Book Review: Pat Wiltshire’s “Traces: The memoirs of a forensic scientist and criminal investigator”

Gripping, scientifically rigorous and moving memoir of the world’s leading forensic palynologist. 

The quote on the back cover of this book says: “Nature will invariably give up her secrets to those of us who know where to look”. Pat Wiltshire, a truly ‘one of a kind’ forensic ecologist, is probably the most qualified person in the world when it comes to knowing where to look.

This book is both a (popular) science book and a personal life story. The science is a thorough introduction to multiple aspects of ecology (and notably palynology – the study of pollen and spores from plants and fungi) as well as a detailed description of the processes of forensic investigation and analysis. The personal story fully reveals how Pat become the person she is, including her motivations, regrets, and loves. The science and the memoirs are interwoven throughout the book and what links much of the narrative are the accounts of Pat’s forensic investigations that provide fascinating insights into a number of different crimes (including murders and rapes) that Pat has helped shed light on. There are also eight pages of colour photographs of Pat at most stages of her life in the middle of the book.

See the full review (on ResearchGate):
Book Review: Pat Wiltshire’s “Traces: The memoirs of a forensic scientist and criminal investigator”

Full pfd also available here: https://www.eecs.qmul.ac.uk/~norman/papers/Traces_Review.pdf

Note: There are different UK and US versions (with different titles). The US version has different grammar and no photographs, but unlike the UK version, the audio version is narrated by Pat

UK: “Traces: The memoirs of a forensic scientist and criminal investigator” Bonnier Books UK, 2019

USA: "Nature of Life and Death", Putnam House  G P Putnam's Sons 2019