Carla Valentine

Discover the science of forensics through Agatha Christie's novels

Agatha Christie is the bestselling novelist of all time, and nearly every story she ever wrote involves one―or, more commonly, several―dead bodies. And the cause of death, the motives behind violent crimes, the clues that inevitably are left behind, and the people who put the pieces together to solve the mystery invite the reader to analyze the evidence and race to find the answer before the detective does. Nearly every step of the way, Christie outlines the nuts and bolts of early 20th-century crime detection, relying on physical evidence to tell the real story behind the facades humans erect to escape detection.

Christie wouldn't have talked of "forensics" as it is understood today―most of her work predates the modern developments of forensics science―but in each tale she harnesses the power of human observation, ingenuity, and scientific developments of the era. A fascinating, science-based deep dive, The Science of Murder examines the use of fingerprints, firearms, handwriting, blood spatter analysis, toxicology, and more in Christie's beloved works.

The Forensics of Agatha Christie

The Science of Murder

A day in the life of Carla Valentine - curator, pathology technician and 'death professional' - is not your average day. She spent ten years training and working as an Anatomical Pathology Technologist: where the mortuary slab was her desk, and that day's corpses her task list. Past Mortems tells Carla's stories of those years, as well as investigating the body alongside our attitudes towards death - shedding light on what the living can learn from dead and the toll the work can take on the living souls who carry it out. Fascinating and insightful, Past Mortems reveals the truth about what happens when the mortuary doors swing shut or the lid of the coffin closes . . .

Life and death behind mortuary doors

Past Mortems

While other children were devouring the works of Enid Blyton and Beatrix Potter, Carla Valentine was poring through the pages of Agatha Christie novels - and that early fascination lead to her job as a pathology technician working in mortuaries and trained in forensics. Nearly every Agatha Christie story involves one - or more commonly several - dead bodies, and for a young Carla, a curious child already fascinated with biology, these stories and these bodies were perfect puzzles. Of course Agatha herself didn't talk of 'forensics' which, in the way we use it now, but each tale she tells twists and turns with her expert weave of human observation, ingenuity and genuine science of the era. Through the medium of the 'whodunnit', Agatha Christie was a pioneer of forensic science, and in Murder Isn't Easy Carla illuminates all of the knowledge of one of our most beloved authors.

Murder Isn't Easy

Carla Valentine works with the dead. After studying forensics, she assisted pathologists with post-mortems for years before becoming the curator of the world’s most famous pathology museum. When it comes to death, she truly is an expert, and in this book she shares that expertise. Using the most common post-mortem process as the backbone of the narrative, The Chick and the Dead takes the reader through the process of an autopsy while also describing the history and changing cultures of our relationship with the dead. The book is full of vivid insight into what happens to our bodies in the end. Each chapter considers an aspect of an autopsy alongside an aspect of Carla’s own life and work and touches on some of the more controversial aspects of our feelings towards death, including the relationship between sex and death and our attitudes toward human tissue collection. Starting with the first cut, we move from external examination into the body itself, discovering more about the heart, stomach and brain, and into dismembered and reconstructed bodies, at each stage taking a colorful detour into the question of what these things can teach us about the living. Join Carla on the journey from microscope-requesting nine-year-old to pathology educator and death engager at a Victorian museum (a journey made via around 5,000 autopsies) as she tells the story of exactly what it’s like to live a life immersed in death.

Life and Death Behind Mortuary Doors

The Chick and the Dead

3 Books Collection Set

Agatha Christie to jedna z najpopularniejszych autorek kryminałów na świecie. Okazuje się, że była również ekspertem kryminalistyki. W Morderstwo nie jest takie proste technik patologii Carla Valentine odsłania rozległą wiedzę Agathy Christie, kreując ją niejako na pionierkę kryminalistyki. Christie, tworząc legendarne dziś zagadki kryminalne, korzystała z najnowszych w tamtych czasach technik kryminalistycznych: od balistyki przez toksykologię po analizę odcisków palców, interpretację odcisków stóp lub śladów opon, analizę plam krwi i na etapie autopsji - samych ofiar. W niektórych dziedzinach, zwłaszcza w technice analizy odcisków palców, wprowadzała w fabułę innowacje, zanim zostały one formalnie przyjęte. Agatha Christie była zagorzałą czytelniczką doniesień prasowych o sprawach kryminalnych, śledziła nowe techniki śledztw i angażowała się w debaty z innymi wybitnymi pisarzami kryminalnymi, wymieniając się pomysłami i informacjami na ich temat. W książce Morderstwo nie jest takie proste Carla udowadnia, jak wielką wiedzą dysponowała jedna z najbardziej uwielbianych pisarek w historii. Książka ta rzuca nowe światło na metody i badania Christie i przybliża kryminalistykę, która wpłynęła na pokolenia pisarzy i naukowców.

Carla Valentine

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