BELIEVE NO ONE opens with an Oklahoma farmer dragging a cottonwood tree out of one of his ponds. What Oklahomans call a ‘pond’, we Brits would call a sizeable lake, and this theme of familiarity and difference – two nations divided by a common language… Read more
‘There’s a serial killer on the loose in Manchester,’ one of my creative writing students said. As a mystery writer I was agog to know more. Over a period of six years, scores of young men had turned up in rivers and canals around Manchester…. Read more
The new Fennimore & Simms forensic thriller, BELIEVE NO ONE, features Sheriff Launer, a ‘My rodeo, my rules’ kind of guy. He’s part of an Interstate Task Force investigating a series of murders. He tells the forensic psychologist, ‘I guess it’s your job to try… Read more
I recently received a review for Believe No One which was favourable overall, but the reviewer described ‘harrowing and graphic descriptions’ of the violence perpetrated on the victims. I have used graphic descriptions in my novels on occasions, but I didn’t think this was one… Read more
Basic principles of forensic science By Dave Barclay Prof. Edmund Locard wrote in various papers and books published around the time of the first world war that every contact leaves a trace. This is also called Locard’s exchange principle, and refers to the transfer of… Read more
Hairs and fibres by Dave Barclay Hairs and fibres are the most commonly transferred materials during physical contact between two people. The closer and more long lasting the contact the greater the chance of a two way transfer, which provides the strongest evidence. This means… Read more
