Forensic anthropologist and anatomist Sue Black examines some bones Peter Jolly/Shutterstock
Sue Black, Doubleday (UK); Atlantic Monthly Press (US, out January 2027)
Sue Black knows that, in court, even minor physical discomforts can become dangerous distractions. As she prepares to give evidence in a high-stakes murder trial, the forensic anthropologist quietly slips off her shoes, so she feels more grounded during cross-examination. Across the courtroom, the defence counsel deploys his own tactics: rustling papers, adjusting his spectacles and allowing silences to stretch just long enough to make the jury uneasy. In An Expert Witness, Black describes the courtroom not as a neutral forum for the examination of facts, but as a gladiatorial arena in which every participant plays a strategic game.
This tension between the measured uncertainty of science and the adversarial demands of the legal system sits at the heart of this thoughtful and frequently unsettling book. Best known for her work identifying victims of war crimes in Kosovo and the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Black is one of Britain’s leading forensic anthropologists and anatomists. Her previous books, All That Remains and Written in Bone, explored forensic anatomy, human identification and our broader relationship with death. Now, Black turns her attention to what happens once evidence enters the courtroom.
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Jurors raised on detective dramas are primed to view expert witnesses as capable of definitive answers
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Part memoir, part history and part critique of the UK criminal justice system, it draws on Black’s more than 35 years of courtroom experience to examine how forensic evidence can be misunderstood, overstated or distorted in this theatrical arena. The result is both an engaging introduction to the history of forensic science and a sobering account of the pressures placed on those asked to interpret it.
Black’s central argument is that forensic science sits uneasily within the adversarial legal system. It exists to offer impartial and objective interpretation, yet the ambiguities and probabilities underpinning scientific reasoning are fundamentally at odds with a courtroom culture that demands binary outcomes, and barristers’ primary motivation to win.
This tension is amplified by popular culture. Jurors raised on on television arrive in court already believing themselves fluent in forensic science, primed to view expert witnesses as authoritative problem-solvers capable of delivering definitive answers. Their perceived impartiality can make them especially persuasive witnesses – and potentially dangerous when evidence is weak, overstated or poorly understood.
One of the book’s strengths is Black’s insistence that scientists themselves aren’t immune from blame. She recounts examples of expert witnesses straying beyond their expertise, adjusting opinions under pressure or presenting speculative methodologies with unwarranted confidence.
Black is at her most compelling when writing about her own experiences within this system. Time and again, the book returns to the emotional toll exacted on expert witnesses working under relentless professional scrutiny. “You never walk away from any courtroom encounter without sporting some fresh wounds,” writes Black. Each appearance in court places not only the evidence, but also a scientist’s career and reputation, under examination. For both senior experts and more junior colleagues, there often comes a point when the cumulative pressures become simply intolerable. “It isn’t healthy,” writes Black, “and is why many experienced experts eventually throw in the towel.”
These sections afford the book an emotional depth that elevates it beyond a straightforward history of forensic science. In its later chapters, An Expert Witness begins to feel almost like an attempt to process trauma on Black’s part. She describes one bruising case that left her reluctant to speak publicly for fear her words might later be weaponised to undermine her credibility in court. “Even as I write this,” she admits, “my stress levels are off the scale.” From an esteemed scientist, whose public persona projects calm authority, Black’s candour is striking.
At times, though, the book threatens to become overwhelmed by its own breadth. Black provides exhaustive histories of multiple forensic disciplines – from bloodstain-pattern analysis to fingerprints – and landmark cases that have involved them. While these sections are highly readable, they can occasionally feel repetitive.
One fascinating section concerns Black’s recent work on forensic identification using vein patterns in the hand – research that emerged from efforts to identify potential child abusers from digital imagery. Through the €2.5 million , Black and her colleagues have been attempting to establish whether the human hand possesses sufficiently distinctive anatomical features to support reliable forensic identification. Clearly sensitive to the dangers of overclaiming that have plagued earlier forensic pattern-recognition disciplines, Black emphasises the need for statistical rigour and carefully defined probabilities.
More surprising is the relatively limited discussion of how artificial intelligence might reshape forensic science. Black notes the enormous pressures facing the criminal justice system, but, though she alludes to the power of AI, she spends comparatively little time considering how AI-driven tools might transform the analysis of evidence, expert testimony or the role of forensic scientists.
Likewise, although she offers a powerful critique of the adversarial legal system, she stops short of seriously examining whether alternative models might better accommodate scientific uncertainty.
Even so, An Expert Witness is a thoughtful and deeply personal examination of forensic science and the people who communicate it in court. Behind the courtroom battles lies the deeper question of why anyone would willingly subject themselves to such risk at all. “It certainly isn’t for the money,” writes Black. Rather, she suggests, expert witnesses endure “out of an innate desire to be of service in supporting justice. We believe in her, flawed and magnificent as she is.”
Linda Geddes is a writer based in Bristol, UK
Three more great explorations of forensic science
by Val McDermid
Blending the narrative instincts of a crime novelist with extensive interviews with forensic scientists, this is an engaging and grisly history covering everything from toxicology and autopsies to DNA and digital forensics.
by M. Chris Fabricant
Written by the director of strategic litigation at the US-based Innocence Project, this book examines how flawed forensic methods helped contribute to wrongful convictions across the US.
presented by Linda Geddes
In this BBC Radio 4 documentary series, I examine the growing crisis facing forensic science in England and Wales following the closure of the Forensic Science Service through interviews with scientists, lawyers and former lab staff.
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