A Life in Death

All That Remains

'Sue Black’s utterly gripping account of her life &amp; career as a professor of anatomy &amp; forensic anthropology.' (Guardian).  A  fascinating, critically acclaimed mix of science and meditation on death.

One might expect [this book] to be a grim read but it absolutely isn’t. I found it invigorating!

Black’s utterly gripping account of her life and career as a professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology manages to be surprisingly life-affirming. As she herself says, it is “as much about life as about death”.

An engrossing memoir ...  an affecting mix of the personal and professional.

A model of how to write about the effect of human evil without losing either objectivity or sensitivity ... Heartening and anything but morbid... Leaves you thinking about what kind of human qualities you value, what kinds of people you actually want to be with.

For someone whose job is identifying corpses, Sue Black is a cheerful soul ... All That Remains feels like every episode of Silent Witness, pre-fictionalized. Except, you know, really good.

This fascinating look by a world-leading forensic scientist at what the dead can tell us is a real eye-opener... Sue Black must be one of the most unusual people in Britain… extraordinary…part meditation, part popular science and part memoir...the book offers a close-up and startlingly clear view of a subject that makes most of us look away.

The real thing here is not the cause of death, but the nature of the life. Black is genuinely moving about the respect we should have for the dead … There is much to admire in this book.

Poignant and thoughtprovoking… it is the book’s humanity which will connect with readers.

Let [Sue Black] take you by the hand and lead you on a journey which will inspire your awe and devotion … A wonderful surprise of a book.

Most of us are terrified of death, but Sue Black shows us that death is in fact a wondrous process, intimately tied with life itself. Written with warmth and humanity, All That Remains reveals her life among the dead, who can surely count her as their best friend.

Many crime readers delight in the disgusting, the dark and the dangerous.  Black’s reverence for human remains and her fearless intimacy with death in its many guises may well be a necessary antidote.

Sue Black has been intimately involved with the aftermath of death for her whole professional career and in her book she weaves in details of her amazing and active life with her analysis of death in a narrative that is personal, touching, occasionally tragic but also instilled with her wonderful sense of humour.

Dr Richard Shepherd, Consultant Forensic Pathologist

Dame Sue Black writes about life and death with great tenderness but no nonsense, with impeccable science lucidly explained, and with moral depths humanely navigated, so that we can all feel better about the path we must all inevitably follow.  I am genuinely glad I read this book.

Compelling, brave and extremely accessible.. A must for anyone who thinks about the basics of living and dying. And there are jokes as well.

No scientist communicates better than Professor Sue Black. All That Remains is a unique blend of memoir and monograph that admits us into the remarkable world of forensic anthropology.

Val McDermid, award-winning author of THE MERMAIDS SINGING

Where on earth would the world be without Sue Black?

Editor's Choice: An enthralling book about forensic science and the many faces of death.

Professor Black’s elegant exploration of death crafts a bridge that allows us, the living, to journey into her mesmerizing world. Her intimate examination of each layer and facet of death, is both intelligent and tender. Through her unflinching eye, we come to understand that life and death are indeed two parts of a continuous whole and that there is much insight to be gained if we approach each of these with curiosity rather than fear.

If you ever wondered about the life of a forensic anthropologist, Sue Black reveals the truth behind the TV screens.

A beautifully written memoir full of reflections on the deaths of strangers and family members.

She often finds herself dealing with the most macabre cases of murder. But the no-nonsense Scot is an upbeat character with a dry sense of humour, clearly identifiable in her memoir.

Ideal reading if you're a cheerful soul who likes to think about death. And think how it'll brighten your conversation on holiday.

Best of the Year: Memoir 
This book captures the profundity of human life while displaying a sense of humour, and peels back the skin to reveal a world few of us ever discover

Dame Sue Black, the woman who inspired the hit television show Silent Witness and has done for forensic science what Strictly has done for ballroom dancing, is an unlikely but deeply worthy national treasure.... Black's memoir, like her story, is curiously vibrant and life-affirming.

You can't help but warm to this retired professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology who chose "the many faces of death" as her medical speciality, yet is herself so vividly alive. Like [David] Nott, Black travelled the world at times, sifting maggots, bullets and human body parts in war zones. Despite it all, she remains convinced that our humanity transcends the very worst of which our species is capable.

Rachel Clarke author of forthcoming Dear Life

All That Remains provides a fascinating look at death - its causes, our attitudes toward it, the forensic scientist's way of analyzing it. A unique and thoroughly engaging book.

Kathy Reichs, author of TWO NIGHTS and the Temperance Brennan series

This fascinating memoir, dealing with everything from bodies given to medical science to the trauma caused by sudden, violent ends, offers reassurance, and even hope, to the fearful and cynical.

Professor Sue Black is one of the world’s leading anatomists and forensic anthropologists. She is President of John’s College, Oxford and previously Pro-Vice Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University . From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. 
 She was the lead anthropologist for the British Forensic Team in the war crimes investigations in Kosovo, and one of the first forensic scientists to travel to Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami. 
 Sue was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to forensic anthropology and is a Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle. 
 She is the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Sunday Times bestsellers All That Remains and Written in Bone. Her new book, Dissection of an Expert Witness is published in 2026.

'Utterly gripping' - The Guardian 
 'Fascinating' - The Sunday Times 
 'Moving' - Scotsman 
 'Engrossing' - Financial Times 
 
 Sue Black confronts death every day. As a Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, she focuses on mortal remains in her lab, at burial sites, at scenes of violence, murder and criminal dismemberment, and when investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident or natural disaster. 
 
In All That Remains she reveals the many faces of death she has come to know, using key cases to explore how forensic science has developed, and examining what her life and work has taught her. 
 
 Do we expect a book about death to be sad? Macabre? Sue's book is neither. There is tragedy, but there is also humour in stories as gripping as the best crime novel. 
 
 Part memoir, part science, part meditation on death, her book is compassionate, surprisingly funny, and it will make you think about death in a new light. 
 ________ 
 
 SUE BLACK'S NEW BOOK, WRITTEN IN BONE, IS OUT NOW 
 _________ 
 
 'One might expect [this book] to be a grim read but it absolutely isn't. I found it invigorating!' (Andrew Marr, BBC Radio 4 'Start the Week') 
 
 'Black's utterly gripping account of her life and career as a professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology manages to be surprisingly life-affirming. As she herself says, it is "as much about life as about death"' (PD Smith Guardian) 
 
 'An engrossing memoir . . . an affecting mix of personal and professional' (Erica Wagner, Financial Times) 
 
 'A model of how to write about the effect of human evil without losing either objectivity or sensitivity . . . Heartening and anything but morbid . . . Leaves you thinking about what kind of human qualities you value, what kinds of people you actually want to be with' (Rowan Williams, New Statesman) 
 
 'For someone whose job is identifying corpses, Sue Black is a cheerful soul . . . All That Remains feels like every episode of 'Silent Witness', pre-fictionalised. Except, you know, really good' (Helen Rumbelow, The Times)

Is this the cutting edge of forensic science?

Dissection of an Expert Witness

Pioneering forensic scientist, anatomist and anthropologist, Professor Dame Sue Black takes the reader into our criminal courts’ witness box from the perspective of an expert witness, the forensic scientist, explaining exactly what that job is, what it demands, how the role evolved, and its likely future. 
 
The expert witness sits at the crux of the relationship between law enforcement, science and the legal system. When that relationship works well, it makes for compelling fiction, television and movies. When it works less well, it makes for compelling and explosive news headlines. 
 
In Dissection of an Expert Witness, Sue Black puts the relationship between these different institutions, and how they affect and are affected by the expert witness, under the microscope. Using shocking landmark cases that expose both the strengths and weaknesses of the interconnection between disciplines - she probes: In which cases did we get it right? In which did we get it wrong? And if we had done it differently, might the pendulum of justice have swung another way? 
 
Incisive and compelling, following the impact of advances in technology to changes in funding and the effect of our gladiatorial system, Sue Black tracks the journey of this most intriguing of sciences through to its inevitable conclusion - and the toll it may take not only on experts but ultimately how justice plays out.

Sue Black

hidden stories in what we leave behind

WINNER OF THE CWA GOLD DAGGER FOR NON-FICTION 
'Gripping from the start, Written in Bone is superb' - Dr Richard Shepherd, author of Unnatural Causes 
'No Scientist communicates better than Sue Black' - Val McDermid, author of Still Life 
'Macabre, authoritative and fascinating.' - The Sunday Times 
 
Our bones are the silent witnesses to the lives we lead. Our stories are marbled into their marrow. 
 
Drawing upon her years of research and a wealth of remarkable experience, the world-renowned forensic anthropologist Professor Dame Sue Black takes us on a journey of revelation. From skull to feet, via the face, spine, chest, arms, hands, pelvis and legs, she shows that each part of us has a tale to tell. What we eat, where we go, everything we do leaves a trace, a message that waits patiently for months, years, sometimes centuries, until a forensic anthropologist is called upon to decipher it. 
 
Some of this information is easily understood, some holds its secrets tight and needs scientific cajoling to be released. But by carefully piecing together the evidence, the facts of a life can be rebuilt. 
 
Limb by limb, case by case - some criminal, some historical, some unaccountably bizarre - Sue Black reconstructs with intimate sensitivity and compassion the hidden stories in what we leave behind. 
 
Praise for Sue Black: 
 
'Sue Black has a rare ability to make blood and bones come alive. A marvellous writer. Ruth Davidson, SMP 
'The corpse whisperer ... Is it okay for Black, or us, to enjoy this quite so much?' 
'Fascinating' - Spectator 
'Gripping' - Guardian 
'Moving' - Scotsman 
'Engrossing' - Financial Times

Sue Black

Books by Sue Black

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