshire Ripper and Harold “Dr Death” Shipman. She writes in – literally – forensic detail about the clues that have led to the high-profile arrests of murderers and criminals such as Gerald Barry, Sharon Collins and the Mulhall sisters. 

Sandra also speaks to some of the world’s top experts on forensic science to explore the next generation of technologies and techniques. From retina scanning to ballistics, toxicology to handwriting analysis, pathology to criminal profiling, the world of Dead Men Talk will draw you in and leave you breathless.