When the Dogs Don't Bark: A Forensic Scientist's Search for the Truth by Professor Angela Ga
The Blurb
By the time I arrived at the wood yard in Huddersfield on a bitterly cold night in February 1978, the body of the 18-year-old victim had already been taken to the mortuary.
Never before has criminal justice rested so heavily on scientific evidence. With ever-more sophisticated and powerful techniques at their disposal, forensic scientists have an unprecedented ability to help solve even the most complex cases.
Angela Gallop has been a forensic scientist for over 40 years. After joining the Forensic Science Service, the first crime scene she attended was for a case involving the Yorkshire Ripper. As well as working on a wide range of cases in many countries around the world, she is now the most sought-after forensic scientist in the UK, where she has helped solve numerous high-profile cases, including the investigation that finally absolved the Cardiff Three the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path murders, and the killings of Stephen Lawrence, Damilola Taylor, Rachel Nickell and Roberto Calvi.
From the crime scene to the courtroom, When the Dogs Don't Bark is the remarkable story of a life spent searching for the truth.
'Fascinating' The Sun
'a casebook that reads like The Encyclopedia Of Murder' Daily Express
'One of the profession's leading lights' Woman & Home
The compelling memoir from the UK's most eminent forensic scientist and some of the most fascinating criminal investigations she has worked on.
You learnt about forensic pathology with Dr Richard Shepherd in Unnatural Causes and about anthropology with Professor Sue Black in All That Remains. Now it's time to learn about the scene of the crime. . .
About Angela Gallop
Angela Mary Cecilia Gallop CBE is a forensic scientist. She worked on the Stephen Lawrence murder case. She is chief executive of Axiom International. She was president of the Forensic Science Society. She sits on the Independent Police Commission. She was appointed CBE in the 2015 Birthday Honours.
My Review
As an avid reader of the crime fiction genre, I found this book to have been a fascinating insight into the painstaking work of the forensic scientists, which for me separated fact from fiction, which all too often simplifies their work for a quick result to add to the drama. Professor Angela Gallop, shares her forty-five years experience, during which time she has worked on some of the most notorious and challenging cases including the deaths of some of the Yorkshire Ripper victims, Stephen Lawrence, Damilola Taylor, Rachel Nickell, Robert Calvi, and many others. She is firm of the opinion, that every crime scene has forensic evidence, but the challenge is in finding it without contaminating it, knowing how to extract the evidence, such as blood, DNA, fibres, glass, pollen, etc., applying findings to context and reporting it in court. All of which is balanced against the restraints of police budgets, which is probably the main reason some crimes are unsolved or don't even get to court due to insufficient evidence, or even worse leads to a miscarriage of justice. The book is written in layman's terms which were easy for me to understand and I couldn't put it down.​
