Behind the tape: Get the details right in your crime fiction

Going to market

wellcomecollection.org) in London is an excellent place to research them. It holds historical and contemporary books, artworks, archives and manuscripts relating to medicine and health. To find out what ’ s available, use Wellcome Collection ’ s search engine at https://wellcomecollection.org/ collections.

The London Museums of Health and Medicine (http://medicalmuseums.org) are also fascinating places to visit. It ’ s a network of over twenty museums, each museum specialising in a different aspect of healthcare and medicine, such as dental heritage, eyecare, mental health care and the real story of Florence Nightingale. There are also other museums in other parts of the country that hold historical material, including the Thackray Museum of Medicine (https://thackraymuseum.co.uk) in Leeds and Surgeons ’ Hall Museums (https:// museum.rcsed.ac.uk) in Edinburgh. Do an online search to find more medical museums and archives.

Subjective experiences Personal experiences, whether as a patient, carer or health professional, can enliven both fiction and nonfiction writing. If you don ’ t have a particular experience yourself, you could interview someone who has. You could contact people with specific conditions through dedicated charities and support groups and find health professionals through professional associations.

When you ’ re interviewing people about their experiences, always treat them with utmost sensitivity. Health and illnesses are subjective matters, and everyone ’ s experience of them is different. Also, the interviewee may feel embarrassed or have reservations about confidentiality and anonymity so always respect their wishes. Good luck with your research!

Critical thinking

It can be difficult, not just for laypeople but also for medical professionals, to determine what information is reliable. Understanding scientific processes and taking an evidencebased approach are the first steps in the journey of critical thinking. To improve your skills, explore Ben Goldacre’s writing (www. badscience.net), for example, by reading his books Bad Science and Bad Pharma. He specialises in unpicking the misuse of science and statistics which will help you gain a deeper understanding of what to look out for when doing health-related research.

Behind the tape

Expert advice to get the details right in your crime fiction from serving police officer Lisa Cutts

If you have a query for Lisa, please send it by email to lisacuttsenquiries@ gmail.com

QAn adult daughter finds her old father dead by hanging in his garden shed.

She calls the family doctor – he is old – he calls the police then attends the suicide site.

Police cars attend and they find an old man hanging and dead.

What then would the procedure be?

Would they confirm from the doctor a self-inflicted suicide?

Would the police then leave for the family to deal with it? William Starkey via email

AThe police would still deal with the death as a sudden death, ensuring that nothing untoward has happened. Even though the father appears to have taken his own life, the body would still be examined for other injuries and a post mortem later carried out. Toxicology may show, for example, that he had taken drugs or been drugged. It would be some time before the scene would be released as the police would want to check for any signs of a burglary or disturbance, again, in case there was more to it than first appears. They would also try to determine what, if anything, had triggered him to take his own life. A report has to be prepared for the coroner and it needs to contain background information on who the deceased was, a family breakdown and any physical or mental health issues, gambling addictions, alcohol or drug abuse or anything else which may be relevant to his death.

There must be some basic inquiries carried out and formal identification made of the deceased. The identification would most likely be carried out by the daughter, although if there was any doubt over his identity, a basic search in the house should put that to rest. She might be misleading the police for some reason over who the deceased is or the events prior to his death.

The police wouldn’t allow the family doctor to make any official cause of death, although an officer would take a statement from him as he has attended, knows the family and has medical knowledge. The police would also arrange for the body to be removed via an undertaker.

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