York Festival of Ideas

Friday 24 June - Tempest Anderson Hall

Join award-winning crime writer Ann Cleeves and forensic soil science expert Professor Lorna Dawson of the James Hutton Institute to discover the connections between writing murder and evaluating soil data.

Forensic soil science is an increasingly important discipline, involving soils, minerals, dusts, plants and rock fragments to determine provenance, i.e., to provide a chronology of their ownership, custody or location, and to provide information on place. This means that forensic soil science can contribute significantly to cold case investigations, both in providing intelligence and evidence in court.

Knowledge of the science and importance of soil data is crucial to crime writers, who want the murders and investigations taking place in their novels to be as realistic as possible.

In this exciting in-conversation event, Professor Lorna Dawson will discuss her work solving various high-profile cold cases, advising as an expert witness and helping crime writers such as Ann with the forensic side of their stories. Ann will talk about what it’s like to work with forensic experts like Professor Dawson and how she goes about plotting the murders in her bestselling novels filled with mystery and suspense. 

Image credit: Ann Cleeves portrait © Marie Fitzgerald Photography