This is the first full-length biography of Spilsbury in fifty years; the interesting thing about it is that it differs hardly at all in its conclusions about its subject from the previous, 1951, study by Douglas Browne and Tom Tullett, which seems to have been an "official" biography; certainly Spilsbury's family and friends were still around at the time.

So a hagiographical tone is understandable, then. Time however has not changed Spilsbury's reputation much. No-one, even Keith Simpson, who seems to have cordially loathed him, ever denied his capacity for work, for taking meticulous pains, and for integrity. Counsel in a murder trial once referred to him, in a classic Freudian slip, as "Saint Bernard".

Spilsbury started his career as an unpromising new medical graduate, before the First World War, in an age when forensic science, in England, effectively didn't exist (Scotland is a different story). Nor were pathologists highly regarded, either by lawyers, fellow doctors, or the public; Spilsbury changed all that. He was responsible in the 1920s for the adoption of the "Murder Bag", the first forensic investigation and recording kit for use at the scene; he also worked out tables for the correct length of drop in judicial hanging (much to Albert Pierrepoint's disgust). His first murder case was that of Crippen; he also worked on the classic cases (among others) of the Brides in the Bath; the Brighton Trunk Murders; Rouse; Patrick Mahon; Norman Thorne; and Herbert Armstrong. These practical matters are, however, just about the only traces of any research done. There is no doubt that Spilsbury worked extremely hard; he refused laboratory assistance and only had so much as a secretary for a few years, yet undertook literally thousands of autopsies, most of them routine. He did no teaching; he formed no team; he published nothing (although he was always going to), so that all his expertise died with him.

These are serious shortcomings in a medical scientist. He seems to have had a "difficult" personality, was a loner, intolerant of dissent and liable to excessive stubbornness (he tended to make up his mind quite quickly as to the guilty party or the cause of death, and refuse to be budged), but despite the short-lived deconstructionist study in 2007 by Andrew Rose, it does not seem that he ever compromised on the truth. Far from his causing the death of innocents, Keith Simpson's biggest complaint about him was that a Spilsbury intervention had resulted in a guilty man getting off!

Spilsbury committed suicide in his laboratory when failing health compromised his competence.Many came forward after his death to record acts of disinterested kindness on his part, although few claimed him as a personal friend.

336pp. paperback; comprehensive index; bibliography; some b/w illustrations.