Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

  • Blood, Powder, and Residue

  • How Crime Labs Translate Evidence into Proof
  • By: Beth A. Bechky
  • Narrated by: Emily Durante
  • Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
  • 3.2 out of 5 stars (5 ratings)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Blood, Powder, and Residue

By: Beth A. Bechky
Narrated by: Emily Durante
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Blood, Powder, and Residue goes inside a metropolitan crime laboratory to shed light on the complex social forces that underlie the analysis of forensic evidence.

Drawing on 18 months of rigorous fieldwork in a crime lab of a major metro area, Beth Bechky tells the stories of the forensic scientists who struggle to deliver unbiased science while under intense pressure from adversarial lawyers, escalating standards of evidence, and critical public scrutiny. Bechky brings to life the daily challenges these scientists face, from the painstaking screening and testing of evidence to making communal decisions about writing up the lab report, all while worrying about attorneys asking them uninformed questions in court. She shows how the work of forensic scientists is fraught with the tensions of serving justice - constantly having to anticipate the expectations of the world of law and the assumptions of the public - while also staying true to their scientific ideals.

Blood, Powder, and Residue offers a vivid and sometimes harrowing picture of the lives of highly trained experts tasked with translating their knowledge for others who depend on it to deliver justice.

©2020 Princeton University Press (P)2021 Tantor

What listeners say about Blood, Powder, and Residue

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 2.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    1

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Whew ... that was hard work

Unless you're actually thinking of studying this subject to work in a crime lab, you might want to find something else to listen to.
Firstly the narrator was very monotonous which probably made the book less interesting that it actually was.
Secondly, it's more of an audio text book...there's no story, no life....no interest?
As I said, you are seriously into the subject, great, you'll probably love this (but maybe buy the hard copy to swerve the narrator)but if you just have an interest stirred up by TV shows and other lighter weight books on the subject (me!) you'll find this quite a drag.
Sorry to be negative!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Sorry can't recommend

Very dry. Narrator monotone. Was hoping it would link it to cases to illustrate how forensics were involved.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Terrible narrator

Great for falling asleep to at night. Narrator sounds like one of those robot voices for people who have lost their power of speech. Sorry. Shame, as content possibly quite interesting, though who knows?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!