I’m just back from a couple of crime-filled days in London. The main reason for my visit was to speak at a symposium on European crime fiction and data visualisation (of which more later), but I travelled up a day early in order to see the Forensics exhibition at The Wellcome Trust.

The Wellcome Trust is by Euston Square station. Get there early, as it’s a popular exhibition

I’ve already written about the Forensics exhibition in a previous post, so here’s a summary of the parts I particularly liked.

• Its focus, as one would expect, is scientific, but it also incorporates photography and artwork reflecting on violence, murder and its aftermath, which provide some genuinely thought-provoking perspectives.
• Frances Glessner Lee’s ‘Nutshell Study of Unexplained Death’ – a crime scene recreated in a dollhouse for police training purposes in the 1940s – was fascinating for its miniature juxtaposition of detailed handcrafts and gruesome homicide.
• Room 4, which explores how forensic archaeologists have gathered evidence of political and war crimes in Chile, Rwanda and Yugoslavia, was highly moving in its emphasis on bearing witness and justice.
• The vast array of exhibits yielded wildly diverse treasures such as exquisite drawings of deadly plants, a porcelain Royal Doulton morgue table and Sir Bernhard Spilsbury’s hand-written autopsy cards (although I did wonder how the poor victims would have felt about having their personal details on public display…).
• I took some great new definitions and phrases away with me: the word ‘autopsy’ means ‘to see with one’s own eyes’ and constitutes ‘the last chance to question the dead’; Eduard Locard, head of the first police crime lab in Lyon, introduced ‘the exchange principle’, based on the theory that ‘every contact leaves a trace’ (perpetrator on victim and victim on perpetrator), and Erle Stanley Gardener asserted that medical experts giving evidence at trials ‘must serve but one client, and that client should be truth’.

A note of warning: the exhibition is not for faint-hearted, as some of the images and commentary it contains are extremely graphic. I was grateful for a strong and steadying cup of coffee in the Wellcome Cafe afterwards. But I would highly recommend a visit – see the exhibition website for more details here.

Drawing breath in the Wellcome cafe…

Friday was spent at the British Library, taking part in the symposium ‘Towards a Digital Atlas of European Crime Fiction?’ – part of an AHRC project run by Dominique Jeannerod and Federico Pagello of Queen’s University Belfast. The project is evidence of how rapidly the ‘digital humanities’ – which explore the contribution of ‘big data’, technology and data visualisation to humanities research – are expanding, and was of course particularly interesting as it considered these areas in relation to European crime.

Eduardo Paolozzi’s statue of Isaac Newton at the British Library

The morning was spent hearing the project contributors’ findings. What I liked about this section was the chance to see some data visualisations, to discuss the metho-dological and technical challenges involved in their creation (e.g. getting from ‘dirty’ to ‘clean data’), and to get an idea of the kinds of case studies involved (French, Hungarian and European crime). I had expected the speakers to be evangelical about digital research, but they discussed its advantages and disadvantages in very even-handed and thoughtful ways – such as the capacity of ‘distant reading’ to make trends visible against the time that inputting and cleaning data can take. The project is designed to have an exploratory function and as someone considering increased use of digital methods in my research, I found these reflections very useful indeed.

Federico Pagello (Queens), discussing ‘dirty’ vs ‘clean data’

The afternoon saw presentations from researchers on diverse digital tools and analysis in research on Czech, French, New Zealand and German crime (the latter from yours truly, on my Nazi-themed crime fiction database and this blog), as well as a talk from Samuel Schwiegelhofer of the Paris Bibliothèque des littératures policières (BiLiPo – a library dedicated to crime fiction!). That was followed by a marvellous keynote from Ian Sansom (crime author and academic), which ranged from the work of theorist Franco Moretti to the horse’s head in The Godfather and Ian’s garden shed.

Professor Ian Sansom with his shed. Photo by Federico Pagello

All in all, the symposium was a rich and valuable experience, not least because it provided the chance to meet like-minded researchers from around the world, and has made me think deeply about my own research and its digital possibilities. Many thanks to the organisers for making it such a successful event.

If you’re interested in finding out more about the project, then take a look at the International Crime Fiction Research Group blog or follow the group on Twitter – @crimefictionrg. A website with lots of useful resources is on its way.

Last but not least, the trip provided a great opportunity to meet friends and co-conspirators from the crime blogosphere, including Jacky Collins, Andy Lawrence, Ewa Sherman and Sarah Ward. There were pilgrimages to The Scandinavian Kitchen and Maison Bertaux (the latter, London’s oldest patisserie, was a great find courtesy of Andy).

Large amounts of cake may have been consumed.

Last Friday, to pass some time while ill in bed, I started listening to the podcast SERIAL, which explores a real and very complex murder case from 1999. I don’t consider myself to be a fan of true crime, which is all too often voyeuristic and salacious, and so wasn’t expecting to get drawn in. But I found myself hooked from the opening of the very first episode, and by the end of the day had listened eight (EIGHT!) episodes.

SERIAL is a podcast phenomenon. Since it started in October it has become the fastest podcast on iTunes to be downloaded or streamed 5 million times, and is one of reddit’s most discussed topics. The series first crossed my radar when writer Linda Grant wrote about her fascination with it and I’m glad to have finally caught up, because it’s genuinely brilliant.

SERIAL is an offshoot of This American Life (a weekly radio show by Chicago Public Media), and is presented by journalist Sarah Koenig. This is how SERIAL’s website describes what the podcast is about:

>> On January 13, 1999, a girl named Hae Min Lee, a senior at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County, Maryland, disappeared. A few weeks later, her body turned up in a city park. She’d been strangled. Her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested for the crime, and within a year, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. The case against him was largely based on the story of one witness, Adnan’s friend Jay, who testified that he helped Adnan bury Hae’s body. But Adnan has always maintained he had nothing to do with Hae’s death. Some people believe he’s telling the truth. Many others don’t.

Sarah Koenig first learned about this case more than a year ago. In the months since, she’s been sorting through box after box (after box) of legal documents and investigators’ notes, listening to trial testimony and police interrogations, and talking to everyone she can find who remembers what happened between Adnan Syed and Hae Min Lee fifteen years ago. What she realized is that the trial covered up a far more complicated story, which neither the jury nor the public got to hear. The high school scene, the shifting statements to police, the prejudices, the sketchy alibis, the scant forensic evidence – all of it leads back to the most basic questions: How can you know a person’s character? How can you tell what they’re capable of? In Season One of Serial, she looks for answers. <<

So the podcast is a 360 degree examination of a murder case, one that Sarah carries out with great intelligence, care and respect for all the individuals involved. Although the hope is to get to the bottom of the case’s contradictions by looking at the evidence with fresh eyes, Koenig pledges to ‘follow the story where it takes us’, even if that means failing to achieve closure. It’s this willingness to accept all outcomes that is one of the series’ chief strengths; in many respects it is a thoughtful meditation on the difficulty of finding the truth.

Eleven episodes of SERIAL are currently available. The 12th and final episode airs this coming Thursday. If you haven’t yet listened, you might want to leave this post and head over to episode 1. If you’ve already caught up, you might be interested in reading on below…

What I’m not going to discuss is the (admittedly fascinating) question of Adnan’s guilt or innocence, because it’s being dissected exhaustively elsewhere, and to an extent that makes me feel uneasy. Arguably, one of the few pitfalls of the podcast is that it’s been treated by some as a fictional crime whodunit, losing sight of the fact that the story is about real people. I’m more interested in the insights Sarah Koenig (SK) has offered listeners into the impact of murder, the minutiae of police investigations and the complexities of the trial process. These are meta-observations that have made me think really, really hard about the justice system in a way that I haven’t done before.

Memory. The first episode of SERIAL opens with an observation about how hard it can be to remember past events. Can you remember exactly what you were doing the whole of last Wednesday? Now, how about a Wednesday six weeks ago, which turns out to have been the day of a murder, in which you are a suspect? What happens if you genuinely can’t remember? Or if you think you can, but then realise you’ve got it wrong? Or if you can, but no one can corroborate what you say? Any of these could be the beginning of a road to wrongful conviction. Unless of course you’re lying, which is when things get even trickier.

A piece of evidence can appear utterly damning when viewed in one context, and completely innocent in another. It all depends on how you build it into a larger narrative or how you spin it. SK demonstrates this by discussing specific bits of evidence with those who think Adnan is guilty and those who don’t. The same applies in the courtroom: building a convincing narrative is key for the prosecution and defence. They are telling competing stories to the jury and are fighting for their own to be believed.

The power of narrative is also illustrated by the podcast itself (something that SK does not explicitly acknowledge). Episodes are constructed in such a way as to consider one side of the argument, then the other, and inevitably sway the listener back and forth as well (ooh, he’s guilty/nooo, he can’t be). There’s a cliff-hanger element built into the episodes, with previews of ‘next time’ promising new evidence that will keep us hooked. Very successfully.

On a moral level, we listeners are gripped by questions of guilt or innocence. But in a legal context, guilt or innocence may never be definitively proved. The more important question then becomes ‘is there reasonable doubt’?

Murder investigations are HUGELY complex. We all know this, but listening to over ten hours of detail about one case makes you appreciate that fact all the more. It instills a respect for police investigators, who have to process mountains of potential evidence and decide what it relevant and what is not. It also makes you realise how easily the truth can be lost if the wrong leads are followed, or if prejudices start to cloud investigators’ judgments.

The police are not necessarily looking for the truth. Rather, they are trying to build a case against someone. This means that there may be ‘verification bias’ present in the investigation – the disregarding of so-called ‘bad evidence’ that does not fit the detectives’ theories of what happened. Scary stuff, and this is why it’s so important for justice systems to have a robust element of defence and cross-examination, so that lots of difficult questions can be asked.

SK’s own investigations show us a range of different perspectives and voices: we hear sound clips of police interviews and court proceedings, readings from Hae’s teenage diary, SK’s interviews with family, friends and witnesses (all of whom were deeply affected by the murder), and her phone conversations with Adnan in prison. These are augmented by her own commentary on the difficulties she is encountering as she tries to figure out this ‘Rubik’s cube of a case’.

‘Cops assume that everyone is lying all the time’. A pragmatic, logical approach or a breach of the presumption of innocence? They will ‘offer the suspect a theme’ – meaning that they will discuss the subject of the crime in a way that suggests understanding to encourage a confession (e.g. ‘I can understand why you hit that man. After all he provoked you’).

‘How easy it is to stir stereotypes in with facts, all of which then gets baked into a story’. SK does a great job of exploring the possible bias of the judicial system (for example, the use of certain types of vocabulary in reports or in court). This quote is also a wonderful example of how SK sums up ideas in an accessible and interesting way.

Serial host Sarah Koenig and producer Dana Chivvis examine some evidence. Photo by Elise Bergerson.

I never quite realised how many factors can feed into the outcome of a trial: the quality of the prosecution or defence lawyers, cultural biases, the composition of the jury, alibis or the lack of alibis, the presence or absence of forensic evidence, the efficiency or inefficiency of the investigators (did they ask for that crucial item to be checked for DNA?), the willingness or refusal of witnesses to testify, the credibility of witnesses, etc. etc. etc.

If you are innocent, and continue to maintain your innocence following conviction, then your chances of parole are low, because the parole board is looking for evidence of remorse. So you can lie and get out, or be honest and stay in. Hmmmm.

SK and her listeners may be playing the role of the detective, but that does not remotely guarantee the discovery of a ‘solution’, because this is real life. Will the final episode offer listeners the closure they crave? At the simplest level, Adnan’s guilt/innocence may only be known to three people: murder victim Hae Lee, Adnan himself and his friend Jay. Of these last two, one has to be lying. I’m doubtful that SERIAL can reveal who’s telling the truth, but it certainly succeeds in showing us plenty of others.

For those in the UK who’ve not yet seen Welsh crime drama Hinterland, now is your chance. Episode One will air again on BBC4 on Monday 28 April at 9.00pm. Further details are available from The Radio Times and an earlier blog post of mine, which contains a spoiler-free review.

And for viewers beyond our shores, the good news is that Hinterland has been picked by Netflix, so crime fans in Canada and the US will shortly be able to enjoy its delights too. Cymru Crime is on its way!

In other news:

The good people at Penguin are still sending me a Simenon a month from their freshly translated Inspector Maigret series, and I’ve had a lovely time working my way through the latest three, The Yellow Dog, Night at the Crossroads and A Crime in Holland (all originally published in 1931). The latter involves a French lecturer suspected of murder and is therefore right up my street (although I hasten to add that all the French lecturers I know are model citizens). I’ve updated the Maigret page – we’re now up to a total of seven novels.

Holding on to the Dutch theme… I’ve just received a copy of Lonely Graves (Mulholland Books/Hodder), which is set in Amsterdam, and authored by ‘Britta Bolt’, the pseudonym of German Britta Böhler and South African Rodney Bolt. Böhler is a former lawyer in international law, while Bolt has a background in travel writing – an ideal pairing for a crime novel set in foreign climes. Their ‘detective’ is municipal government employee Pieter Posthumus, who arranges so-called ‘lonely funerals’ for those dying without family or means, and who decides to investigate when a young Moroccan is found drowned. I’m a few chapters in, and am enjoying the unusual scenario and Amsterdam setting. The novel is the first in ‘The Posthumus Trilogy’ – looks promising.

Meanwhile, I’ve also been exploring Turkish German novels for the Crime Fiction in German volume, including Jakob Arjouni’s Kayankaya series and Akif Pirinçci’s ‘Felidae’ series (in which Francis the cat detective can be said to represent a migrant perspective). The opening novel has been made into a rather good animated film, but be warned that it’s not suitable for children, as it explores some rather adult themes. Both series are available in English translation and have met with considerable success.

There are also some interesting recent developments, such as Su Turhan’s ‘Kommissar Pascha’ series, featuring Munich Turkish-German police inspector Zeki Demirbilek (not yet translated). My Swansea University colleague Tom Cheesman’s book, Novels of Turkish German Settlement (Camden 2007) has also been very helpful in terms of understanding wider issues relating to migrant experience and identity in Germany, and pointing the way to some crime fiction gems.

*Fanfare of trumpets*. Here is the shortlist for the 2014 Petrona Award for the Best Scandinavian Crime Novel of the Year:

CLOSED FOR WINTER by Jørn Lier Horst tr. Anne Bruce (Sandstone Press)

STRANGE SHORES by Arnaldur Indriðason tr. Victoria Cribb (Harvill Secker)

THE WEEPING GIRL by Håkan Nesser tr. Laurie Thompson (Mantle)

LINDA, AS IN THE LINDA MURDER by Leif G W Persson tr. Neil Smith (Doubleday)

SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir tr. Philip Roughton (Hodder & Stoughton)

LIGHT IN A DARK HOUSE by Jan Costin Wagner tr. Anthea Bell (Harvill Secker)

The judges for the award are Barry Forshaw, Sarah Ward and myself – with additional wise counsel from award founder and administrator Karen Meek.

From left to right: Karen, Mrs Pea, Barry and Sarah, following our rewarding shortlisting session in London.

Here are our comments on each of the shortlisted works:

CLOSED FOR WINTER: This highly atmospheric novel sees Chief Inspector Wisting investigate an off-season burglary and disturbing case of murder on the Norwegian coast of Vestfold. As ever, author Jørn Lier Horst’s police background lends the novel a striking authenticity, with readers treated to the outstanding plotting and characterisation that typify this quality series.

STRANGE SHORES: Drawn back to his childhood home by the unresolved disappearance of his brother, Inspector Erlendur takes on the most personal and difficult case of his career. Exploring the series’ enduring themes of loss and the impact of Iceland’s twentieth-century social transformation, this remarkable valedictory novel is one of the finest by a truly incisive writer, the undisputed king of Icelandic crime fiction.

THE WEEPING GIRL: While supposedly on holiday, Detective Inspector Ewa Moreno is pulled into the case of a missing teenage girl and the earlier murder of a woman. This quietly compelling novel from Swedish author Håkan Nesser, with its distinctive European feel, is full of the assurance readers have come to expect from the Van Veeteren series. There is not a single misstep as the grim implications of the narrative are teased out.

LINDA, AS IN THE LINDA MURDER:  Leif G W Persson’s sprawling, state-of-the-nation novels make deft use of crime fiction conventions to expose the faultlines of Swedish society. This more closely focused novel is a brilliant exploration of a young woman’s murder, press sensationalism, and the inner workings of a police investigation, with readers reintroduced to the blackly humorous and truly unforgettable police detective Evert Bäckström.

SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME: When a young man with Down’s Syndrome is convicted of arson and murder, lawyer Thóra Gudmundsdóttir is hired by one of his fellow inmates to investigate a possible miscarriage of justice. This ambitious Icelandic crime novel, which skilfully weaves multiple narrative strands together with elements of the supernatural, is another gripping and highly entertaining read from author Yrsa Sigurðardóttir.

LIGHT IN A DARK HOUSE: Still mourning the loss of his wife, Finnish detective Kimmo Joentaa is called to investigate the strange murder of a comatose woman in hospital. German author Jan Costin Wagner delivers another wonderfully written and tightly constructed instalment in the Joentaa series, notable for its moving portrayal of a grief-stricken policeman and its in-depth exploration of victim and perpetrator psychology. 

The winning title will be announced at the international crime fiction event CrimeFest, held in Bristol 15-18 May 2014. I’m already dusting off the posh frock.

More information and updates can be found on the Petrona Award website  (http://www.petronaaward.co.uk).

First of all, a HUGE THANK YOU to those who took part in last week’s survey and got that kitten tally so high. The result was a phenomenal 188 responses, and I’m incredibly grateful to you for taking the time to help me out. I now have lots of lovely and interesting data to collate, and will share the findings with you in due course.

Now then… Mrs. Peabody will be taking a bit of a blogging breather for a few weeks, as we’re off to the land of Mounties, Moose and Molson to meet some far-flung family. I’m looking forward to finding out a little more about the Canadian crime fiction scene while we’re there as well.

No national stereotyping here, eh?

I have, of course, been stocking up on some summer treats to take along on the journey. Here’s a selection of the novels I’ll be reading, hopefully with a view of the Pacific and a cool drink in my hand.

Anya Lipska’s Where the Devil Can’t Go, a highly-praised debut set in London and Poland. The author is on the ‘New Blood panel’ at the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival at Harrogate on Saturday 20 July (along with Derek B. Miller, author of the wonderful Norwegian by Night). I’m extremely sad that I can’t make it this year, especially as there’s also a panel devoted to German Krimis, winningly entitled ‘Dead in Deutschland’…

Yrsa Sigurdardottir’s Ashes to Dust, the third of the Icelandic Thóra Gudmunds-dottir series. I’ve picked this one because it’s partly set in the 1970s, my favourite decade, and I’ve not read any of this author’s novels before (shocking I know).

Geoffrey McGeachin’s The Diggers Rest Hotel, which won the 2011 Ned Kelly Award for best crime fiction novel, and is the first in the Charlie Berlin series. Set in rural 1947 Australia, it looks to have an interesting take on the legacy of the Second World War. The novel is featured in one of Margot’s Kinberg’s ‘In the Spotlight’ posts, which provides a lovely overview.

Before I head off, here are two additional treats for you:

Word reaches me from Raven and Euro Crime that five more Foreign Bodies episodes are airing on BBC Radio 4 this week. This time the focus is on Greece (Markaris/Haritos – see my post on the author here), Argentina (Mallo/Lascano – my review of Needle in a Haystack is here), Northern Ireland (McGilloway/Devlin), South Africa (Meyer/Griessel), and on female crime drama investigators (Miller/Lund/ Berthaud). If you happen to miss any, they are available online for seven days. It also looks like the first series is being repeated from Monday 15 July.

Last but not least, this week’s ShortList features The 39 Greatest Maverick Cops. I’m not sure I agree with all of their rankings or analysis, but there are some good ones in there, including some storming women.

Wishing you all wonderful, relaxing summer days.

This week, in place of my usual post, I’m going to ask you for some help.

If you’re a regular visitor to ‘Mrs. Peabody Investigates’, or even if you just drop by every now and then, would you mind filling out a short, anonymous survey on the blog? Pretty please? It has just nine questions, and mainly involves ticking boxes.

THE SURVEY IS NOW CLOSED 🙂

The survey is linked to my day job as a UK academic: we’re exploring the impact of our research beyond a university audience, for example in blogs or in the media. And your opinion really counts – whether you’re a reader, blogger, publisher, translator, author, bookseller or anything else to do with the wonderful world of crime!

In return, I offer you oodles of gratitude and this picture of an adorable kitten. I’ll be adding an extra kitten for every 10 people who take the survey…

No, not a kitten. Walnut whip reward by special request 🙂

Cute bunny by special request

Puppy from dooziedog.com *melts*

By special request: otters holding hands 🙂

THANK YOU!